Planet Sport

Fabio Capello called it a "diabolical draw" but for the most people the prospect of watching Mourinho Ferguson battle it out.

Manchester United v Inter Milan is the outstanding tie of the Champions League 'round of 16', the first knockout round of UEFA's elite club competition which has the look of an Anglo-Italian Cup.

Apart from United v Inter, Chelsea face Inter's closest rivals Juventus - coached by their old manager Claudio Ranieri - while Arsenal take on Roma, who have been in poor shape domestically but are now showing a recovery in form.

Liverpool's tie is hardly low-profile either - a clash with Real Madrid, with the advantage of the second leg at Anfield, a factor that has been of huge importance to many of their Champions League successes in recent years.

But it is United v Inter where the attention will focus: not only the champions of England facing the champions of Italy, but the Special One once more coming face to face with Ferguson, the man he called 'boss' and 'big man' during their post-match drinks. Surely no other meeting in the Champions League this season will be more enticing.

Mourinho, who famously led Porto to victory over United on the way the European title in 2004, agreed: "My wish has been granted. I want to face the best and Manchester is a team of champions with a super coach like Alex."

Ferguson himself will be looking for the chance of European revenge after that defeat by Porto.

"It will be interesting to come up against Jose again," he said. "He is a character with a good personality and I have always got on well with him.

"He knocked us out of the competition when he was at Porto, so I hope we have the luck they had in that tie this time around."

Capello, the England manager and former coach of AC Milan, Juventus, Roma and Real Madrid could hardly believe the outcome of the draw.

"It was diabolical," he said. "With all the permutations that was practically impossible. It will be difficult for Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United, but it will be just as difficult for Rome, Juve and Inter."

Ranieri claimed Juventus would be trying to deny Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich the prize he values above all others.

"This triple Anglo-Italian challenge is fascinating," said Ranieri. "And from our perspective, we'll try to keep Chelsea off the top of the world where Abramovich wants to lead them.

"Chelsea are focused on winning the Champions League, for Abramovich it would be a disaster not to win it.

"I wouldn't say I'm happy but it will be a fascinating match, we'll need to be on top of our game."

The last time Liverpool played Real Madrid in a competitive fixture was the 1981 European Cup final where the Reds triumphed 1-0.

Liverpool assistant manager Sammy Lee was a player in that side and he said: "I have very happy memories of that game. Hopefully we will enjoy similar memories in February. They are two great institutions and it is an excellent draw."

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger harbours hopes of going one step better this season and winning the competition.

He said: "I want to give that to my club because not only have I not won it, but the club have not won it.

"We were very close in 2006 and lost one game in the whole season in the Champions League which was the final and we were down to 10 men after 10 minutes, so we know we can do it."

Roma coach Luciano Spalletti insisted the draw was irrelevant.

"There's no point in talking about it now we must simply show what we're made of and how we're prepared to make sacrifices," he said.

"To Arsenal I want to congratulate them for their system. They have many young players on their way to becoming great players who are being chased by all the big clubs in Europe."

The other four ties appear to favour the three other Spanish sides' chances of making the quarter-finals: Barcelona play French champions Lyon, Villarreal take on Panathinaikos, Atletico Madrid meet Porto and Sporting Lisbon play Bayern Munich.

The matches will be played on February 24 and 25 and March 10 and 11