Daves On Soccer

No easy road for the Gunners. They'll face Real Madrid, in what is sure to be a classic (if both sides can live up to it).

The full draw:
Arsenal v. Real Madrid
Barcelona v. Chelsea
Liverpool v. Benfica
Villareal v. Rangers
Juventus v. Werder Bremen
AC Milan v. Bayern Munich
Lyon v. PSV Eindhoven
Inter Milan v. Ajax

Quick thoughts:

• Arsenal have a tough challenge. The galacticos of Real Madrid will not go down easily. But their threat is a bit lessened this year, falling to fourth in the table, and shedding a few points in the group stage too. Of course, Arsenal is in a similar situation, at least domestically. As I said previously, there aren't really any easy draws, but I would probably rather face Real Madrid than the German teams, for instance. If nothing else, it should make for exciting soccer. As things stand right now, Arsenal and Real Madrid are probably two of the top four teams for scintillating attack... and both have corrseponding defensive holes, too. With such a classic matchup, I finally have hopes that ESPN will cover this match. I'd better plan for a vacation day or two...
  
• Chelsea will be challenged too. Barcelona have been very good all year, and look extremely dangerous of late, winning their last 11 games. This is a repeat of last year's matchup, and it was a classic, with Barcelona winning 2-1 at home, followed by a 4-2 win for Chelsea.
  
• There are some other classics, too: Lyon-PSV should be excellent, as well as both German-Italian matchups. Inter-Ajax could be interesting too, though Ajax in particular are not on their best form this year.
  
• Liverpool have an interesting draw with Benfica. On paper it's a winnable tie, but Benfica certainly gave Man Utd fits. If nothing else, Liverpool will have a chance to add insult to Man Utd's injury, if they easily handle the Portugese side when United couldn't.
  
• Villareal have the lucky draw in facing Rangers, but then again, Rangers could have faced much worse teams.

Looks like some quality matchups. Plenty of time to think on them; the next matches will be played on 22 February and 8 March 2006. Should be fun!