Champions League Last 16 Draw

Earlier today, the knockout 1st round draws for the Champions League and Europa League and, as always, it has thrown up some exciting ties.

City v Barcelona

Last year produced Manchester United and Real Madrid as the marquee tie of the last 16. This year, however, it's the other Manchester club and Real's arch rivals Barcelona that are in the spotlight. We all know of City's majestic home form this year netting seven past Norwich and six past Spurs, although not to the same degree of difficulty as Barcelona. Their away form has not been so hot. Losing to Cardiff, Aston Villa and Sunderland, the 'Noisy Neighbours' will be hoping to score goals galore at the Etihad in order to pile the pressure all on the Blaugrana at the Camp Nou. City have every reason to be confident.

Olympiakos v Man United

The other side of Manchester find themselves away to Greek side Olympiakos in the first leg. Olympiakos finished second in their group behind French Champions, Paris Saint Germain, and narrowly pipping Benfica to the post on goal difference. On the other hand, Manchester United came through their group with only conceding 3 goals, the joint lowest this year with Chelsea and Athletico Madrid. They polished off their campaign with a 5 star performance against a lacklustre Leverkusen side and also finished unbeaten. The table clearly shows that their below par league performances this season are not impacting their Champions League form...yet.

Galatasaray v Chelsea

The Galatasaray Chelsea game sees Didier Drogba face his old team mates from West London. On paper, I would think that Chelsea would do well against them, but on grass, this plucky Galatasaray side could prove a stumbling block for the boys in blue. The Turks lost 3 games in the group stage - more than any other team in the last sixteen - and finished on seven points behind Real Madrid. On the optimistic side of things, they did send Italian giants Juventus packing into the Europa League. Chelsea lost two matches in their group, but I expect them to scrape past this Galatasaray side.

Arsenal v Bayern

Piers Morgan could not of wished for a worse tie. Arsenal will be looking for revenge after Bayern dumped them out of the last sixteen the previous campaign on away goals. Just two goals separated Arsenal from finishing top of their group behind Borussia Dortmund, even though they pinched a win away at Dortmund. Bayern narrowly beat City to top spot recording only one loss on the last game-week against the Manchester club. However their commanding victory in the opening game against City, shows that the reigning European Champions are the best club team in the world. With both top of each table, this promises to be a fast paced match with attacking football played all round the park.

Other notable ties sees an erratic AC Milan side take on dark horses Athletico Madrid, while PSG clash with Leverkusen, Schalke meet Real and Zenit take on last year's runner up, Borussia Dortmund.

My prediction -

Man City to beat Barcelona

Man United to beat Olympiakos

Chelsea to beat Galatasaray

Bayern to beat Arsenal

Athletico Madrid to beat AC Milan

PSG to beat Leverkusen

Real Madrid to beat Schalke

Borussia Dortmund to beat Zenit.