Chivu: Inter Can Handle Tough Champions League Draw

Christian Chivu seems to have finally got over his knee problems that have kept him on the sidelines since the beginning of November and will be at José Mourinho’s disposal for tomorrow’s Serie A clash with Siena.

The Beneamata aim to end the year on a high and maintain their six-point lead over second-placed Juventus in the league.

“I feel that the Italian title is as important as the Champions League and our squad is as hungry as ever,” the former Roma defender told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“You should come and watch us during the week in order to better understand our secrets: the tackles and the tension in training are the same as during official matches and this is the way to go to build something special.”

Today, the draw for the last 16 of the Champions League will take place and the Nerazzurri risk being paired with a tough side, since they went through in second place.

“I don’t have any preferences,” the 28-year-old admitted, “we will play in February and so many things could change by then, mainly physical and medical conditions.

“Moreover, you need to overcome them all in order to lift the trophy, so we could just as well start facing the big guns now. We have the qualities to beat anyone.”

Key shareholder to leave Arsenal

Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood insists a major boardroom reshuffle will not alter their policy of trying to keep the club's ownership in-house.

Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith, Arsenal's third-largest shareholder, left the board on Wednesday.

Hill-Wood said he was not sure whether Bracewell-Smith would sell her shares.

But if her 15.9% stake was to become available, Uzbekistan metals magnate Alisher Usmanov could pass the 30% mark which would force a takeover bid.

Usmanov already owns 24% through his Red & White Holdings company, having initially bought former vice-chairman David Dein's 14.5% stake in the club.

American sports tycoon Stan Kroenke, who holds a stake of about 12% in the Gunners' parent company, accepted an offer to become a non-executive director on the Arsenal board in September as ties with his Kroenke Sports Enterprises group were strengthened.

If Kroenke were to buy the shares, he would become the club's majority shareholder with a 27.9% stake.

Unlike Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool, Arsenal remain under British ownership and have so far resisted attempts by overseas investors to take a controlling share.

Arsenal's board had reached a "lockdown" agreement until April 2009 in which shares would only be sold to "permitted persons" such as family members.

A longer-term agreement until October 2012 required directors to give fellow board members first option on any shares for sale.

But having stood down from the board of both the club and its holding company, Bracewell-Smith, whose family association with Arsenal spans more than 50 years, has been removed from the agreement.

Hill-Wood, though, insisted it remains business as usual at the club, who have Ivan Gazidis starting as their new chief executive on 1 January.

"Lady Nina is no longer representing the club and therefore is released from the lockdown. However it was created to maintain stability in the club and those participants are committed to maintaining the ownership structure as it is," he said.

"I don't know for certain what she wants to do with her shares. I do know that the Bracewell-Smith family have been involved with the club for many, many years and are great supporters.

"We hope that she would remain a shareholder but she has not spoken to me about it lately. She is no longer in the lockdown so she is free to do what she wishes to do.

The philosophy of the club remains the same. Our efforts are directed towards stability and making the club successful. Changes of personnel will not alter the directors' view of how we should proceed in the future."

Hill-Wood added that if the shares were to become available, existing board members - who include director Daniel Fiszman, the largest stakeholder in the club with 24.11% - could buy them to prevent them being bought by external investors.

"The board is very keen to retain control of the club to ensure that its values and traditions are upheld and live on for many years to come," he said.

Long-standing board member Richard Carr also stood down as a director of Arsenal's holding company, although he will remain on the football club's board.

Parejo delighted with Madrid return

Real Madrid CF's Daniel Parejo has explained that he is "delighted to be returning home" after the club ended the midfielder's loan spell at Queens Park Rangers FC.

Available for selection
The 19-year-old – who made 18 appearances in all competitions during his four months with the English Championship side – will immediately join up with new Madrid coach Juande Ramos and will be available for selection for the Spanish champions in the new year. The Spain Under-21 international's return to the Santiago Bernabéu comes with the club in the midst of an injury crisis. With the likes of Mahamadou Diarra out for the season due to a knee complaint and uncertainty surrounding the immediate prospects of Rubén de la Red following an on-field fainting incident, Ramos appears to be willing to give less experienced players a chance. The former Sevilla FC manager recently handed 21-year-old Miguel Palanca a surprise debut in the 2-0 defeat away to FC Barcelona.

Holders United to take on Inter

Holders Manchester United FC will take on FC Internazionale Milano in the first knockout round of the UEFA Champions League following today's draw in Nyon.

Mourinho return
Sir Alex Ferguson will renew acquaintances with José Mourinho who famously led FC Porto to victory against United at this stage in 2004 en route to winning the trophy. In other stand-out ties nine-times champions Real Madrid CF were paired with five-times winners Liverpool FC, and 2008 losing finalists Chelsea FC tackle a Juventus side coached by former Blues manager Claudio Ranieri.

