London rivals have toughest task

North London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have the most difficult tasks among the four English clubs still involved in the Champions League when the round of 16 is played in the coming weeks.

While Arsenal will take on Spanish champions Barcelona, Tottenham face Serie A leaders Milan.

Chelsea and Manchester United will meet FC Copenhagen and Marseille respectively in their bid to reach the quarter-finals.

Four ties are scheduled for next Tuesday and Wednesday with the remaining four first legs being played a week later. Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham have the advantage of playing the first legs away after topping their respective groups.

Last season, two Premier League teams came across opposition from the Italian Serie A. This time, the draws threw up different destinations as clubs from Denmark, France, Italy and Spain await the English teams.

On Tuesday, Milan will host Tottenham at the San Siro and the day after, Arsenal tackle Lionel Messi’s Barcelona at the Emirates Stadium.

On February 22, Chelsea travel to the Parken Stadion to face Copenhagen and the following day, Didier Deschamps’s Marseille welcome Manchester United.

Hereunder is how the English teams finished in their respective Champions League group:

All the scorers

Club scorers throughout the group phase read:

5 − Anelka (Chelsea).
4 − Bale (Tottenham).
3 − Chamakh, Fabregas (Arsenal); Pavyluchenko, Crouch (Tottenham).
2 − Sturridge, Ivanovic (Chelsea); Walcott, Arshavin, Vela, Nasri (Arsenal), Defoe, Van der Vaart, 2 own goals (Tottenham).
1 − Malouda, Drogba, Essien, Terry, Zhirkov (Chelsea); Fletcher, Rooney, Nani, Hernandez, Bebe, Obertan, Anderson (Manchester United); Song, Squillaci, Wilshire, Van Persie (Arsenal); Modric, Kaboul (Tottenham).

Last season, Arsenal were humbled by Barcelona in the quarter-finals.

After a 2-2 home draw in London, the Red were soundly beaten 4-1 at the Nou Camp with Messi scoring all goals for the Spanish giants.

Six years ago Arsene Wenger’s Reds met Barcelona in the ultimate showdown in Paris and 10-man Arsenal lost that final 2-1. On that occasion, the Gunners had suffered the early dismissal of German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann and Robert Pires had to make way for reserve keeper Manuel Almunia.

Arsenal battled bravely and took the lead through Sol Campbell but relentless pressure by Barca saw them winning the match. Arsenal striker Thierry Henry joined the Catalan side in June 2007 for £16m.

The only other occasion these two sides met was also in the Champions League, in the first group phase of the 1999-2000 season. After a draw at the Nou Camp, Arsenal fell flat on their faces at home, going down 2-4.

Tottenham have made a very positive debut in the Champions League, losing only once in six group matches this season.

Milan finished second to Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid, losing two games in the process. The Londoners have already visited the San Siro this season, where they lost by the odd goal in seven to holders Inter.

The first meeting in Europe between Tottenham and Milan was in the semi-finals of the 1971-72 UEFA Cup. After winning 2-1 at White Hart Lane, the Spurs held Milan to a 1-1 draw away and went on to lift the silverware.

Man. United, still unbeaten in the competition this season, will go into their tie against Marseille confident of keeping their record intact. Their defence in Europe has been impeccable as United have only conceded one goal in six matches.

Marseille finished second behind Chelsea in the group. They beat the Londoners 1-0 in France.

Ex-United defender Gabriel Heinze is now in the ranks of the crack Ligue 1 team.

In 1999-2000, Man. United and Marseille met in a group match and the six points at stake were shared... United won 2-1 at Old Trafford but lost the return game 0-1 at the Velodrome.

Last season, FC Copenhagen did not qualify for the Champions League but this time they esta-blished a club record by reaching the first knock-out stage.

The Danish side, managed by Norwegian Stale Solbakken, finished second to Barcelona in Group D.

In 1998-99, Chelsea and Copenhagen met in the second round of the Cup Winners’ Cup. After a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge, the Blues won the away leg 1-0.