Champions League Draw: Anglo-Italian ties the pick of the fixtures

Champions League / Jamie "The Pacman" Pacheco / 18 December 2009 / Leave a Comment

Jose Mourinho shares a joke with Wesley Sneijder but his side's last 16 match-up against Chelsea is no laughing matter for Inter Milan.

"Betfair prices make Sir Alex Ferguson’ side the 1.56 favourites to qualify but the 2.86 about the Italian giants may be considered a good price given that they knocked United out of this competition the last time they met in 2007, a campaign which ended with them beating Liverpool 2-1 in the final."

Jamie Pacheco talks us through the Champions League draw which has thrown up two particularly fascinating ties with Inter Milan playing Chelsea and Manchester United locking horns with their old foes AC Milan.

Two Anglo-Italian ties provide the pick of the Champions League last 16 matches after Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan were drawn against his old team Chelsea whilst David Beckham will return to the ground where he was once idolised when AC Milan travel to Old Trafford.

For Beckham to face his former club Manchester United, he will have to be registered as an AC Milan player before February 1 and be added to their Champions League squad as one of three additional players permitted at this stage, but both things should be little more than a formality.

Betfair prices make Sir Alex Ferguson' side the [1.56] favourites to qualify but the [2.86] about the Italian giants may be considered a good price given that they knocked United out of this competition the last time they met in 2007. That Champions League campaign ended with Milan beating Liverpool 2-1 in the final.

Backed at a low of [5.5] to reclaim the title they conquered in 2008, the tough draw has seen Ryan Giggs and co drift to odds of [10.5] whilst Milan are at [29.0]. That may seem a massive price if they get past the English champions.

Kaka, the best player by a country mile over the two legs the last time they met is no longer at the San Siro but neither is Cristiano Ronaldo at the Theatre of Dreams. The pair now play their football for Real Madrid, who were drawn against a struggling Lyon side and are well fancied to progress: they are [1.4] to make the quarters with Lyon [3.1]. Real are the third favourites to win the whole thing at [6.2], with just Chelsea ([6.0]) and Barcelona ([4.3]) shorter.

Carlo Ancelotti's men are the [1.55] jollies to progress from their showdown with Inter Milan, the defending Italian champions. Jose Mourinho certainly won't be able to blame a lack of knowledge of the likes of Frank Lampard, John Terry and Didier Drogba if Chelsea knock them out, having spent over three years at the West London club.

Another of Mourinho's former employers, Barcelona, got one of the seemingly easiest draws after being pitted against Stuttgart. The German side, now managed by former Tottenham manager Christian Gross, are in danger of being relegated on the domestic front and their recent poor form explains why they are as big as [6.2] to qualify against the tournament's defending champions.

Arsenal have been chalked up as the [1.36] favs in their match-up with FC Porto but it will be a tough tie for Arsene Wenger's side. Porto came very close to knocking Manchester United out of the competition last year and did famously beat them back in 2004 under... Mourinho. Despite having an arguably easier draw than either Manchester United or Chelsea, Arsenal are the [3.5] outsiders in Betfair's Best of British which asks which of the three will progress the furthest in the competition.

Full Draw

Stuttgart v Barcelona
Olympiakos v Bordeaux
Inter Milan v Chelsea
Bayern Munich v Fiorentina
CSKA Moscow v Seville
Lyon v Real Madrid
FC Porto v Arsenal
AC Milan v Manchester United