All roads lead to Wembley ahead of Champions League draw

PARIS (AFP) –

Chelsea‘s Raul Meireles (left) and defender Jose Bosingwa celebrate with the trophy after their UEFA Champions League victory over Bayern Munich on May 19, 2012 at the Fussball Arena stadium in Munich. A ceremony to be held in Nyon, Switzerland on Thursday will unveil the much-anticipated pairings for the knockout phase of the Champions League.

A ceremony to be held in Nyon, Switzerland on Thursday will unveil the much-anticipated pairings for the knockout phase of the Champions League, as the 16 remaining teams continue their quest to reach the May 25 final at Wembley.

A fresh champion will lift one of the most recognisable trophies in the game after holders Chelsea suffered the humiliation of becoming the first defending champions to exit following the group phase.

Perennial favourites Barcelona go into the hat for next February’s matches, as the team everyone wants to avoid, although fellow pool winners Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund, Malaga, Juventus, Schalke 04 and Bayern Munich are all guaranteed to avoid the four-time champions as seeded teams.

Real Madrid, who won the last of their nine European Cups in 2002, are the pick of the second-placed group teams although along with Valencia, they cannot face their Catalan arch-rivals as teams from the same country cannot face each other until the quarter-finals.

Paris Saint-Germain — who make their first appearance in the knockout stages since 1995 — had the best record in the group round as two-time champion Carlo Ancelotti guided the mega-rich capital outfit to five wins and one defeat, 1-0 against Porto.

Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs (L) fights for the ball with Cluj’s Rafael Bastos during their UEFA Champions League Group H match at Old Trafford in Manchester, on December 5, 2012. Despite their two group losses, Man United finished on top of Group H.

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho who guided Porto and Inter Milan to unexpected crowns in 2004 and 2010 respectively prophesised that 1997 champions Dortmund can go all the way under Juergen Klopp, after pipping his team to top spot and finishing undefeated.

Bayern Munich are off to a blistering start in the Bundesliga where they are runaway leaders and are back on track to win their first Champions League since beating Valencia in 2001.

Their opponents will come from a group that include Real Madrid, Celtic, Porto, Shakhtar or Arsenal.

Manchester United who won the first of their three European Cups in 1968 when Bobby Charton and George Best were on target in the 4-1 win over Benfica at Wembley are another team to avoid.

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi controls the ball during their UEFA Champions League Group G match against Benfica at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, on December 5, 2012. Perennial favourites and group winners Barca go into the hat on Thursday for next February’s last 16 matches, as the team everyone wants to avoid.

Although they went out in the group phase last season, manager Alex Ferguson has again tweaked the Old Trafford juggernaut with the inspired signing of Robin van Persie who has already combined with Wayne Rooney for 19 domestic goals, including his league leading 12.

The same cannot be said of Arsenal who came closest to becoming continental champions in 2006, when they lost 2-1 against Barcelona, but the poor league form of Arsene Wenger’s men in December will count for nothing in a two-legged knockout round, two months down the road.

Juventus took four points off Chelsea including a 3-0 home thrashing and a 49-game unbeaten run in Serie A speaks for itself as the Serie A champions bid for their third title after wins in 1985 and 1996.

Schalke were the biggest surprise as group winners, but a run of just two points from 18 in Bundesliga action cost Dutchman Huub Stevens his job and the coaching duties now lie with former Stuttgart handler Jens Keller.

Another group winner to look out for is Malaga who are in the competition for the first time in club history thanks to some inspired leadership from Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini.

The cash rich Costa del Sol outfit finished well clear of AC Milan to set them up nicely for Thursday’s draw.