This was the game we all wanted to avoid. Nobody wants to play the biggest name in European Football at the first knockout stage.

There were only four possible teams we could play. Real Madrid would be very tough opponents, and Bayern Munich reached the final last season. I wanted to draw FC Shalke…

But it seems that this season is not going to be our season in the Champions League. I highly doubt that we can beat Barcelona over 2 legs. Lionel Messi will run riot on our leaky defense, especially if Vermaelen has not recovered from his injury. 4 goals last time out, and already on an astonishing 27 goals this season, he will always be the one to watch in this fixture.

It is possibly that we will be knocked out of the Champions League before Spurs, who drew AC Milan.We are having a really bad day!

The Champions League fixtures for the round of 16 are as follows:

Roma v Shakhtar Donetsk
AC Milan v Tottenham Hotspur
Valencia v Schalke
Inter Milan v Bayern Munich
Lyon v Real Madrid
Arsenal v Barcelona
Marseille v Manchester United
FC Copenhagen v Chelsea

The first legs of the round of 16 will be played on 15th, 16th, 22nd and 23rd February, and the second legs will be played on 8th, 9th, 15th and 16th March 2011.