NYON, Switzerland (AP) Barcelona was drawn Monday to face in-form Mancheste
r City and its strong contingent of Spanish internationals in the last 16 of the
Champions League.
The Spanish champions will first travel to Etihad Stadium, where Manchester United
and Arsenal have already been routed in the Premier League this season.
"I think Barcelona will be very concerned that they have drawn us," said Man City coach
Manuel Pellegrini, who spent the past nine seasons in the Spanish league. "They are not the
team of two years ago."
Chelsea will have an emotional reunion with former striker Didier Drogba when it plays
Galatasaray,
and defending champion Bayern Munich was paired with Arsenal in the last 16 for the second
straight year.
Both Man City and Arsenal ended up with tough draws after finishing second in their
Champions League groups.
"No one of the (seeded teams) wanted to find Man City or Arsenal," said former Barcelona
playmaker Luis Figo, who helped conduct the draw. "It's bad luck for Barcelona and
Bayern Munich."
Also, nine-time winner Real Madrid will face Schalke, Manchester United got a favorable draw
against Olympiakos, Borussia Dortmund will face Zenit St. Petersburg, AC Milan will play
Atletico Madrid, and Paris Saint-Germain will meet Bayer Leverkusen.
The first legs will be played Feb. 18-19 and 25-26, with the return matches
set for March 11-12 and 18-19.
Man City is the only newcomer to the knockout round Champions League, and wasted an
opportunity to be seeded when Pelligrini did not realize that one more goal in its 3-2 win in
Munich last week would have won the group ahead of Bayern.
Now, it opens the program against Barcelona at home, where the team is scoring on average
more than four goals a game.
"Pelligrini is a very, very good coach," Barcelona director Amador Bernabeu said. "We know from
his coaching in Spain that when we play him we have problems all the time."
Manchester City's director of football is Txiki Begiristain, who joined the English
club from Barcelona.
"If you want to be champions you need to beat the best ones," Begiristain said. "We have to
score in
away games in the Champions League."
Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho said last week that Drogba should return to Stamford Bridge.
The Ivory Coast forward's last kick as a Chelsea player was the penalty shootout winner in the
2012 final against Bayern.
The German champions have a re-match with Arsenal, which won 2-0 in Munich last season
after Bayern had cruised to a 3-1 win in London.
"The toughest opponent we could get," Bayern defender Jerome Boateng said. "They are
going to be highly motivated after last year."
Madrid continues its quest for a record 10th European title with a relatively low-key pairing
against Schalke.
"On paper, yes, but that is only theory," Real Madrid director Emilio Butragueno said. "Football is
unpredictable. It's a German team with a great mentality."
Dortmund, which lost to Bayern in last season's final, got arguably the most unwanted trip -
a Feb. 25 visit to Russia to play in almost certain below-freezing temperatures.
"It won't be easy," Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke said. "But when I look at the
teams the other German clubs have to play against, we got through OK."
Leverkusen will be at home first against big-spending PSG and its feared forward line
of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani.
"You don't have to be an expert to say we are the outsiders," said Leverkusen sporting director
Rudi Voeller, whose team lost 5-0 at home to Man United last month.
PSG coach Laurent Blanc said it "could have been worse," but then added: "If they are second to
Bayern it means they are a talented team."
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