Despite acknowledging that Robin Dutt's side pose a menace to Barcelona's defence from the competition, the 24-year-old feels that staying away from a lengthy-haul visit to CSKA Moscow or Zenit St Petersburg is definitely an advantage for that Catalan club.

"Well, we must visit Germany. Bayer 04 Leverkusen, German teams will always be quite strong. We've prevented the Russians. Good," Fabregas mentioned on Twitter.

Gerard Pique also revealed his happiness with Friday's draw, saying that he's experiencing the possibilities of playing in Germany.

"We've attracted Bayer Leverkusen! Pretty good! I've always aspired to play inside a German stadium. You will see an excellent atmosphere for football" Pique tweeted.

The very first leg between your two sides is going to be performed in the BayArena in Feb, before going to Camping Nou for that return in March.

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For European Cup traditionalists and individuals who relish our prime stakes of sudden-dying football, the knockout stages from the Champions League are the content, and Friday's draw during the last 16 is once more prone to provide some potentially epic contests.


Uefa only introduced the round of 16 in 2003-04. Just before that there is either a preliminary round of 32 to look for the composition from the group stage, then quarter-finals, semis and final or perhaps a second group stage leading directly into the quarter-finals.

Chelsea advanced as those who win of Group E but won't be experiencing a clash with tournament debutants Napoli, who qualified for that knockout stages by pipping Manchester City to second place in Group A.

Meanwhile, Arsenal's dubious reward for topping Group F is really a tie against reigning Italian champions Milan, who came off the second best to Barcelona in Group H.

Talking about the Catalans, the reigning champions happen to be combined with Bayer Leverkusen. Barca's great rivals Real Madrid, meanwhile, must result in the arduous visit to Russia to manage CSKA Moscow.

Elsewhere, Italy's other representative, Inter, must tackle Marseille, as the side the Nerazzurri defeated within the 2010 final, Bayern Munich, undertake Basel, who sensationally bumped out Manchester U . s ..

Another surprise package, APOEL Nicosia, happen to be combined with French side Lyon, as the remaining tie might find Zenit St Petersburg go face to face with Benfica.

Although he feels positive about his team's chances to advance, the 56-year-old is cautious about the risk the Group C runners-up pose.

"As we keep a clear head and do our work right, then there's a high probability for all of us to maneuver onto the quarter-finals. But please not under-rate [Basel]," Rummenigge told reporters following the draw.

Winger Arjen Robben echoed the CEO's sentiments, stating the Swiss' bravery within the group stage.

"Manchester U . s . understand how harmful Basel are," he stated.

The Swiss side notoriously knocked the British titans from the competition earlier this year following their 2-1 home victory on matchday six. Bayern, however, finished first in Group A in front of runners-up Napoli, in addition to Manchester City and Villarreal.

Despite the fact that they face potentially tricky opposition, the Bavarians go into the round of 16 with full confidence.

"Basel is really a workable task," stated coach Jupp Heynckes.

"As we play at 100 percent, we'll manage [to achieve the quarter-finals]," added winger Franck Ribery.

Basel will host Bayern within the first leg from the tie on the to-be-determined date in Feb.