Champions League Draw Results

The Champions League draw took place in the HQ of UEFA in Nyon, Switzerland yesterday and the draws are quite interesting. FRMS takes a look and gives an opinion.

Ignore the lady on the left.

First legs to be played on 15/16 and 22/23 February

Second legs to be played on 8/9 and 15/16 March

AS Roma vs Shakhtar Donetsk

Shakhtar Donetsk will take on Italy's Roma in the last 16 of the Champions League and Shakhtar defied all odds after they defeated favourites Arsenal and topped their group.

FRMS Prediction: As much as I like Shakhtar , I can only see one winner and that winner is Roma based on experience.

AC Milan vs Tottenham Hotspur

Spurs made history as they topped their group and went past the group stages after a long absence (40 years or something) from the competition.

Spurs might be newbies but they will be travelling to San Siro, a familiar ground for the North London side especially to Gareth Bale who scored a hat-trick against San Siro OTHER tenant's Inter.

FRMS Prediction: This is a tough decision to make as two great attacking forces meet in the biggest competition in the world. My admiration for Spurs have grown over the years with their attacking flair but their leaky defense means me leaning -only just- towards the Italian side.

Valencia vs Schalke 04

Both Schalke and Valencia have prowess in front of goal with the German side having the legendary, incredible Raul on their team alongside Klass Jan Huntelaar while Valencia have coped with the losses of the Davids, Silva and Villa well after new signing Roberto Soldado living up to expectations.

Don't forget that this tie means Raul going back to Spain. Long Live Raul!

FRMS Prediction: Another difficult one to predict but I expect Schalke's experience as well as their solid defense to come on top against Valencia. ( I still love you, Valencia)

Inter vs Bayern Munich

A replay of last year's final which gives Bayern the opportunity to revenge their 2-0 defeat thanks to a Diego Milito brace. Holders Inter - under new manager Rafael Benitez- surprisingly ( for some at least) finished second after being embarrassed by a rampant Spurs side on both occasions they met in the group stages.

FRMS Prediction: Let's face the fact. Rafa Benitez is NOT José Mourinho in every possible way from his sense of style from length of his waistband to gorgeous sexy looks of Mourinho and of course - the 2nd most important of the lot- sheer footballing genius.

Bayern, on the other hand, have Louis Van Gaal as their manager who has the likes of Franck Ribery, Marc Van Bommel, Arjen Robben and Thomas Muller in his squad. I am predicting....A Bayern win.

Adios Fat Spanish Waiter!

Lyon vs Real Madrid

Every Real Madrid fan would have been feeling a little nervy after they were drawn against Lyon, the same team who beat them last year at the same stage of the season. This is certainly an interesting tie and an inspired Lyon can beat any team in Europe.

Mourinho's job will be to erase that memory as well as to break the hoodoo of Real Madrid not advancing past the Round Of 16 after failing to reach the quarters for six years in a row.

FRMS Prediction: Not even the Gourcuff factor can save Lyon as Mourinho will be more determined than ever to make sure Real Madrid book their place in the quarter finals of the Champions League.

Arsenal vs Fc Barcelona

The draw every neutral and non-Arsenal fan was hoping for.

Arsenal finished second which meant facing one of the big boys of Europe at such an early stage in the competition and nothing gets bigger than FC Barcelona, possibly the best team in the world especially with the legendary magician, Lionel Messi scoring goals for them.

This exciting draw also means Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas will be travelling back - if he is fit- to his hometown to face his childhood club and the club he shamelessly flirted with during the summer on a will-he-won't-he transfer saga before committing himself to the Gunners.

FRMS Prediction: Clearly expecting a Barcelona win. Messi factor plays a huge role and Barcelona are not even a one-man team with the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Villa to be wary of.

I expect Messi to score 10 goals against THAT defense. Seriously.

Marseille vs Manchester United

Gabriel Heinze will be returning back to his former club and don't expect a warm reception from the Old Trafford faithful as he once tried to sign for Liverpool.

United have a great record against French opposition but don't expect many goals to be scored. Marseille is also the former club of the King, Eric Cantona.

FRMS Prediction: No predictions for my life-long love, Man United. Its just not to jinx them. Sorry for the biasness.

FC Copenhagen vs Chelsea

FC Copenhagen might be lowly on paper but they have a great home record including drawing 1-1 against Barcelona in the group stages. Chelsea, on the other hand, are having a slight blip but when ties are played, I expect them to start scoring goals for fun.

FRMS Prediction: Chelsea win. ....

Fergie : Wayne Has Decided To Leave

After much speculation from the media about Rooney's future with Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson has come out and spoken honestly about the situation to MUTV and he has said that Wayne Rooney does not want to add an extension to his contract.

