Lionel Messi’s Barcelona will go up against English Premier League leaders Arsenal in the Champions League last 16 after they were thrown together in Monday’s draw.

French heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain were drawn against 2012 winners Chelsea for the third straight season, while Bayern Munich will meet last year’s finalists Juventus.

The draw also saw record 10-time winners Real Madrid matched up against Roma, while Manchester City will meet Ukrainians Dynamo Kiev for a place in the quarter-finals.

Messi scored four times in a 4-1 drubbing of Arsenal in a 2010 Champions League quarter final and Barcelona will again start the tie against Arsene Wenger’s side as favourites.

But Barcelona director Albert Soler said the title-holders had plenty of respect for the Gunners, who the Spaniards also beat 2-1 in the 2006 Champions League final in Paris.

“As always, we have respect for the opponnent. Arsenal are a great team and I am sure we will have difficulties against them,” Soler told BeIn Sports Spain.

PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi saw the French outfit extend their unbeaten start to the domestic season with a crushing 5-1 victory over Lyon on Sunday, but knows a stern test lays ahead – starting with Chelsea – on the club’s path to their ultimate goal of European glory.

“As I’ve already said, we must be able to win against any team and go as far as possible in this competition,” said Al-Khelaifi.

Bayern captain Philipp Lahm admitted the Bundesliga leaders had stumbled upon a tricky last-16 opponent in Juve but remained confident of progressing. “It’s a European classic. Juve were runners-up last season which represents a major challenge, but we want to reach the quarters and will do everything we can.”

Juve up against it

Former Juve star Pavel Nedved, who helped them reach the 2003 final where they lost to AC Milan on penalties, also tried to stay optimistic despite landing one of the tournament favourites.

“We were in a very complicated group and we did very well to come through it without too much difficulty. It goes without saying we’ll continue to battle during the last 16,” said Juve vice-president Nedved.

Meanwhile, ex-Real Madrid and Spain striker Emilio Butragueno, now a club director with the La Liga giants, admitted the draw could have been worse for Rafael Benitez’s side.

“We could have got more difficult opponents, but also easier opponents. Roma are a competitive team with internationally recognised players,” said Butragueno.

Manchester City, who pipped Juve to top spot in Group D on the final day, will travel to Kiev for their first leg which is to be played behind closed doors at the Olympic Stadium after Dynamo were punished by UEFA for their fans’ racist behaviour during a game against Chelsea in October.

“It’s never easy – they’ve shown they have a good side by beating and drawing with Chelsea,” warned City director of football Txiki Begiristain. “It’s going to be difficult for us but the most important thing is that we show we’re improving in this competition and we’ll fight to get to the quarters,” he added.

The rest of the ties, which see all eight group winners at home in the second legs, feature two-time runners-up Atletico Madrid taking on 1988 champions PSV Eindhoven with twice former winners Benfica up against Zenit St Petersburg.

Wolfsburg, who dumped out Manchester United to reach the knockout phase for the first time, will meet competition debutants Gent.

The first legs will be played on Feb 16-17 and and 23-24 with the return matches scheduled to take place on Mar 8-9 and 15-16.

Source AFP

announced on Friday (Dec 11) that there will be a substantial increase in prize money for the nations competing at the Euro 2016 finals in France.

Ahead of Saturday’s draw in Paris for the first ever 24-team finals, European football’s governing body said the total prize fund had gone up to €301 million (£217.5m; US$331m) from the €196 million shared by the 16 nations at the 2012 finals in Poland and Ukraine.

Every competing nation will receive €8 million just for taking part, with performance bonuses of €1 million for a win and €500,000 for a draw in the group stage.

After that, teams reaching the knockout phase will each get €1.5 million in the last 16, €2.5 million for reaching the quarter-finals and an extra four million euros for getting to the semi-finals.

For the final, which will be played at the Stade de France on July 10, the winners will receive eight million euros while the runners-up will pocked five million.

“This means that, if the winners of the title have also won all three of their group matches, the total prize money they earn will amount to €27 million, compared with €23.5 million in 2012,” said a UEFA statement.

Source AFP

European champions Barcelona suffered an injury blow on Tuesday (Dec 8) as Brazil star Neymar limped out of training ahead of his side’s Champions League clash at Bayer Leverkusen.

“During training this evening, Neymar suffered a small muscle injury in the abductor of his left leg,” Barcelona said in a statement ahead of Wednesday’s match. “The development of the injury will determine his availability for the upcoming games.”

The 23-year-old is expected to sit out against Leverkusen, but of more concern for Barca is whether he will be ready for the Club World Cup with the Catalans set to play their semi-final in Japan on Dec 17.

Neymar has been in sensational form this season, scoring 16 goals in 18 appearances. Earlier on Tuesday he was rewarded for a series of excellent displays by being crowned La Liga’s player of the month for November.

Regardless of who plays at the BayArena, Barcelona coach Luis Enrique is demanding a sharp performance in Leverkusen despite the title holders already being through.

Andres Iniesta and Gerard Pique have been left in Barcelona, but star-studded forwards Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez are tipped to start.

Barcelona will win Group E regardless of the result, but Enrique offered no clues as to the strength of his starting team. “In terms of personnel, I am saying nothing,” said the Barca boss in the press conference before Neymar’s injury.

The goal-scoring prowess of Neymar, Messi and Suarez, who Leverkusen’s director of sports Rudi Voeller described as “aliens”, is certainly out of this world. Between them, they have already scored 44 goals this season, 19 of which have come from Suarez.

Messi missed Barcelona’s 2-1 win over the Germans in September with injury and is set to get more match practice in Leverkusen having only returned a fortnight ago.

“Our motivation is to get three points, but we don’t have to get a result. This can be good or bad for us,” said Enrique. “We have talked about Leverkusen’s pressing, that can pose problems for us. It is important to demonstrate a certain sharpness and to offer enough open players to the one in possession.”

Leverkusen want to avoid a repeat of their 2012 drubbing, when Messi scored a record five goals in a 7-1 win in Barcelona in a 10-2 aggregate result in the last 16 tie.

Leverkusen must beat Barcelona and hope Roma drop points at home to BATE to progress to the knock-out stages.

“Barcelona are in great shape. With Messi fit again, they are even stronger,” said Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt.

“He is the best player in the world and there is no way to completely nullify him. Together with Bayern Munich, they are probably the best side in the world.

“We are looking forward to the game and want to compete with them in our own stadium. We have already shown we are capable of putting in special performances in Europe.”

Source AFP / Reuters