Champion vs. Champion(Barcelona draws '05 champ Liverpool in round of 16)
By karan1563
@karan1563 (428)
United States
December 17, 2006 5:22am CST
Barcelona and Liverpool, the last two champions of Europe, must face each other for a place in this season's quarterfinal.
Drawn to meet in the first knockout round of the Champions League, defending champion Barcelona will play the first leg at home and travel to five-time winner Liverpool for the second leg two weeks later."Everybody says Barcelona are one of the best sides in the world so we have to upset the situation," Liverpool's Spanish manager, Rafa Benitez, said. "We have to be mentally ready to play against very good players."Jose Mourinho will lead his Chelsea team against FC Porto, the team he coached to the title three seasons ago, while record nine-time champion Real Madrid faces four-time winner Bayern Munich.
AC Milan, champion six times, must get past Celtic, which won the title in 1967.
The other last 16 pairings: PSV Eindhoven vs. Arsenal; Lille vs. Manchester United; AS Roma vs. Lyon; Inter Milan vs. Valencia.
The first legs are Feb. 20-21, with the second March 6-7. The final is May 23 in Athens.
Barcelona, which has won only one of its six previous meetings with Liverpool, has played Chelsea three seasons in a row and faces an English team yet again."(Liverpool) is a team I like -- the past two champions of the competition will face each other and it will be an extraordinary tie," Barcelona president Joan Laporta said. "They are a very strong rival which plays a very physical style of football and they have players we know well.
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3 responses
@webster76 (152)
•
17 Dec 06
Awesome fixture, the reigning Champions against a Liverpool team that have stopped conceeding and find the net on a very regular basis. I think they scored something like 12 goals in 3 games. Should they play the way the are in the NouCamp? I think yes, the away result is sometimes more important the the home result. Good Luck Liverpool!!