Defending champions AC Milan were drawn against Arsenal in the last 16, knockout phase of the Champions League here on Friday.
AC’s city rivals Inter, unbeaten and flying high in Serie A, will play Liverpool, whom AC Milan beat 2-1 in last season’s final.
Arsenal, who missed out on a favourable seed ranking after finishing second in the qualifying group, will host the Italian club on February 19/20 with the return leg in Milan on March 4/5.
The London club will have their work cut out against Milan, who last week were also crowned world club champions after their 4-2 victory over Boca Juniors in Japan.
Despite standing 22 points behind Italian league leaders Inter, AC Milan also boast the FIFA Player of the Year and European Footballer of the Year in Brazilian playmaker Kaka.
AC Milan and Arsenal have only met once before - in 1994 in the European Superclub competition, the Italians coming away with a 2-0 aggregate win.
Arsenal managing director Keith Edelman insisted they won’t fear the seven-time Champions League winners.
“It’s a great match and I’m sure the fans will be trying to book tickets already,” Edelman said.
“Games don’t come much bigger than this. I’m sure it will be highly charged and very competitive.
“I think we would have preferred an easier one. We want to win all four competitions and we’ve got a big enough squad to compete in all of them.”
Chelsea apart, the draw was also hard for the three other British teams in European club football’s showpiece tournament.
Celtic will face 2006 winners Barcelona, while Manchester United face six-time French champions Lyon.
Liverpool, winners in 2005 and losing finalists last season, paid for having finished as a group runner-up with a tricky tie against Inter Milan.
Anfield chief executive Rick Parry expressed confidence that Liverpool could go on another long run in competition this season.
“We stopped a few hearts in the way we qualified. We’ve done well in recent years and we want to do well again,” he said.
“It’s a big one but it was going to be big whoever we drew. It’s a very long time since we played them.
“They are a very good team and they doing well in the Italian league. It’s going to be tough.”
Roma were drawn against Spanish giants and nine-time former champions Real Madrid in what promises to be another humdinger of a match-up.
Chelsea play Greek underdogs Olympiacos, while German club Schalke 04 will no doubt be happy after being drawn against Porto, winners of the Champions League in 2004.
Completing the draw was the tie between Turkish champions Fenerbahce and Sevilla, who trumped Arsenal to top their group and land themselves a tie they will be confident of winning.
Celtic (SCO) v Barcelona (ESP)
Lyon (FRA) v Manchester United (ENG)
Schalke 04 (GER) v FC Porto (POR)
Liverpool (ENG) v Inter Milan (ITA)
AS Roma (ITA) v Real Madrid (ESP)
Arsenal (ENG) v AC Milan (ITA)
Olympiacos (GRE) v Chelsea (ENG)
Fenerbahce (TUR) v Sevilla (ESP)
(Matches to be played - first leg on February 19/20 with return leg on March 4/5)
Entries (RSS)