Chelsea, having qualified in second place in Group G, went into the draw knowing that they could get a difficult draw in the knockout stages. With the teams that finished runners-up in their groups playing a group winner, the situation was set up perfectly for Chelsea to draw a big name. Indeed, with Chelsea being drawn out of the hat first, leaving a choice of six possible opponents, you just knew that when that piece of paper was unfolded it would read Barcelona. In fact, Peter Kenyon was to later remark that the Chelsea had drawn Barcelona in the dress rehearsal for the draw.
The draw pitches Chelsea against the Spanish giants for the third time in this competition. Currently the record stands all square with Barcelona progressing in 2000 and Chelsea progressing last year. However, memories of the events that soured the tie last season are still fresh. Hopefully, this season will not see a repeat as the eyes of most of Europe will be focussed on this classic tie between probably the two best club sides in Europe. The Spanish giants are also currently the highest scorers in the competiton this year. The ties are scheduled to be played on the following dates;
First Leg – 21st / 22nd February 2006
Second Leg – 7th / 8th March 2006 (Information later confirmed that Chelsea would entertain Barcelona on Wednesday 22nd February whilst Barcelona would host Chelsea on Tuesday 7th March)
Unfortunately, unless Chelsea launch an appeal, Michael Essien will be missing from the line up for both legs.
The other ties in this round are listed below;
Real Madrid v Arsenal
Werder Bremen v Juventus
Bayern Munich v AC Milan
PSV Eindhoven v Lyon
Ajax v Inter Milan
Benfica v Liverpool
Rangers v Villarreal
Incidentally, whilst the dates for the ties have been listed above, Inter Milan, due to their ground share arrangement with AC Milan, will play the second leg of their tie against Ajax on Tuesday 14th March 2006.
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