Italian test for Arsenal, Chelsea in UCL

England's last two Champions League representatives were handed a daunting draw in the last 16 Friday as Arsenal were drawn to face AC Milan while Chelsea were paired with Napoli.

Arsenal, who qualified as group winners, will travel to Milan for the first leg at the San Siro in February before the return fixture at the Emirates in early March.

The game gives Milan a chance to avenge their exit to Arsenal in the knockout stage in 2008, when the Gunners eliminated the then reigning champions with a win in the San Siro.

Arsenal club secretary David Miles admitted the Londoners would have preferred to have avoided the Italian giants in the opening knockout round.

"I would suggest that's probably the pick of the round," Miles told Sky Sports television following the draw in Nyon.

"It's going to be a fantastic two games. If I'm being honest there are probably some other teams we may have preferred.

"But what we mustn't forget is the last time we played Milan in the season 07/08 we actually went through and we won 2-0 in the San Siro.

"So our recent history against Milan is good and we're obviously looking forward to these two fixtures."

Arsenal also had a good record against Italian teams, eliminating both Roma and Inter Milan in the past.

"We've knocked out Roma and Inter Milan in our recent history, including a 5-1 win in the San Siro," Miles said.

"It's going to be tough. Everyone has earned the right to get to this stage but nevertheless we're fairly confident."

Chelsea officials meanwhile gave a cautious welcome to the prospect of a first ever meeting with Napoli, who impressed many by squeezing past Manchester City in the first round's Group of Death.

"I think that at this stage we can come up with the cliches about it being difficult, and it will be difficult because we've seen that Napoli were in the same group as Manchester City are not with us, so that reflects on the quality of Napoli," Chelsea secretary David Barnard said.

Barnard said Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas would be well versed in the threats posed by Napoli having been a member of Jose Mourinho's staff during his time at Inter.

"We all know Andre has had some experience of Italy at Inter so he will know the ins and outs of Napoli I'm sure," he said.

THE DRAW

Lyon v APOEL
Napoli v Chelsea
AC Milan v Arsenal
FC Basle v Bayern Munich
Bayer Leverkusen v Barcelona
CSKA Moscow v Real Madrid
Zenit St Petersburg v Benfica
Marseille v Inter Milan

Group stage runners-up listed first and will play first legs at home.

First legs to be played February 14/15 and 21/22, second legs March 6/7 and 13/14.

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