The Champions League draw for the round of 16 took place, and Son Heung-Min and Bayer Leverkusen were handed a stiff test against French champions Paris Saint-German. An interesting tie, and one that will fully test Son’s offensive skills as he goes up against a strong defense led by Brazil captain Thiago Silva.
In the other ties, the headline match is between Manchester City and Barcelona. Other attention will be on a reunion between Jose Mourinho and two of his former disciples in Didier Drogba and Wesley Sneijder. That match between Chelsea and Galatasaray will also see Mourinho face off with a man he clashed with in the media, Roberto Mancini.
The ties:
BAYER LEVERKUSEN vs PSG
Olympiacos vs Manchester United
AC Milan vs Atletico Madrid
Galatasaray vs Chelsea
Schalke vs Real Madrid
Zenit St. Petersburg vs Borussia Dortmund
Arsenal vs Bayern Munich
My predictions:
PSG, Manchester United, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, and Bayern Munich will go through.
Not much of a prediction really.
The gulf between the group winners and runners up (Man City aside) is massive. Perhaps a further sign how the rich clubs are increasing the gap between themselves and the rest. We could easily see all eight group winners move on to the quarterfinals.