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Champions League: Manchester United draw Real Madrid

Sport
Manchester United have been drawn against Spanish giants Real Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Manchester United have been drawn against Spanish giants Real Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Report by BBC Online

The match will see Cristiano Ronaldo return to Old Trafford for the first time since his £80m move from United to Real in June 2009.

Celtic will play Italian side Juventus, while Arsenal take on last year’s beaten finalists Bayern Munich.

Barcelona take on AC Milan, while Borussia Dortmund face Shakhtar Donetsk.

Valencia have been drawn against Paris Saint-Germain and Porto take on Malaga, while Galatasaray will play Schalke.

But the undoubted tie of the round sees nine-times winners Real take on United for the first time in nine years.

The sides last met in the 2002-03 semi-final with the Spaniards triumphing 6-5 on aggregate.

Real won the first leg of that tie 3-1 and were indebted in the second leg to a virtuoso performance from the Brazilian Ronaldo, who scored a hat-trick and was applauded off the Old Trafford pitch, as United won 4-3.

As group winners, United will again play the second leg of the tie at home.

Celtic and Arsenal, as group runners-up, will play their first legs at home.

Hoops manager Neil Lennon is looking forward to a “beauty” of a tie against Italian champions Juventus.

“In terms of glamour it’s a beauty,” he said. “Juventus are one of the great traditional European teams. So in terms of glamour it’s great, in terms of qualification it is going to very tough.”

The first legs will be played on either February 12/13 or 19/20, with the return matches on March 5/6 or 12/13.

More to follow.

Champions League round of 16 draw:

Galatasaray v FC Schalke

Celtic v Juventus

Arsenal v Bayern Munich

Shakhtar Donetsk v Borussia Dortmund

AC Milan v Barcelona

Real Madrid v Manchester United

Valencia v Paris Saint-Germain

FC Porto v Malaga