You wait your turn Santa ... because we all know that watching a Uefa suit removing small balls from a plastic bowl is far more exciting than any Christmas malarkey. The draw for the first knockout stage of the Champions League is scheduled for 30 minutes from now, which probably means it will actually happen an hour from now after a lengthy speech from someone spectacularly boring, accompanied by someone pretty who doesn't say anything.
You already know this bit ... But in case you've forgotten, I've posted the full list of winners and runners-up below. First legs will be played on February 24-25 and second legs on March 10-11. Group winners get to play the second game at home.
Winners
Barcelona
Bayern Munich
Juventus
Liverpool
Manchester United
Panathinaikos
Porto
Roma
Runners-up:
Arsenal
Atletico Madrid
Chelsea
Inter
Lyon
Real Madrid
Sporting Lisbon
Villarreal
10.43am Sky are treating us to thrilling footage from the scene where the draw will take place - a nondescript lecture hall in Nyon. In the meantime, I have an email.
"It's testament to Jose Mourinho's brashness that almost all possible draws for his Inter side will be 'edgy'," writes Richard Watkins. "If he avoids reunions with Barcelona or Porto, Mourinho could find himself catching up with old friends in the Kop or even Alex Ferguson. In fact, of Inter's possible opponents only Bayern remain uninsulted (to my knowledge) by Mourinho."
10.47am Expert analysis from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in the Sky Studio: "Bayern Munich a German side, and you should never underestimate Germans."
10.50am Right then, here's who each of the English sides can face
Arsenal: Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Panathinaikos, Roma
Chelsea: Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Panathinaikos, Porto
Liverpool: Inter, Lyon, Real Madrid, Sporting Lisbon, Villarreal
Manchester United: Atletico Madrid, Inter, Lyon, Real Madrid, Sporting Lisbon
10.55am "Thirty minutes of Uefa time wasting? That sounds like enough time for Sir Alex Ferguson to close the deal with Real Madrid for some anti-virus software," chortles Bertil Murunga. In a mildly amusing twist, we've actually just heard that the seating plan in Nyon has placed United and Madrid's representatives next to each other.
11am Half an hour of filler later, we're going live to Nyon for ... some more filler.
11.02am Yup, Uefa general secretary David Taylor (the man at the top of this article) has trotted out on stage to explain why the Champions League is the Best Tournament in the World. I've actually never heard the word "best" used quite so many times in the space of a minute.
11.06am Uefa are treating us to a montage of all the teams still involved, but in the meantime I have an update from our man in Nyon, Jamie Jackson.
"A rather sparkling day here on the banks of Lake Geneva in Nyon as the sun shines through the floor-to-wall windows of Uefa HQ as we await the Champions League draw which, I'm told, should actually go off at around 11.30am.
"Of the English big boys, Manchester United and Liverpool were group winners, while Arsenal and Chelsea were runners-up so potential ties for
the latter two worth looking out for include Juventus, Bayern Munich or Barcelona. Liverpool and United will probably hope to avoid Jose Mourinho's Inter and, possibly, Real Madrid, who Sir Alex Ferguson's men were actually drawn against in the rehearsal - though the Spanish champions are in disarray, having just hired Juande Ramos, who of course, has a point to prove after Spurs.
"Apparently the only high-powered executive to in attendance is Danny Fiszman of Arsenal – there is no David Gill, Peter Kenyon or Rick Parry – so he will be bracing himself for a difficult tie followed by an even more awkward chat with journalists following the departure of Nancy Bracewell-Smith from the club's board.
'"I'm in total shock and very upset about the appalling way I have been treated," was her parting shot. "The board have no manners whatsoever and my views were ignored on many occasions.'"
11.10am Get ready, boys and girls, Taylor just tipped some balls into bowls ...
Here we go, then ...
scheduleFirst leg » Second leg :Atlético - Porto 24/02 » 11/03 Lyon - Barcelona 24/02 » 11/03 Arsenal - Roma 24/02 » 11/03 Internazionale - Man. United 24/02 » 11/03 Real Madrid - Liverpool 25/02 » 10/03 Chelsea - Juventus 25/02 » 10/03 Villarreal - Panathinaikos 25/02 » 10/03 Sporting - Bayern 25/02 » 10/03 11.18am Well, well, well - it looks like we'll be having a Premier League v Serie A showdown come February. Arsenal, despite finishing second in their group, arguably got the easiest draw of any of the English sides. Ferguson should relish the prospect of getting one over on Mourinho, given their previous, while Claudio Ranieri will return to Stamford Bridge with Juventus. Liverpool, meanwhile, got another tough draw in Real Madrid, though the Spanish team have not been playing well lately.
11.23am Manchester United communications director Phil Townsend, known to his friends at Old Trafford as That Bloke We Send Out When Nobody Else Can Be Bothered, isn't too worried about the draw. "It's a cliche, but every team is strong at this stage of the competition," he chimes. Mostly he's just happy they didn't draw Madrid.
11.26am "Every team at this stage of the competition is going to be quality," echoes Chelsea secretary David Barnard. Bah, learn some new lines people.
11.30am Liverpool secretary Bryce Morrison is delighted with the draw. "It's an absolutely mouthwatering tie, and I'm relishing it really," he jabbers. "We were in Madrid earlier in the group stage and it's good to be going back again."
11.37am Here's Arsenal director Danny Fiszman. "We've stayed away from the favourite, and we've also stayed away from the longest trip, which would be to Panathinaikos," he notes happily. "Wenger's not concerned about that at all," he adds when asked whether the team were worried about having to play their second leg away from home.
11.39am Fiszman won't be drawn on the details of Bracewell-Smith's departure from the board, but he does say that "I don't think this makes us any more vulnerable at all," when pressed on whether the team could now be more susceptible to a takeover bid from Alisher Usmanov. Wenger, apparently does have funds available to spend in January if he wants them.
11.44am Right, that's me done. Paul Doyle is penning a blog on the meaning of it all right this very second though, so be sure to look out for that on the website very shortly.
from : www.uefa.com, www.guardian.co.uk
