Man City to face Barcelona in CL round of 16
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Nyon, Switzerland (SportsNetwork.com) - Manchester City will face a steep test in the Champions League knockout stage as the English champions were drawn with Barcelona on Monday.
City earned a 2-0 win over Roma in their final group stage match to book its place in the next round and will a second chance against Barcelona, which knocked City out of the competition at the same stage last season.
Barcelona, which last won the competition in 2011, boast the tournament's all-time leading goal scorer in Lionel Messi.
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"We now have plenty of confidence because of the way we got into the next round, beating Bayern Munich and then beating Roma away," said City sporting director Txiki Begiristain. "We can arrive in a good moment for these games. We are more solid and stronger than last season."
In another rematch from last season, 2012 winners Chelsea will face Paris Saint-Germain for the second consecutive season. The Blues knocked PSG out of the competition at the quarterfinal stage last term and will be looking to turn the trick again.
"I think both teams have totally different teams to last season," said Chelsea secretary David Barnard. "Each match that comes along, it's a totally different scenario. It's a one-off situation. It's a knockout competition. I think we have an advantage by being away first because at least we know what to do for the second leg."
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Arsenal have been handed a fairly kind draw as the north London club will square off against Monaco, which finished atop its group that included Bayer Leverkusen, Zenit and Benfica, despite scoring just four goals over six group stage matches.
"We've met some of the biggest teams in Europe over the last five years but we're certainly not taking anything for granted because Monaco have earned the right to be here and so have we," said Arsenal secretary David Miles. "I'm sure (manager) Arsene (Wenger) will be delighted to be going back to one of his former teams."
Defending champions and 10-time winners Real Madrid will battle Bundesliga side Schalke, while 2013 winners Bayern Munich will face Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk.
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Bayer Leverkusen will meet La Liga champions Atletico Madrid, Italian champions Juventus face Borussia Dortmund and Swiss champions Basel, which knocked Liverpool out in the group stages, will play FC Porto.