The matches for the Last 16 of the UEFA Champions League were drawn on Monday in Nyon, Switzerland, setting up eight stellar ties in the knockout stages. But how will the big managerial names be feeling about their match-ups?
Feeling happy: Pep Guardiola (Manchester City)
If you’re the manager of a top side looking at the Champions League draw, you want to avoid any of the big guns, you’ll want to avoid any tricky trips to locales with plunging temperatures and poor pitches, you’ll prefer to face a side that’s struggling badly on the domestic front.
READ MORE: UEFA Champions League Draw – The Last 16
And after today’s draw in Nyon, the Manchester City boss can put a big, bold tick in each of those boxes after seeing his goal-hungry side paired with Bundesliga side Schalke 04 in the Last 16.
The Gelsenkirchen side plays inside the domed Veltins Arena, meaning the elements won’t be a factor when City pay them a visit in the first leg. And their form on the domestic front is all over the place.
Schalke currently sit 13th in the German top flight, just four points above the two automatic relegation spots, and just one win ahead of the relegation playoff place. Put simply, their focus is on surviving the drop.
City, meanwhile, are looking up as they seek to retain the Premier League title while adding the Champions League to their ever-growing trophy cabinet.
And with City on top form, plus Guardiola’s undefeated record against Schalke from his time as Bayern Munich manager, it’s clear to see that the City boss will be optimistic about his side’s path to the quarter-finals.
Feeling confident: Ernesto Valverde (Barcelona)
The Barcelona managerial job is the sharpest of two-edged swords. Transfer funds are never a problem, the club’s reputation is outstanding and you have one of the best players in the world as your talisman.
In short, you have everything at your disposal to play entertaining, attacking football and be a huge success. But it also means that failure is simply not an option.
So far, Ernesto Valverde is doing everything right. Barca are leading the way in La Liga and have scored 16 goals more than their nearest challengers.
They’re making all the right moves in Europe, too. Barca went through unbeaten as winners of a tough-looking Group B that featured Tottenham, Inter Milan and PSV Eindhoven. And now their progression has been rewarded with a Last 16 tie against Ligue 1 side Lyon.
The French side also went through without losing a game, but they did so as runners-up in Group F, having won just once in their six group games – a shock 2-1 win at slow-starting Manchester City.
All five of Lyon’s draws were score draws as they drew all three of their home games 2-2, and registered a 3-3 at Hoffenheim and a 1-1 against Shakhtar Donetsk.
If Lyon are conceding goals against the likes of Shakhtar and Hoffenheim, you can bet Valverde and Barca will fancy their chances of hitting the net more than once or twice when they face the French side in February.
Feeling the heat: Jose Mourinho (Manchester United)
It wasn’t all that long ago that Manchester United were the envy of Europe. They dominated the Premier League, had a squad to match the best on the continent and a manager who seemingly had the club and the entire fan base behind him.
Sadly, times have changed at Old Trafford and current incumbent Jose Mourinho is facing rising pressure, with his side well off the pace in the Premier League.
And being drawn against PSG in the Last 16 of the Champions League will have done little to lift The Special One’s spirits as his side faces arguably the hottest strike force in European club football.
United’s much-maligned defensive personnel including Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Eric Bailly will face off against a trio of world-class finishers in the form of Neymar, Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe. The ability differential between United’s defenders and PSG’s strikers is enough to give any manager sleepless nights.
If anyone can turn United round it’s Mourinho, but he’ll need the men in suits upstairs to start loosening the Old Trafford purse strings and let him sign the players he wants, starting in January.
But it’s going to take more than an open pocketbook and a host of new signings to turn United around in the short term. The United managerial job is now a long-term reclamation project, and it’s likely to face a few bumps along the way, starting with their likely exit in the French capital in late February.
