United and Arsenal Draw CL Opponents, Ferdinand Tells Ronaldo See You Soon

Manchester United will face Real Madrid, and Arsenal have drawn Bayern Munich in the Champions League round of 16, while Celtic will take on Juventus in three mouth-watering ties for any neutral British football fan.

United came down to being able to face Valencia or Madrid as the balls disappeared from the bowl in Switzerland, and in what looks to be the worst case scenario for Sir Alex Ferguson, the Red Devils will take on the Spanish giants in February and March next year.

Odds on United progressing to the quarter finals plummeted as they now look to play Madrid for the first time since 2003. In the four times the sides have faced each other, the Spaniards have come out victors three times.

Rio Ferdinand quickly tweeted following the draw, writing to Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo: "see u soon bro!!"

Meanwhile, Arsenal will have been pleased to have avoided Barcelona, who drew AC Milan, as they were matched up with last year's Champions League runners up Bayern Munich.

It will be a chance for the Gunners to improve on their current knock-out stage stats; the north London side have won just one of their last eight Champions League knock out legs away from home, so a win at the Emirates will be a must as they hope to progress without the likes of Robin van Persie and Alex Song.

And for Celtic, Juventus will no doubt present a tough challenge, with the Italian outfit looking to show they are the kings of Europe once more.

Champions League draw:

Galatasaray (TUR) v Schalke (GER)

Celtic (SCO) v Juventus (ITA)

Arsenal (ENG) v Bayern (GER)

Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) v Dortmund (GER)

Milan (ITA) v Barcelona (ESP)

Real Madrid (ESP) v Man United (ENG)

Valencia (ESP) v PSG (FRA)

Porto v Malaga (ESP)