REAL MADRID – MANCHESTER UNITED:
Emilio Butragueño, Real Madrid’s Director of Institutional Relations: “This will be an excellent match for the fans. For the players, playing a great team and prestigious organization like Manchester is a special source of motivation. We hope to go into the match in good condition, with all of our players fit and full confidence in our team”.
Sir Alex Ferguson: “Well, it’s the tie of the round. “It’s a great opportunity for our fans to see Cristiano again and also for me to meet up with Jose again – I’ll need to order some good wine!”
AC MILAN – FC BARCELONA:
Massimiliano Allegri: We’re up against the best team in the world. All the same we’ll try and get through hoping to be luckier than we were last year.”
Andoni Zubizarreta FC Barcelona’s Director of Football: “We’re talking about two big teams, a Milan-Barça always sounds good.” They are always a tough and difficult team, with a lot of history, an enormous stadium, good players and Bojan.”“Playing the return leg at home is vital in any playoff. It’s always helpful. However, we need to plan well for the first match so we can enjoy the second one. The away leg at the San Siro will be very demanding.”
ARSENAL – BAYERN MUNICH:
Arsene Wenger: “I heard this morning, the general secretary of UEFA saying that in the last 16 you have only five teams from last year that were in the last 16. That means 11 newcomers in the last 16, that shows you how quickly it changes and how difficult it is to be in there. “The German clubs for example have made a big, big leap forward.”
Podolski adds: “It’s a big club but we have the chance to win against Bayern Munich. They have a very good team with big players. “They have Gomez up front, they have Ribery, Schweinsteiger, Philipp Lahm, Manuel Neuer. There are two matches, one at home [and] one away. Both teams have the chance to win.”
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge: “We know Arsenal well. We can be satisfied with the draw, but we mustn’t underestimate them. It’s important we try to come away from London with a good result, score a goal there and lay down a marker. We can win it, and we start as favourites.”
CELTIC GLASGOW – JUVENTUS:
Manager Neil Lennon: “Juventus are one of the great, traditional European teams,” he said. “They are current Italian champions and finished the group very strongly. “In terms of glamour it´s great and in terms of qualification it´s going to be very tough, but it could have been any of the other teams and it would have been just as tough. “We will take it as it comes. We´re looking forward to the games now and I´m sure our supporters will be as well.
“Juventus are littered with world-class stars and have been very consistent over 18 months now. They have a great winning mentality but so have we. “To come through the group as impressively as we did you just never know where you will be in a month or two´s time in terms of fitness and form. “We´re just hoping we can time it right for the two games. It´s very exciting for the club and very exciting for me as a young manager to be in this position to sit there and watch the draw.
Coach Antonio Conte: “We need to consider our Champions League experience as a path of development, regardless of the opposition we face. “Celtic are a good team, they beat Barcelona and qualified from a group containing strong sides such as Benfica and Spartak Moscow. They can count on excellent players like Georgios Samaras and Kris Commons.
“We’ll go into the encounter with great enthusiasm, maximum respect for the Scots and the desire to do our best in our Champions League adventure.”
and also…
VALENCIA – PSG
SHAKTHAR-DORTMUND
GALATASARAY-SCHALKE
PORTO-MALAGA
Source: Official clubs’ webiste
