There was a gasp in the auditorium when Celtic were drawn against Barcelona in today's Champions League draw, but it certainly wasn't the only one. Shortly afterwards, Manchester United were paired with Ligue 1 champions Lyon, surely the toughest tie they could have faced having won their group. Cue another gasp.
The big games kept on coming. Roma against Real Madrid. Liverpool against the Italian champions Internazionale. And perhaps the biggest humdinger of all: Arsenal against AC Milan, utterly awful in Serie A but a totally different animal in Europe. Of the British sides, only Chelsea will be happy with their draw: they face Olympiakos, who squeezed through their group with a home win over Werder Bremen and lack European pedigree.
The bookies' response was to push most of the British sides out in the betting to reach this year's final in Moscow. United are now 11-2 from 9-2, Arsenal 12s from 15-2, Liverpool 14-1 from 10-1. Only Chelsea shortened. The overwhelming favourites are now Barcelona, who - despite being four points behind Real Madrid in Spain - are just 3-1 shots for the European Cup. But they were favourites this time last year too before Liverpool - 33-1 shots! - stifled their flair and crushed their spirit in Camp Nou. Will there be a similar surprise this time round?
Full draw: Celtic v Barcelona, Lyon v Manchester United, Schalke 04 v FC Porto, Liverpool v Internazionale, Roma v Real Madrid, Arsenal v AC Milan, Olympiakos v Chelsea, Fenerbahçe v Sevilla