David Gill, chief executive of United received a call from Rooney's agent saying that Wayne Rooney was not going to sign his new contract;"I was in the office on August 14 when David told me he’d had a call from his agent saying that Wayne wasn’t going to sign his contract. So then David came across to see me. He said he couldn’t believe it and neither could I. I was dumbfounded, I couldn’t understand it at all because only months before he’d said he was at the biggest club in the world and he wanted to stay for life. We just don’t know what’s changed the boy’s mind. David was shocked, I was shocked. "

Sir Alex also said that there was no row between the two at all contradicting the statements from the press.

Ferguson looks dejected as he faces the press before a Champions League encounter with Bursaspor. The journalists were asked to keep all Rooney questions till the latter part of the presser.

How ironic does this look now? He kisses the badge on his chest, then puts in a transfer request, Wayne Rooney,Wayne Rooney.

I want him to end up like this hobo

Unique Celebration From Eto'o

Samuel Eto'o was part of Inter's 4-0 trashing of Werder Bremen in the Champions League and Eto'o scored a hattrick.After scoring his third goal, Eto'o ran over to the press area, borrowed a camera and took some pictures of Wesley Sneijder as he came over to join the celebration. Why? No one knows.

Video...

Manchester United Train For Rangers Game

As United put the Everton game behind them, here are some shots of the players training before a "Battle of Britain" clash against Rangers FC in the Champions League.

Not many players are more experienced than Ryan Giggs. In fact, only Paulo Maldini and Raul have made more Champions League appearances as Giggsy is about to embark on his 20th European campaign when United face Rangers.

Fergie is of course delighted in facing his former club which is managed by his former assistant Walter Smith.

Wayne Rooney was also there to train and all the cameras were on him as his private life gets magnetized everyday .

Anderson was also there after recovering from a 6 month injury from a cruciate ligament.

@RioFerdy5 follow him on twitter... Rio Ferdinand also return to training after recovering from an ankle injury on the eve of the World Cup.

UEFA Champions League Draw and Club Footballer of the Year Award Show

Wesley Sneijder, Julio Cesar, Diego Milito and Maicon won the awards for Best Midfielder, Goalkeeper, Forward and Defender respectively . They all have one thing in common: They all play for Inter which was made fun of Michel Platini.

But they can be only one winner: Milito went back home as UEFA Club Footballer of the Year.

All the winners had to tell out which club was being drawn after receiving the prize.

Julio Cesar said "My Club" with a grin when he pulled out Inter's name.

Wesley Sneijder smiles with a grin after pulling out childhood club AFC Ajax.

All players pose with Moratti, Inter's president.

Here’s the full draw for the group stage of the 2010-11 Champions League:

Group A: Inter (the holders), Werder Bremen, Tottenham, Twente

Group B: Lyon, Benfica, Schalke 04, Hapoel Tel Aviv

Group C: Man Utd, Valencia, Rangers, Bursaspor

Group D: Barcelona, Panathinaikos, Copenhagen, Rubin

Group E: Bayern Munich, Roma, FC Basel, Cluj

Group F: Chelsea, Marseille, Spartak Moscow, Zilina

Group G: Milan, Real Madrid, Ajax, Auxerre

Group H: Arsenal, Shakhtar Donetsk, Braga, Partizan

Tough draw for Spurs, but there’s no doubt about the Group of Death: Group G. Once again, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Man Utd get a free pass.Fergie played with Rangers when he was playing.Its been a while.

Champions League Draw: The Verdict

The full quarter-final draw for the Champions League is as follows:

Lyon v Bordeaux

Bayern Munich v Manchester United

Arsenal v Barcelona

Inter Milan v CSKA Moscow

The first legs will be played on March 30/31 and the second legs on April 6/7.

The semi-final draw for the Champions League is as follows:

Bayern Munich/Manchester United v Lyon/Bordeaux

Inter Milan/CSKA Moscow v Arsenal/Barcelona

The first legs will be played on April 20/21 and the second legs on April 27/28.It was not what I expected. I didn't expect Lyon to face Bordeaux in a French derby. The hardest one is for Arsenal who face Barcelona who are the defending champions & favourites to win again. For United, its deja vu of the 1999 Final in Nou Camp where United won.If Arsenal and Inter win against Barcelona and CSKA Moscow respectively, José Mourinho and Arséne Wenger will be "reunited" as old foes with a bitter rivalry dating back from José's Chelsea days. Whoever wins it, i am pretty sure it will be a cracker!

UEFA Champions League Draw Preview

Ahh...The Draw. I can't wait for it. As a United fan, I must watch it and see who will face the Red Devils. I also can see Inter face Arsenal to revive a old verbal rivalry between Jose Mourinho and Arsène Wenger aka the Voyeur. Barcelona is the club everyone wants to avoid at this stage and the defending champions are the favourites to be in Madrid for the final and possibly win. 2 from England, 2 from France, and 1 each from Spain, Italy, Germany and Russia makes it one of the most shocking final 8 as Real and Chelsea were expected to be part of Europe's finest Eight but were shown the exit by Lyon and Internazionale. With the draw just hours away, my heart is pounding really fast and my palms are starting to sweat. Whoever gets drawn with Man United, I will be hoping that it will be a cracker.