Nobody Said It Was Easy, No One Ever Said It Would Be This Hard

Congratulations to Ms. Stacy Villescas for correctly naming "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles as the Thursday Song of the Day. Stacy, if you want to think of a win in the illustrious Song of the Day contest as my Christmas gift to you, so be it.

The UEFA Champions League first knockout round draw was held this morning at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. Here's how things shook out for Europe's elite footballing clubs:

• Arsenal FC (England) v. AC Milan (Italy and current Champions League title holders)



• Olympique Lyonnais (France) v. Manchester United FC (England)



• Celtic FC (Scotland) v. FC Barcelona (Spain)



• Schalke 04 (Germany) v. FC Porto (Portugal)



• AS Roma (Italy) v. Real Madrid CF (Spain)



• Olympiacos CFP (Greece) v. Chelsea FC (England)



• Fenerbahce (Turkey) v. FC Sevilla (Spain)

And the moment you've all been waiting for...

Liverpool FC v. Internazionale Milan (Italy)

Yes, that's right, Liverpool drew the two-time defending Serie A champions who also happen to be on a 16 game unbeaten run to open the 2007-2008 Serie A campaign. Does that mean that the Liverpool faithful will not be thrilled by the chance to take down Inter and claim victory in the legendary San Siro? No sir. Every one of the teams left in the competition at this point is capable of greatness and the Reds must live by the maxim of "Face them now or face them later."

In the other matchups, the Arsenal-AC Milan matches are going to be outstanding. It is always fun to watch the old guard take on the up-and-comers and this is definitely the case with Arsene Wenger's "kids" taking on the battle-hardened lineup from AC Milan. At this point, I'm going with Arsenal to progress.
Man. U., as usual, drew a Lyon side that is talented, but at this point must be considered among the weaker remaining teams in the field of 16. Barring any significant injuries between now and February, I'm picking Man. U. to win this matchup in a fairly easy fashion. It pains me just to write that.
The Celtic-Barcelona matches are probably going to a more entertaining version of the Rangers (Scotland)-Barcelona matches during the Group Stages. I have no doubt that Celtic Park will be a sight to behold when Barca come calling, but I think that Ronaldinho, Messi, Henry, Eto'o, Deco & Co. will just be too much for Celtic to contain; Barca moves on to the Round of 8.
The Schalke-Porto matchup is a combination of some of the lesser-known teams remaining in the competition but the Germans clawed back from an early deficit to claim the second qualifying spot from Group B and Porto won Group A, the same group as Liverpool. Even though Schalke is a strong team, I think the individual brilliance of Porto's playmakers like Quaresma, Lisandro Lopez, Sektioui, and Lucho Gonzales will guide the Portuguese giants to victory.
Roma-Real Madrid presents a very interesting Round of 16 matchup due to the star power and name recognition presented by both sides. I know that there are a lot of people who are pointing to Madrid as the team that will the trophy in Moscow, but I have to go with Roma in this matchup. The leadership of Francesco Totti and the brilliance of Mancini will lead the Italian side to the Round of 8.
Olympiacos versus Cheslea is a case of a relatively unknown team against a squad that is world-renowned. It should be noted that key Chelsea players such as Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, and John Obi Mikel will be back from national team duty at the African Cup of Nations in time for these matches, and I expect Chelsea to advance from this pairing. You don't know how much I endured composing that last sentence as well.
Finally, Fenerbahce versus Sevilla, even more than Schalke versus Porto, presents a matchup between the competition's two dark horses. Even though Sevilla has won the last two UEFA cups (the NIT to the Champions League's NCAA tournament), they still manage to fly under the radar thanks to the fact that they play in the same league as media darlings Real Madrid and Barcelona. In what will no doubt be some highly entertaining matches, I see Fenerbahce advancing to the Round of 8.

Remember kids, it's the most wonderful time of the year.