The Champions League draw was made earlier today and provided interesting match-ups for all of the German sides. Bayern München face Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk in the last 16 whilst Borussia Dortmund play Juventus. FC Schalke 04 face Real Madrid, who include World Champions Toni Kroos and Sami Khedira in their squad, and the final tie involving a German team sees Bayer Leverkusen face Athletico Madrid.
Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski will be hoping to be involved when Arsenal face AS Monaco. André Schürrle's Chelsea side have been drawn against Paris Saint-Germain, whilst Marc-André ter Stegen and his FC Barcelona teammates play Manchester City.
The draw was made in Nyon earlier today by Karl-Heinz Riedle, who won the World Cup in 1990 and the Champions League with Borussia Dortmund in 1997.
The first-legs will take place on 17th/18th and 24th/25th February 2015. The return legs will take place on 10th/11th and 17th/18th March. The final will take place in Berlin on 6th June.
An overview of the last 16
Paris St. Germain – Chelsea
Manchester City - FC Barcelona
Bayer Leverkusen - Athletico Madrid
Juventus - Borussia Dortmund
FC Schalke 04 - Real Madrid
Shakhtar Donetsk - Bayern München
Arsenal - AC Monaco
FC Basel - FC Porto
Reaction to the draw
SHAKHTAR DONETSK - BAYERN MÜNCHEN
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Bayern München CEO): Shakhtar Donetsk is a good draw and we’ll certainly be favourites, but we’ll show great respect in both matches. Shakhtar played some very good games in the group stages. It’s definitely going to be a new experience for us.
Pep Guardiola (Bayern München manager): Bayern haven’t played Donetsk before. I’ve faced them five times: Four times in the Champions League and once in the Supercup. Mircea Lucescu is one of the best coaches in Europe. They have some good Brazilian players, a lot of young talent and attack constantly. I look forward to the games and expect them to be difficult. I have a lot of respect for Shakhtar.
Matthias Sammer (Bayern München sporting director): We don’t know them, but any team that makes it through the group stage against the likes of Bilbao has the class. Their striker Luiz Adriano is currently top scorer in the Champions League. We respect Donetsk but intend to progress.
Philipp Lahm (Bayern München captain): Donetsk are certainly dangerous opponents, but despite that we have to make the next round. FC Bayern’s minimum target is always the quarter-finals.
Arjen Robben (Bayern München): I think it’s good we have something different and not Arsenal again (laughs). We’ll have to watch out, they have a few really good Brazilians. We’ll analyse our opponents closely and concentrate hard.
b>Franck Ribéry (Bayern München): It could certainly have been worse, but let’s be cautious. Donetsk are strong. Provided we concentrate and dig deep I’m confident.
BORUSSIA DORTMUND - JUVENTUS
Hans-Joachim Watzke (Borussia Dortmund CEO): Whoever you face in the last 16 will be tough. Regardless of the situation in the league for both sides, I feel that it’s an even tie on paper. Juve are doing well in the Italian league and have a lot of experience. They are tough opponents.
Michael Zorc (Borussia Dortmund sporting director): I’m not as excited about the draw as I was in previous years. The situation in the Bundesliga makes things a bit negative. We have had memorable games against Juventus previously. I hope that by February our performance levels will have increased. Anything can happen across the two games – we want to qualify.
SCHALKE 04 - REAL MADRID
Horst Heldt (Schalke 04 sporting director): We go into the tie as outsiders and will need a moment of magic. The draw made by Karl-Heinz Riedle echoed our performance at the weekend – a good start followed by a bad ending!
Peter Peters (Schalke 04 financial director): The draw is what it is. We go into the games as outsiders but anything can happen. Real are the best side in the world at the moment – we want to improve on our showing against them last year. It’s important that our injured players are back ahead of the games.
Emilio Butragueno (Real Madrid): Schalke won’t be an easy team to beat. We hope to pick up a good result in the first game. Last year we had a lot of luck in the games against them. We respect Schalke, especially their wonderful supporters.
BAYER LEVERKUSEN - ATHLETICO MADRID
Rudi Völler (Bayer Leverkusen sporting director): Athletico are the Spanish champions and we have a huge challenge in front of us. I am certain that we have a chance to qualify – it isn’t a foregone conclusion. We played them a few years ago and know a bit about them: Great stadium, great atmosphere. We are looking forward to the games.
Michael Schade (Bayer Leverkusen CEO): There are no easy games in the knock-out stage. Athletico are a tough team to face. We go into the tie as outsiders. Madrid are playing some great football this season and are challenging Real and Barca frequently. We will need to be at our best throughout both games and will probably have to do a lot of defending. If we play well in both games we definitely have a chance to progress.
