Man City draws date with Barca

Champions League last 16 will feature Bayern vs Arsenal rematch

Manchester City's fear of drawing one of Europe's big guns in the Champions League round of 16 was realized on Monday when it was handed a daunting tie with four-time winner Barcelona.

Holder Bayern Munich will play Arsenal at the same stage for the second successive season while Chelsea hero Didier Drogba will make an emotional return to London with current side Galatasaray following Monday's draw.

Nine-time winner Real Madrid takes on Schalke 04 and last season's runner-up Borussia Dortmund will play Zenit St. Petersburg, which scraped through with six points after winning only one of its six group games.

French champion Paris St. Germain will play Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid is paired with AC Milan.

"Very tough; we are happy because we are here and we will fight for the trophy, but it's true that it could be maybe better," City director of soccer Txiki Begiristain, who held the same position at Barcelona and spent seven years as a player with the Spanish club, told Sky Sports.

Despite the tough draw, City will take confidence from a strong home form which has seen it score a remarkable 35 goals in eight home league matches this season.

City also notched a win over Bayern earlier this month, although it was not enough to finish atop its group.

"Barca is a champion side playing with confidence and has that champion's mentality, which is going to make it tough for us," Begiristain said.

"But we are playing well and creating a lot of scoring chances and that gives us a lot of confidence."

Exceptional quality

Barcelona shares top spot in La Liga with Atletico Madrid, and will hope to have striker Lionel Messi back from a thigh strain in time for the first leg in February.

"It's a tie of exceptional quality to get the competition going again in February," Barcelona sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta told Spanish television broadcaster Canal Plus.

"They are two teams that attack very well and have a huge amount of talent right from the goalkeepers through to the forward line.

"It seems like it will be a match with everything and I think it is going to be a very tough fight."

Bayern defeated Arsenal on away goals in last season's round of 16 on its way to its fifth title.

The German champion won the first game at Emirates Stadium 3-1 but lost 2-0 at home, and its chief executive, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, is not looking forward to a rematch with the Premier League leader.

"They are the leaders in the Premier League and so we have been warned," he said.

"A few months ago we lost to them in Munich. They are a very tough team."

Chelsea has an intriguing tie against Galatasaray and former Stamford Bridge favorite Drogba.

The Cote d'Ivorian ended his Chelsea career on a high after scoring the deciding penalty in the shootout success over Bayern in the 2012 final, and the London side's manager, Jose Mourinho, spoke recently of his hope that the two teams would meet.

Meanwhile, three-time winner Manchester United will play Greek champion Olympiakos Piraeus, while Atletico will square off against struggling AC Milan, which sits 10th in Serie A, 24 points behind leader Juventus and 16 points off the last Champions League qualification spot.

"They may not be experiencing their best moment, but we are talking about Milan," Atletico Madrid director Clemente Villaverde told Canal Plus.

"We are not talking about just anyone here but a great team with a very significant history that will make them a force in any competition they are part of.

"We obviously have a lot of respect for all the teams but we do not fear anyone."

The final is at Lisbon's Stadium of Light on May 24.

Champions League Lisbon ambassador Luis Figo holds up Barcelona's ticket during Monday's draw for the Champions League round of 16. Keystone,Laurent Gillieron / Associated Press