Vintage marksmen take aim at capital's big guns

The popular theory is that Madrid look ripe for the taking - languishing 12 points behind Barca in La Liga, vulnerable in defence, without a ball winner in midfield but with too many 'Galacticos' who are either ageing or increasingly fitful. Zidane, Figo and Roberto Carlos, they say, are staring down the wrong side of the hill.

As for Ronaldo, these days the suggestion is he'll only stir himself like a big cat when a juicy prize awaits. When he's interested, though, no one can match the Brazilian still.

The one the Madridistas worry about most, though, is their precious Raul, who's on the verge of history, needing just one goal to take his European Cup career tally to an extraordinary 50. Then, at the age of just 27, he would surpass the former Real master, Alfredo Di Stefano, as the leading scorer in the tournament's history.

Yet though he's converted four Champions League goals this term and there have been a few recent signs of a revival of his old glorious sharpness, Raul is no longer convincing anyone that he resembles remotely the player Sir Alex Ferguson hailed as the world's best only last year.

The captain's goals in La Liga have dried up so alarmingly over the past two seasons that there's even been talk that he might move on from Madrid. Unthinkable, surely; most fans would rather have the Bernabeu knocked down than see it happen.

More intriguing still is the prospect that Madrid will continue to be haunted by Eto'o, the Cameroonian powerhouse who they bought yet neglected for years before selling him on this summer to their despised Catalan rivals, Barcelona. There, his goals - 12 in La Liga - are shooting them inexorably to the title even with injuries having robbed them of other key strike options, Henrik Larsson and Ludovic Giuly.

IT seems the African player of the year has spent his career so far on a personal quest to make Real pay for leaving him stranded at Madrid airport as a frightened, lost 15-year-old back in 1996, having forgotten to send an official to meet their new boy.

The treatment never got much better as he was shoved in the reserves and packed off on loan to Mallorca and he hasn't stopped making Madrid regret these slights, invariably scoring against them, as he did in the recent 3-0 hiding from Barcelona.

Should London meet German opposition instead, it would be no more comforting. Makaay has seven Champions League goals - second only to Dutch compatriot Van Nistelrooy this season - and seven more in the Bundesliga. Klose, left rotting on the German bench in Euro 2004 but now looking ready to fulfil, under Jurgen Klinsmann, the promise he showed in the World Cup, has 14 goals for club and country this term.

So take your pick. Frankly, Bremen, currently lying fifth, would be about the best draw either London team could hope for, though Jose Mourinho would doubtless settle for Eindhoven, having seen how Arsenal handled them in the group stages.

The worst draw? Barcelona, who come the next round will either have forked out in the transfer window to find support for Eto'o or perhaps have recalled the world-class Javier Saviola from his loan spell at Monaco. Either way, with Ronaldinho and Deco supplying the bullets, it might prove a terminal draw.

HOW IT WORKS

Clubs from the same association must not be drawn against each other, meaning Chelsea cannot play Arsenal. Teams that met in the group stage must also be kept apart. Group winners will be paired against the pool runners-up with the winners playing the first leg, scheduled for 22/23 February of their tie away. The return legs will be on 8/9 March. Here are the possible opponents for England's four remaining teams.
ARSENAL: Barcelona, Werder Bremen, Porto, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid.
CHELSEA: Barcelona, Werder Bremen, PSV, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid.
MAN UTD: AC Milan, Inter, Juventus, Bayer Leverkusen, Monaco.
LIVERPOOL: AC Milan, Inter, Juventus, Lyon, Bayer Leverkusen.