BERNE — The Champions League will have an air of familiarity about it when it resumes Tuesday with 11 of the clubs who reached the last 16 stage a year ago involved again. To add to the sense of deja vu, three of the ties will be repeats from last season's knockout stages with holder Real Madrid facing Schalke, Manchester City playing Barcelona and Paris St Germain taking on Chelsea. Ten of the 16 sides also reached the same round two seasons ago and, as usual, the big five leagues dominate with 13 clubs hailing from either the English, Spanish, German, French and Italian leagues. With only two matches per evening, the round of 16 will not be complete until March 18 but PSG gets the ball rolling when it hosts Chelsea Tuesday in a repeat of last season's quarterfinal which Jose Mourinho's team won on away goals. The clash pits David Luiz, now with the French side, against his former club. The French champion, aiming to reach the last eight for the third season in a row, has a 32-match unbeaten home run in Europe although it is currently third in Ligue 1, hugely disappointing considering its financial resources. It stuttered again Saturday when it was held 2-2 at home by Caen after a spate of injuries left it with nine men and it conceded two goals in the last two minutes. “We're a little bit in trouble at the moment, but from Sunday morning we'll have to focus on Chelsea and convince ourselves that we can challenge them,” said coach Laurent Blanc. Shakhtar Donetsk, Ukrainian champion for the last five seasons, will be thrown in at the deep end when it hosts Bayern Munich in Tuesday's other game, its first competitive match since early December. Bayern Munich itself struggled to get into gear following its own winter break in Qatar but blew away the cobwebs Saturday with an 8-0 drubbing of Hamburg SV. The game will be in Lviv to escape the conflict in eastern Ukraine where Donetsk is held by Russian-backed separatists. The Pitmen have failed to win their last four home matches against Bundesliga sides and their last success was against Eintracht Frankfurt in the 1980-81 UEFA Cup. The good news for the Ukrainians is that they have managed to hold on to Brazilian striker Luiz Adriano, the competition's top scorer with nine goals, despite interest from AS Roma. Schalke 04's match at home to Real Madrid Wednesday will bring back unhappy memories for the Bundesliga side after it was thrashed 6-1 by the Spaniards at the same venue at the same stage of the competition one year ago. Swiss champion FC Basel, which qualified at the expense of Liverpool in the group stage's only genuine surprise, hosts Porto in this week's other tie, also Wednesday. The following week includes the highlight of the round as Manchester City meets Barcelona (Feb. 24). On the same evening, Serie A champion and current leader Juventus hosts Borussia Dortmund. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will face his old club AS Monaco in a competitive match for the first time and Bayer Leverkusen host last season's runners-up Atletico Madrid in the Feb 25 ties. — Reuters
