Champions League Draw 2014-15: Full List of Fixtures and Dates for Round of 16

The storylines for the UEFA Champions League knockout phase can start being written after the draw for the last 16 of the competition was made in Nyon, Switzerland on Monday, creating a host of intriguing ties.

Manchester City will go head-to-head with Barcelona in what is surely the tie of the round, a game that is a repeat of last season's last-16 tie and will see Luis Suarez make his first return to England following his big-money move to Catalonia.

But there are a host of clashes that will stir emotions as the matches draw closer, including Paris Saint-Germain taking on Chelsea and Schalke 04 challenging the might of reigning champions Real Madrid. Arsenal will be delighted with their draw; they will face French side Monaco in the last 16.

The eight teams that topped their groups will have the advantage of playing the first leg of their respective ties away from home. Here’s the draw in full courtesy of Bleacher Report UK:

Here is the full schedule of matches, courtesy of the Champions League Twitter account:

Ties of the Round

Manchester City vs. Barcelona

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Manuel Pellegrini’s team’s reward for their stirring win in Rome will be a chance to exact revenge against Barcelona. The Catalan giants dispatched of the English side in last season’s Round of 16 contest and will be hoping to repeat the trick as they go in search of their fifth European Cup triumph.

Bleacher Report’s Sam Tighe thinks this is a fine opportunity for City to show how far they have come since their exit last time out:

There has been plenty of positive changes at Barcelona too, though. Perhaps most notably the summer acquisition of Liverpool forward Suarez. The Uruguayan will play his first game back in England since his money-spinning move to La Liga, and he’ll be desperate to make an impact alongside fellow attackers Lionel Messi and Neymar.

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It's going to be a busy period for Barcelona, as we can see here courtesy of Dermot Corrigan of ESPN:

The Blaugrana will still be favourites to progress, but expect a City team that has been improving in Europe to provide a much sterner test of their credentials this time round, especially if Sergio Aguero is back up and running by the time the tie is played. The stellar attacking talent of Luis Enrique’s team should just about see the Catalans through to the quarter-finals

Paris Saint-Germain vs. Chelsea

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Jose Mourinho’s men knocked out the French champions in dramatic circumstances in last season’s quarter-final tie, and his rampant Chelsea outfit will be hoping for a similar outcome when the two meet again in the Round of 16.

The Blues will fear nobody at this stage after a swashbuckling start to their Premier League season; indeed Mourinho actually insisted ahead of the draw that a trip to PSG would be ideal for his team, per 101 Great Goals:

The French side also seem to be savouring their chance of potential revenge:

While it may be ideal for supporters, there’s little denying that the Parisians were one of the strongest sides in the runners-up section of the draw. They may not be having a prosperous domestic campaign, but Laurent Blanc’s side have already beaten Barcelona in this year’s Champions League and in Zlatan Ibrahimovic they possess a thoroughbred match winner.

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Collectively, Chelsea look a much stronger side this time round, though. The additions of Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas have yielded an exciting new dimension for the Stamford Bridge club and subsequently, they should have enough to topple the French champions over the course of two legs.

Arsenal vs. Monaco

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After enduring years of bad luck in the draw, at last the Gunners have been pitted against a somewhat favourable opponent. Arsenal will tackle French outfit Monaco in their last-16 tie and will feel as though they have an excellent chance of making it through to the quarter-finals in this year’s edition of the tournament.

Indeed, Mesut Ozil, who should have recovered from injury by then, agreed that the Arsenal boss will be delighted with the draw:

You suspect all those associated with the club will be buoyed further when they reflect on their record against French clubs in previous matches, per 101 Great Goals:

It’s not a tie the Gunners should greet with complacency, though. Monaco did top a group containing the Bayer Leverkusen, FC Zenit and Benfica after all and they possess some fine individual players. The most notable of which is perhaps the perpetually languid former Tottenham Hotspur man Dimitar Berbatov, as noted here by Mark Ogden of the Telegraph:

With Alexis Sanchez in fine form and the memories of Champions League failures from years past still relatively fresh, the Gunners should be primed to emerge from this tie victorious. The only real obstacle here is complacency, but if they can preserve their focus, then Arsenal should have more than enough to overcome a team currently languishing in sixth in Ligue 1.