While Cameron's England withdraws from Europe, football (already halved by the loss of the two Manchesters) still wants to remain in the Europe that counts. But to do that, he'll have to overcome the Champions League round of XNUMX, drawn today in Nyon, two Italian teams.
The Swiss ballot box has in fact decreed a double confrontation on the London-Italy axis: Naples-Chelsea e Milan-Arsenal, while the 'Inter, as expected by virtue of the first place in the group, had a softer opponent: the French of Marseille.
So he decreed the draw, which he saw 16 teams competing (of which 7 have already won the trophy at least once) with possible crossings of fire, which in the end there were. The same Rossoneri and Neapolitans, second in their groups, feared Real or Barcelona which instead were avoided and in turn assigned to absolutely affordable opponents.
And so in the end the two English ones have arrived, certainly fearsome but, with the standings of the English championship in hand (Chelsea third but far from the top, Arsenal fifth), apparently less unbeatable than in other seasons. In any case, it will be difficult for Napoli to overcome the battleship of Villas Boas, while Milan have a balanced challenge but which will objectively play as favourites.
Ranieri's Inter, on the other hand, will face the French side of Marseille as the favorites: perhaps the best possible draw, avoiding the more difficult Zenit St. Petersburg and Bayer Leverkusen.
The first leg will be played on 14-15 and 21-22 February, with Napoli and Milan playing at home, while Inter will be busy in France. For the return appointment then in March (6-7 and 13-14).
Here are the matches (the teams indicated first play the first leg at home):
Lyon – Apoel Nicosia
Napoli - Chelsea
Milan - Arsenal
Basel – Bayern Munich
Bayer Leverkusen – Barcelona
CSKA Moscow – Real Madrid
Zenit St. Petersburg – Benfica
Marseilles – Inter
REACTIONS – Claudio Ranieri : “One was as good as the other, I'll tell you if I'm satisfied after the two games – he says – It will be more important than anything else to see how we get to the matches, physically and mentally, because then we can play against everyone. It will be a good match between Inter and Marseille and between me and Deschamps: he already kicked me out in 2004 when he was coaching Monaco and I was at Chelsea, now I want revenge ”.
Walter Mazzarri: “Chelsea is one of the strongest teams in Europe and after a period of crisis they are rediscovering continuity also thanks to champions like Drogba – claims the coach – In the last season of the championship they beat City in Manchester who are dominating the Premier League, something means. We have the first at home, so the Stanford Bridge game will be decisive for qualification, if we want to take it we will have to be perfect ”.
Maximilian Allegri: “Arsenal? It's not a question of revenge – he says -. We know the strength of the English team, it's recovering in the league, we'll need to arrive in February at our best and with the whole squad available, without injuries, as happened to us last year instead"
EUROPA LEAGUE – Draw also i Europa League round of XNUMX (departure 16 February, return 23). Lazio weren't very lucky in finding the Spaniards of Atletico Madrid (but it could have been worse), but the pot with Udinese who will face the Greeks of PAOK Thessaloniki is good. The round of XNUMX scoreboard has already been defined: if they pass, the Friulians will face the winner of AZ Almaar-Anderlecht, while the Biancocelesti will face the winner of Braga-Besiktas.
Porto-Manchester City
Ajax vs Manchester United
Lokomotiv Moscow vs Athletic Bilbao
Salzburg-Metalist Karkhiv
Stoke City v Valencia
Rubin Kazan-Olympiacos
Az Almaar-Anderlecht
Lazio-Atletico Madrid
Steaua Bucharest-Twente
Victoria Plzen-Schalke 04
Wisla Krakow-Standard Liège
Braga-Besiktas
Udinese-PAOK Thessaloniki
Trabzonspor - PSV Eindhoven
Hanover-Bruges
Legia Warsaw vs Sporting Lisbon
