Champions League Last 16 Draw: Six Potential Clashes of the Titans

The group stage of the 2011-12 UEFA Champions League has come to an end, and the anticipation for the first knockout stage draw on Friday, December 16th, 2011, is building with each passing day.

This year's competition has been brutally unforgiving as last season's runner-up Manchester United have been dumped out at the earliest stage in years and now only have the UEFA Europa League to try and win.

Likewise, big-money Manchester City have been ousted in their maiden voyage into Europe's elite club competition under Roberto Mancini.

With the teams for the next round settled, it comes down to the Friday draw to determine the matches that we will all enjoy in the month of February 2012.

As per the rules of the upcoming knockout stage, the eight group winners will be in one pot and the second-place teams in another. Clubs will be drawn for two-legged ties with the group winners set to have the return legs at home.

The stipulations governing the rest of the matchups are that no club can play another from their same football association, and clubs that were in the same group-stage group cannot play one another.

In simple terms, Chelsea cannot face Arsenal because they are both from England, whereas Bayern Munich cannot draw Napoli as they were both in Group A.

With that all discussed, here are six potential major battles that could come true on Friday.

Internazional Milan vs. Olympique Marseille

Both Italy's Inter Milan and French-side Olympique Marseille have won the Champions League in the past. Inter have three titles, their more recent in 2010 over Bayern Munich. Marseille have only one title, which came in 1993 when they defeated AC Milan.

This time, the French side that has struggled domestically has a chance to take out the other San Siro-based club from Italy. Victory could ignite their club just in time to start making a push for the top of their national league, as well as trying to reach the summit of European football once again.

Inter have had a rough year domestically as well and this is their biggest chance for rebuilding their club's confidence going into the last few months of their respective league campaigns.

SL Benfica vs. Bayer Leverkusen

Benfica is Portugal's most-storied club in European competition with two titles and five second-place finishes. However, both of their titles came back-to-back in 1961 and 1962. Their domestic rivals FC Porto also have two titles of more recent times in 1987 and 2004 to steal some of the spotlight from their rivals, but they have yet to have as many chance to take home the most sought-after piece of European club football silverware as Benfica.

Bayer Leverkusen have only made it to the title match once in 2002, but were defeated by Real Madrid when The Whites won their ninth European title. At the time, Raul and Zinedine Zidane were just too much for the German's to handle.

Arsenal vs. Napoli

Arsenal found their feet in both the Champions League and the English Premier League just in time to make a push in both competitions to look highly respectable once again after their hiccups in the opening months.

The Gunners have been firing Persie, or pistols if I may use prolific Dutch striker Robin Van Persie for a play on words in honor of his impressive form this season.

Napoli also boast one of the most exciting attacks in Europe with their dazzling trio of attacking midfielder Marek Hamsik with the pair of Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi in front of him.

A match between the two could see one of the most offensive-packed knockout ties of the last few seasons if both come ready for action.

Chelsea vs. CSKA Moscow

Chelsea have never won a European title. Their one chance came in 2008 when they lost to Manchester United in a penalty shootout in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium of all places. A matchup with CSKA Moscow could see the Blues return to that very stadium for the first leg of their tie and in the bitter February cold, the Russian side could have the advantage.

The Blues have struggled at times to figure out their front line of attack. With two months still remaining before the tie, that could be settled by then, but it still looks like a pain at the moment. Likewise, the Chelsea defense has been suspect at best for the majority of their recent run of games.

CSKA Moscow finished in fourth in their most recent Russian Premier League season, which means next year they will not see the Champions League, but the Europa League instead. A draw and two straight losses to end their season saw them drop from second to fourth and out of guaranteed qualification or the UCL altogether.

While the Blues have two months of games ahead of them, CSKA face two months of off time, which could see them suffer from a dip in form come February. Their young guns in Seydou Doumbia and Keisuke Honda will be key to their chance of knocking off the English side.

A match between these two teams could see a highly contested tie with the Russians wanting all they can get before they fail to see another term in the top of Europe's elite club competition.

FC Bayern Munich vs. AC Milan

Due to Bayern Munich and Internazional Milan both winning their groups, there is no chance of a repeat of the 2010 UEFA Champions League final, which Bayern lost 0-2.

However, what is possible is a match between Inter's stadium and fiercest of rivals AC Milan. Milan have seven European titles while Bayern have four.

Bayern are the greatest side from Germany to have participated in the European Cup with all of their success. This season, they have been dominant in both their domestic league and the Champions League and will look to continue to exert that success.

Milan are two points shy of a tie for first in the Serie A and are building upon their form week after week. Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been suspect in the Champions League at times but will have a chance to pull through for his most recent side.

You could only get a bigger matchup if Milan squared off against...

Real Madrid vs. AC Milan

A clash of Real Madrid and AC Milan is one that dreams are made of. Milan as mentioned before have seven European titles, but that is second only to Real Madrid's all-time leading nine European Cups.

Milan's most recent seventh title came in 2007 when they defeated Liverpool after having been the victim of the Reds' 2005 miracle of Istanbul when they upset the Italians by coming from three goals down to beat them in a shootout to win their third all-time fifth European title.

Madrid have not won a title since 2002 when they defeated Bayern Leverkusen, whom subsequently they could also drawn to face in the knockout round.

The Spanish giants have not been their same old selves in the European Cup since the surge of dominance from their La Liga rivals Barcelona. However, this could be the tie of the ages between two clubs desperately attempting to regain their European dominance.

Conclusion

While there are still several more major clashes that could happen, such as Barcelona vs. Napoli or Apoel FC vs. FC Basel, those mentioned before look to be the most enticing to see actually happen this round.

I hope to see all of you post your thoughts on possible matchups below.

Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out more on Bleacher Report and at the links below. You can follow me on Twitter @thedailyatz and Facebook or visit my website.