Feared Barcelona keen to avoid French in draw

Barcelona are the club everyone wants to avoid in the draw for the Champions League Round of 16 on Friday and Barca coach Pep Guardiola has said he does not want to face a French side.

The in-form Spanish League leaders and 2009 European champions finished top of their group with four wins and two draws and there are plenty of familiar foes among their potential opponents in the draw at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon at 1200 CET (1100 GMT).                                           

Barca could be paired with current champions Inter Milan, who saw off Guardiola's men in last season's semi-finals, and Arsenal, who Barca thrashed 6-3 in the quarters.    

"I don't want the French in Europe," Guardiola said. "Marseille are a very strong team -- animals, physically speaking -- and there is a lot of pressure when you play there. They're very well prepared physically and technically. And we all know about Lyon."   

The group winners will be drawn against one of the runners-up but not from the same group or from the same country.                                            They could also face old rivals AC Milan, AS Roma or FC Copenhagen, Denmark's first knockout-round representatives.                                                                                       

Heavily tipped                                         

Barca were heavily tipped to retain their title after their 4-1 quarter-final second-leg win over Arsenal last April when Lionel Messi scored all four goals, but the Catalans lost to Inter in the semis. 

They have already exacted revenge on Jose Mourinho, who moved from Inter to Real Madrid after plotting the Italian club's success, by crushing them 5-0 in La Liga last month. 

Real also won their group but with an even better record than their fiercest rivals, winning five matches and drawing one with a goal tally of 15-2.   

Barcelona and Real will be joined in the winners'' bowl by Schalke 04 and Bayern Munich of Germany, boosted by midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger who has pledged his future to the club, and Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine, through to the knockout round for the first time.                                           

England's Manchester United, Chelsea, and Tottenham Hotspur are also in it, with Spurs enjoying a thrilling first Champions League campaign, finishing as joint top scorers in the group stage with London rivals Arsenal on 18 goals. 

Coach Harry Redknapp said his team was confident of progressing.

"We have come a long long way since we were 3-0 down to Young Boys after 20 minutes of the first leg of the playoffs," he said.        

"We're enjoying ourselves and want to go a lot further."

The group winners will be at home in the second legs with first-leg matches scheduled for Feb 1516 and Feb 2223 and second legs on March 89 and March 1516.