- Title: PSG, Real prepare for attacking showdown following Champions League draw
- Date: 11th December 2017
- Summary: NYON, SWITZERLAND (DECEMBER 11, 2017) (REUTERS) UEFA HEADQUARTERS IN NYON UEFA FLAGS REAL MADRID DIRECTOR OF INSTITUTIONAL RELATIONS EMILIO BUTRAGUENO ARRIVING AT UEFA DRAW CAMERAWOMAN FILMING FC BARCELONA FIRST TEAM INSTITUTIONAL AND SPORTIVE RELATIONS DIRECTOR GUILLERMO AMOR ARRIVING AT UEFA DRAW JOURNALISTS CHELSEA FC CLUB SECRETARY, DAVID BARNARD ARRIVING AT UEFA DRAW VARIOUS FORMER ROMA FORWARD FRANCESCO TOTTI ARRIVING AT UEFA DRAW TV SCREEN WITH COUNTDOWN FOR DRAW STARTING / PEOPLE WATCHING SCREEN PEOPLE WATCHING UEFA DRAW ON TV SCREEN (SOUNDBITE) (French) PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN ASSISTANT SPORTING DIRECTOR AND FORMER PLAYER, MAXWELL, SAYING: "We don't have a favourite. We came here to see the draw, and to continue in such difficult competition, we need to face all the big teams. We are always aware of that, so we saw it was Real, Real came out and so we are going to prepare ourselves, to concentrate to do a great game and to end at home in the best possible way, to celebrate the qualification with our fans." MAXWELL DURING INTERVIEWS WITH JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN ASSISTANT SPORTING DIRECTOR AND FORMER PLAYER, MAXWELL, SAYING: "I think they have many, many, many qualities, they have a lot of strengths, quality players. They have also, we know that they are going to play home, they have a lot of offensive power. But we have our qualities; we have our, our players, our ambition to continue in this competition. So we are going to do everything. We have a staff that knows them very well, from Spain, so I think we have all the qualities also to go through to the next round." REAL MADRID CF DIRECTOR OF INSTITUTIONAL RELATIONS, EMILIO BUTRAGUENO DURING INTERVIEW WITH JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) REAL MADRID DIRECTOR OF INSTITUTIONAL RELATIONS, EMILIO BUTRAGUENO, SAYING: "I feel they are really, very strong in every department. They are very solid in defense, very talented in the midfield and offensively they have players that are able to win a match on their own. So, we have to be at our best if we want to qualify but at the same time, I have to, I would like to underline that our, well, we are the holders and our players they always rise to the occasion, hopefully they are going to play very well and live up to our fans expectations." VIEWFINDER OF CAMERA FILMING EMILIO BUTRAGUENO FC BAYERN MUNCHEN EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBER, ANDREAS JUNG AT DRAW (SOUNDBITE) (English) FC BAYERN MUNCHEN EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBER, ANDREAS JUNG SAYING: "Besiktas, I think it is a strong team, we… they, they were in a group with Leipzig, the German team, we know that and they have beaten them twice, so they must be very strong and I think also, due to the reason that the second matches in Besiktas with all these strong supporters and the atmosphere there, it will two tough matches." FC BARCELONA FIRST TEAM INSTITUTIONAL AND SPORTIVE RELATIONS, GUILLERMO AMOR TALKING TO JOURNALIST (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FC BARCELONA FIRST TEAM INSTITUTIONAL AND SPORTIVE RELATIONS, GUILLERMO AMOR SAYING: "Well, it is very positive. It is one of the teams we could be paired with and now we have to face them in the best possible conditions, with enthusiasm, eagerness, a lot of optimism, staying positive and bearing in mind that we still have a couple of long months to go until February-March when the qualifier is scheduled for and that is it. We have great respect for Chelsea, we know the team and we know they are a bit away from the top of the Premier so they might put more energy into the Champions League but I think they will be thinking a lot about us as well and thinking 'Hey we were paired with Barca, so we might have to be a bit careful.' And that is the where the game starts, getting there in the best conditions for the qualifier. The rest is optimism and staying very positive." BARNARD ARRIVING IN MIX ZONE (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHELSEA FC CLUB SECRETARY, DAVID BARNARD, SAYING: "I think every time we played Barcelona, they are full of strengths all around so, we just don't estimate teams, you know we will take them, take each game and hopefully they will be worried about our strengths more than we will worried about theirs." TV JOURNALISTS WORKING UEFA SIGN ON FLAGS
- Embargoed: 25th December 2017 14:32
- Keywords: Champions League draw soccer Bayern Munich Real Madrid PSG Chelsea Barcelona
- Location: NYON, SWITZERLAND
- City: NYON, SWITZERLAND
- Country: Switzerland
- Topics: Soccer,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA0017BH0AWV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Holders Real Madrid will have to overcome a sizeable obstacle when the Champions League resumes in February after Monday's (December 11) draw pitted the 12-times winners against Paris St. Germain.
Bidding for a third successive title in Europe's elite club competition, Real paid a heavy price for not winning their group as they were drawn with the big-spending Parisians who were tipped as many people's favourites ahead of the draw in Nyon.
Five-times champions Barcelona will face English champions Chelsea, one of five Premier league clubs in the draw.
Tottenham Hotspur, who topped their group ahead of Real Madrid thanks to a 3-1 victory at Wembley, will face Serie A champions and last seasons' runners-up Juventus.
Manchester City, who clocked up a record 14th successive Premier League victory on Sunday, are now listed as favourites after being handed a last-16 clash with Swiss club Basel.
Five-times winners Bayern Munich, who finished below PSG in the group, will be happy with a two-legged clash with Turkish outsiders Besiktas.
Europa League champions Manchester United take on Sevilla, Liverpool will meet Porto and AS Roma's reward for winning their group ahead of Chelsea is a tricky tie against Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk.
The first legs, with group winners PSG, Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester United, Roma, Manchester City, Barcelona and Besiktas away first, take place on Feb. 13-14 and Feb. 20-21 with the returns on March 6-7 and March 13-14. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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