Saturday, 18 Desember 2009, UEFA release the draw for Champions League – Round of 16. After a long journey in the group stage, finally the clubs will face the second round in february. There is 16 clubs who trough the group stage, and they are : Manchester United, Real Madrid, Fiorentina, Arsenal, Chelsea, Barcelona, Sevilla, Bordeaux, O. Lyon, FC Porto, Bayern Muenchen, Stuttgart, Olympiacos, Inter Milan, CSKA Moskva, and AC Milan. Many who think that UEFA will make the draw for commercial purposes i.e. AC Milan vs Chelsea (Milan vs Ancelotti), or Inter Milan vs Manchester United (revenge for Maurinho). But the fact is not like that, altough there is still a controversial draw such as Inter vs Chelsea and Real Madrid vs O. Lyon. Here is the complete draw for Champions League – Round of 16:
- Olympique Lyonnais – Real Madrid CF
- FC Porto – Arsenal FC
- VfB Stuttgart – FC Barcelona
- FC Internazionale Milano – Chelsea FC
- AC Milan – Manchester United FC
- FC Bayern Muenchen – AFC Fiorentina
- Olympiacos FC – FC Girondins de Bordeaux
- PFC CSKA Moskva – Sevilla FC
Teams on the left side is the team who finished 2nd at group stage. And on the right side is otherwise, they’re finished 1st at group stage. And first leg will be at the left side team home base, it means O. Lyon, FC Porto, Stuttgart, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Bayern Muenchen, Olympiacos, and CSKA Moskva will be the home team at first leg. And the second leg is otherwise, right side team will be the home team. First leg match will be on 16, 17, 23, and 24 February 2010, and the second leg will be on 9, 10, 16, and 17 March 2010.
The Round of 16 (second round) would be interesting. O. Lyon and Real Madrid has their own Champions League story, then we will see the balanced match such as CSKA Moskva vs Sevilla and FC Porto vs Arsenal. How about Maurinho side with Inter meet his former club Chelsea, or Luca Toni who meet his former club Fiorentina. Stuttgart will got a heavy challange from last year Champions FC Barcelona, or how far Bordeaux will surprise the football lovers at around the world when they meet Olympiacos. Then, here are the most interesting match for this second round : AC Milan vs Manchester United. Can Alex Ferguson beat AC Milan this time?
Yeah, this will be interesting. We’ll see how interesting this is on february 2010.
