Beckham, AC Milan to play Manchester United in Champions League; Mourinho, Inter face Chelsea

Beckham, Milan to play Man Utd in Champions League

NYON, Switzerland — AC Milan midfielder David Beckham will play former club Manchester United in the first knockout round of the Champions League.

Beckham, who is set to return to Italy next month for a second loan from MLS’ Los Angeles Galaxy, got exactly the match he hoped for at Friday’s draw.

“I think David wanted this match and destiny looked after him,” Milan director Umberto Gandini said at UEFA headquarters.

United spokesman Phil Townsend said Beckham would get a fantastic reception on his first return to the club he helped become European champion in 1999.

Milan will host the English champion on Feb. 16, and United — as a group winner — has home advantage in the second leg on March 10.

Also, Italian champion Inter Milan will face Chelsea in a meeting of coach Jose Mourinho’s current and former clubs.

“Absolutely unbelievable,” Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay said of Mourinho’s return to Stamford Bridge where he won two straight Premier League titles in 2005 and ‘06. “It’s a huge game and obviously with Jose it adds even more spice.”

The first leg on Feb. 24 will be played at the San Siro, where Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti spent the past eight years coaching AC Milan, and won two European titles.

Former Inter forward Luis Figo said his fellow Portuguese have nothing to prove to Chelsea, which stages the return March 16.

“(Mourinho) brought titles to them and I think people there love him,” Figo said. “It will be an emotional return for him.”

Defending champion FC Barcelona was drawn to play Stuttgart, which has struggled in the Bundesliga and fired coach Markus Babbel this month. The Germans host the first leg on Feb. 23 with a March 17 return at the Nou Camp.

Nine-time champion Madrid — whose Santiago Bernabeu stadium hosts the final on May 22 — will take on Lyon in France in the Feb. 16 first leg.

Arsenal drew a comparatively low-key matchup against FC Porto, with the first match in Portugal on Feb. 17 and the return on March 9.

“(Manchester United and Chelsea) will capture the headlines and that probably suits us,” Arsenal club secretary David Miles said. “We will go about our work and do a thorough job.”

In other matchups, it was: Olympiakos vs. Bordeaux; four-time winner Bayern Munich vs. Fiorentina; and CSKA Moscow vs. Sevilla.

Also Friday, Ajax and Juventus were drawn together in the next round of the Europa League for a rerun of the 1996 Champions League final. Ajax will host the first leg of the round-of-32 match on Feb. 18 before traveling to Turin for the return a week later.