Sporting face Bayern
Sporting Clube de Portugal, in the knockout stages for first time, take on four-time winners FC Bayern München, while Porto will meet Club Atlético de Madrid in an all-Iberian duel. French champions Olympique Lyonnais, in the knockout phase for the sixth successive season, face a two-legged tie against FC Barcelona while Arsenal FC take on AS Roma and Villarreal CF play Panathinaikos FC.

Fascinating ties
Matches will be played over two legs on 24/25 February and 10/11 March. In the ceremony staged at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, the eight winners of the group-stage pools were paired with teams that finished second. No clubs from the same association could be pitted together, while sides that met in the group stage were also kept apart. The draw for the remaining rounds will be made on 20 March, with this season's final taking place in Rome on 27 May.


First knockout round – to be played 24/25 February and 10/11 March
Team named first at home in first leg
Chelsea FC (ENG) v Juventus (ITA)
Villarreal CF (ESP) v Panathinaikos FC (GRE)
Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR) v FC Bayern München (GER)
Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP) v FC Porto (POR)
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA) v FC Barcelona (ESP)
Real Madrid CF (ESP) v Liverpool FC (ENG)
Arsenal FC (ENG) v AS Roma (ITA)
FC Internazionale Milano (ITA) v Manchester United FC (ENG)

Schweinsteiger maintains solid bond at Bayern

After a career that has already brought him ten winners' medals with FC Bayern München, 24-year-old Bastian Schweinsteiger has signed a three-year contract with the Bundesliga champions, committing until June 2012.

'Very happy'
The German international midfielder has scored 18 goals in 168 league appearances for Bayern, and has won four Bundesliga titles, four German Cups and two League Cups with the club he first joined as a trainee in 1998. His contract was set to expire next summer but Schweinsteiger's new deal potentially extends his association with the Bavarian outfit by another three years. It is a boost for Bayern, who go into Friday's draw for the UEFA Champions League first knockout round as one of eight seeded teams, having won Group F. Schweinsteiger, scorer of 17 goals in 62 games for Germany, played in all six of their group-stage matches.

Raúl Wants Tough Champions League Challenge

Raúl González hopes that Real Madrid are not given an easy team in the next phase of the Champions League because he wants to the team to face a strong challenge.

Los Merengues' captain was not going along with many players and pundits that all hope the club will be given an easy ride in the draw that is to be made on Friday.

Madrid have a renewed spirit after an encouraging display against Barcelona and Raúl reflected that when he stated that on their day his side could beat anyone.

"There can be teams that may make things easier, but what interests us is that we are playing well and if Madrid is on form then we can beat anyone," he told AS.

"But if we are not on form then anyone can beat us. I would prefer to play a tougher team so that we have to do it the difficult way."

Reflecting on el Clásico, Raúl explained that while the fans and media were hyping up the meeting all the players were focussed on the game and was pleased that Madrid gave a god account of themselves.

"A game between Barça and Madrid is always talked about long before the game itself, but all we focus on is the 90 minutes," he continued.

"It was a very hard game, we went into it with difficulties and I think we played in a way that could have seen us win.

"If we had scored then the game would have changed and I think it would have been better to watch, with more goals.

"We have to improve in a lot of areas and but we had only spent four days with the new coach, but things feel good. We made them uncomfortable though and they had some problems.

Madrid may have dropped to 12 points behind league leaders Barcelona but Raúl tried to remain positive and claimed that the title was still a possibility.

"We are not going to give up on anything and there is a long way to go in the season, but it does depend on how our rivals at the top play," he explained.

"Barça have a very good chance, but our next five games four at home and one is away in the Copa del Rey and that will give us more preparation time in the league and the Champions League.

"We think we can still win it but we will have to keep winning and see what happens."

Van der Sar lines up one last season at United

Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar has agreed a new one-year contract with Manchester United FC which will take him through to June 2010, by which time the 130-times capped Netherlands international will be 39.

Official announcement
United officially announced the new contract on Friday, confirming that the 1.97m-tall keeper would spend another full season at Old Trafford, with his existing contract set to expire next summer. "Next year will be his last," said manager Sir Alex Ferguson. "Edwin has great experience, and his temperament and performance levels have never changed." Understudies Ben Foster and Thomas Kuszczak will look to take over from Van der Sar next season, with Sir Alex adding: "Edwin has helped with the development of our young keepers, but next year we need to make it more competitive for Ben and Thomas. It will come down to whoever is the right man for the job."

Successful spell
The 38-year-old Van der Sar joined United from Premier League rivals Fulham FC in 2005, following spells at AFC Ajax and Juventus, and has won two league titles with the club. He also made the penalty shootout save that won United the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League at the expense of Chelsea FC. United finished top of Group E this autumn to earn a tie against a second-placed side from another UEFA Champions League group in next Friday's draw for the first knockout stage.