Planet Sport

twelve Chelsea midfielder Deco insists the club's fans will have a massive part to play when they face Juventus in the last 16.

The Blues were paired with the Italian giants in yesterday's draw and will take on former boss Claudio Ranieri's side at Stamford Bridge in February.

It will be vital for them to build up a decent first-leg lead before they head to Turin for the re-match.

Chelsea have not faced Juventus before but Deco played against them for Porto back in 2001 - losing out 3-1 on aggregate.

"Juventus is a great club and they have a very good team with experience," Deco said. "It will be a difficult game but I think that we can win. It is different in the knockout stage, the passion is different, and they are two big games you need to try to win - but I like this.

"The crowd at home will be important because the first leg will decide how the second game can be played. We need the fans to help us."

England's clubs all have difficult ties with Arsenal facing Chelsea's group winners AS Roma, and Liverpool drawn against Real Madrid.

Former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho will pit his wits against old adversary Sir Alex Ferguson after Inter Milan were drawn against the English champions.

However, Chelsea's assistant coach Ray Wilkins is excited by the prospect of playing a club he knew well during his playing days with AC Milan.

Wilkins said: "The news of the draw was brought out to us on the training pitch, and it's terrific.

"It was always going to be a tough old game no matter who we played. Juventus are a great club, one of the biggest in European football and we are looking forward to it immensely.

"Roma were a big test for us and I am sure they will be for Arsenal as well, but Juventus are a better team, they are higher than Roma in the table.

"We are under no illusion it is going to very difficult for us, they will be well organised, they have some good players, none more famous than Alessandro Del Piero, who seems to have been reborn this year.

"He is scoring some great goals, including free-kicks which are his trademark. Pavel Nedved is still going strong at 36 and he can hurt you."

But Wilkins remains confident Chelsea can more than match the challenge and is playing down the significance of a second leg away from home.

"When you get to this stage you just have to win, no matter who we draw or where we play, so I don't think it really matters," he added.

"Probably the one team where it does matter is Liverpool at Anfield and the second leg when Real Madrid go there will be extremely tough for them, as it has been for us in the past.

"Juventus are playing in quite a small stadium but the atmosphere will be fantastic and I am looking forward to it."