Hello Pato, Ibrahimovic, Seedorf and Robinho !
It\’s AC Milan v Arsenal in the Round of 16.
Napoli v Chelsea is Cavani v Drogba and the oligarch will probably want to sign Cavani when he sees him.
Basel v Bayern is a handy draw for both clubs. If Basel was any nearer to Munich they could play in the Bundesliga.
Leverkusen v Barcelona is a nice tie for everybody.
Zenit v Benfica takes the Lisbon team to St Petersburg in February in black tights, I would think.
CSKA Moscow v Real Madrid is an OK draw for Portuguese stars Jose Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Marseille v Inter is an opportunity for the French club.
Lyon v Apoel Nicosia leaves Lyon on a hiding to nothing.
They have the talent and experience to go through. Apoel will be playing the occasion as well as playing France’s most consistent club.
Bayern versus Cologne is on ESPN tonight at 7.30 and Arsenal target Lukas Podolski will be playing.
But Wenger has dismissed reports linking Podolski with Arsenal.
Cologne are in big financial trouble and need to sell.
If Wenger signed Podolski, they could compete. He’s scored 14 goals for Cologne this season already and would have scored 14 from the chances Gervinho has missed.
Polish-born, the left-footed Podolski is a striker I’ve rated very highly for years. His record for Germany is far better than his record for Cologne because Germany are is a stronger team than Cologne. He scored 43 goals in 95 appearances for Germany. He’s a lethal finisher like Ian Wright, but more constructive.
If Wenger doesn’t sign Podolski, he’s a mug.
But he might only sign him if he can unload Arshavin, who is hard to sell.
Overall, I can’t get fired up about the January transfer window.
January 1st is too far away and I\’m too busy to read speculation, so I only know what friends tell me.
February 1st means a lot but the first day of January tells me nothing significant
For the record, I still think Arshavin will go and Podolski will come.
Podolski is made for Arsenal and Arsenal is made for Podolski, who can also cover Van Persie’s position in a way that Gervinho, Walcott and Arshavin cannot.
But, as you know, Wenger doesn’t like readymade players, and in the whacky world of transfer deals, what\’s true today can be turned upside down tomorrow.
Regarding Sunday, it would be wise to refrain from predictions, or bets, on the Manchester City-Arsenal game until we see the line-ups at 3pm on Sunday.
Is this a key fixture? Or is it a fixture?
Would a draw would be a good result? Do we tend to over-rate Man City? Would an Arsenal victory prove that this good run is the start of something big?
If Roberto Mancini tells his boys to play a tight game, will it be a low-scoring draw? Will Mancini think he has more firepower on the bench?
Last weekend, which seems a very long time ago to me, I was dubious about playing Vermaelen at left back at City, even if Micah Richards comes back.
In a big game, you want your best defender in the middle, where he can have a bigger effect on the game.
Talking of Belgians, Vincent Kompany had his worst game of the season at Chelsea on Monday night, so he won\’t want to play two stinkers in a row.
Van Persie against Kompany could be an interesting duel. That’s one of many imponderables, like TV5s position.