Chelsea have drawn a team they can beat, Paris St Germain.
But it might be close.
Right winger Lucas Moura may be a big threat and Zlatan can still score wonder-goals.
Manchester City lost 4-1 to Barcelona last season but now think they can beat them.
Jammy Arsenal will play Monaco on February 25, a Wednesday.
An “easy†draw was overdue for Arsenal and this time they got the club that Wenger hoped for.
Last October I heard that Monaco were going down the toilet after the owner had suffered an expensive divorce.
Their games in Group C, against Zenit, Benfica and Leverkusen, were all tight affairs with few goals and, very often, late goals.
On Matchday 4, Monaco lost 1-0 in Lisbon to a goal in 82 minutes but they won the group, having scored only four goals in six games.
And Talisco\’s goal in the Stadium of Light was, remarkably, the only goal Monaco conceded in six games.
In February, we\’ll see how Arsenal, an attacking team, gets on against a defensive team like Monaco, who are sixth in the French League and eight points adrift of second-placed PSG.
My guess is that Bayern Leverkusen will have their hands full against the super-competitive Atletico Madrid, who were finalists last year when they had Diego Costa, Courtois and Felipe Luis. Leverkusen are third in the Bundesliga but 15 points behind 2015 champions Bayern Munich.
Pellegrini knows La Liga well and Barcelona are stuttering a little bit under new coach Luis Enrique.
While trying to integrate Luis Suarez, and get the best out of the ageing Iniesta, Luis Enrique has been making five changes in almost every match.
Graham Hunter had a long conversation with Pellegrini last season and they agreed that City\’s previous encounter with Messi & Co was a lot closer than the 4-1 aggregate suggested.
Maybe Luis Enrique is a bit headstrong. He sometimes uses a twin-anchorman formation with Mascherano-Busquets in midfield.
Man City v Barcelona is on Tuesday, February 24.
If Citeh knock Barcelona out it would be world news.
Will Aguero be fit and firing by Feb 24? I hope so.
If City win, it\’s conceivable that Xavi might come in as caretaker coach till the end of the season.
Myself, I hope Luis Enrique gets three years to show what he can do.
R16 draw in full
First Legs:
Tuesday 17 Feb PSG v Chelsea / Shakhtar Donestsk v Bayern Munich
Wednesday 18 Feb Schalke v Real Madrid / FC Basel v Porto
Tuesday 24 Feb Manchester City v Barcelona/
Juventus vs Borussia Dortmund
Wednesday 25 Feb Leverkusen v Atletico Madrid/
Arsenal v Monaco
Second Legs:
Tuesday 10 March Porto v Basel /Real Madrid v Schalke
Wednesday 11 March Chelsea v PSG /
Bayern Munich v Shakhtar Donestsk
Tuesday 17 March Atletico Madrid v Bayer Leverkusen/
Monaco v Arsenal
Wednesday 18 March Barcelona vs Manchester City/
Borussia Dortmund v Juventus
17th December 2014