CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: LIVERPOOL AND Manchester United each have a one-in-five chance of drawing Jose Mourinho when the make-up of the Champions League knock-out phase emerges today.
Technically, of course, they would be up against Internazionale in the Champions League but the Portuguese does tend to take precedence over whichever team he happens to be managing. There was never any guarantee the rivalry with Liverpool, who twice got the better of him in the semi-finals, and United, would end simply because his time at Chelsea had come to a halt.
The English clubs cannot meet one another at this stage. Nor can there be an immediate rematch for any side with their group rivals. If previous results alone were the guideline that mattered, there would be delight over an encounter with Inter. Mourinho's side went through to the last 16 with a match to spare but had the worst record of any team to survive the group stage. Having beaten Panathinaikos in Athens at the outset, they collected only a further five points to finish as runners-up to the Greeks.
Those results make Inter an enigma. They lead Serie A by six points and are expected to be the champions of Italy for a fourth consecutive season. Despite the highly familiar names in Mourinho's squad, it is yet to be shown that potent results on the Italian scene carry as much weight as those in the Premier League or La Liga.
Meanwhile, Mourinho claims there is "0 per cent chance" of being reunited with Chelsea striker Didier Drogba in January. Mourinho is also adamant that troubled striker Adriano is not heading to Chelsea. The Brazilian has been linked with a move away from the San Siro in January - with reported interest from Chelsea and Flamengo.
The Madrid clubs, who both collected a dozen points in their groups, would each be a concern to United. For the new Real coach, Juande Ramos, the Champions League will receive special attention now that the situation is all but irretrievable in La Liga, where Barcelona seem in control. The same sort of logic applies to Arsenal, whose principal target in the Premier League now is to ensure they retain membership of the top four.
Defeat in Porto left Arsene Wenger's side in second place in their group, but they had beaten the Portuguese side 4-0 at the Emirates before swamping Fenerbahce 5-2 in Istanbul. It is a draw that will inevitably produce enticing contests.
LAST 16 TEAMS
GROUP WINNERS: Roma, Panathinaikos, Barcelona, Liverpool, Manchester Utd, Bayern Munich, Porto, Juventus.
GROUP RUNNERS-UP: Chelsea, Inter Milan, Sporting Lisbon, Atletico Madrid, Villarreal, Lyon, Arsenal, Real Madrid.
