Milan rivals face English examination

Holders AC Milan have been paired with Arsenal FC following today's UEFA Champions League first knockout round draw.

Inter challenge
Not only will Milan take on 2006 runners-up Arsenal, but in another Ango-Italian contest last season's finalists and five-time winners Liverpool FC will play FC Internazionale Milano, who have won their last five UEFA Champions League matches and lead Serie A. FC Barcelona, who lifted the trophy in Paris in May 2006, will face Scottish champions Celtic FC while 1999 winners and English title-holders Manchester United FC were pitted with their French counterparts Olympique Lyonnais, in the last 16 for the fifth successive season.

Olympiacos task
FC Schalke 04 meet FC Porto, twice winners of the European Champion Clubs' Cup, and AS Roma tackle nine-time winners Real Madrid CF. Olympiacos CFP, who last reached this stage in 1998/99, come up against Chelsea FC, semi-finalists in three of the last four campaigns but still to play in a final. The last tie to be drawn features Fenerbahçe SK, in the knockout rounds for the first time, and competition debutants Sevilla FC, who lifted the UEFA Cup in each of the last two seasons and topped Group H.

Spring dates
The draw was conducted by UEFA General Secretary David Taylor and Giorgio Marchetti, UEFA's director of professional football. Matches will be played over two legs on 19/20 February and 4/5 March, although the second leg of Inter's encounter with Liverpool will be held on 11 March 2008 due to a stadium clash with Milan.

Fascinating ties
In the ceremony staged at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, the eight winners of the group-stage pools were paired with teams that finished second. No clubs from the same association could be pitted together, while sides that met in the group stage were also kept apart. The draw for the remaining rounds will be made on 14 March, with this year's final taking place in Moscow on 21 May.