This week saw the final Group games of this season’s Champions League with the draw for the knockout stage being held on the 17th December.

The group winners were as follows:
Tottenham Hotspur, FC Schalke 04, Manchester United, FC Barcelona, Bayern München, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Shakhtar Donetsk.

The runners up are:
Inter Milan, Olympique Lyonnais, Valencia, FC København, AS Roma, Olympique Marseille, AC Milan and Arsenal.

The first legs of the knockout games will be played on 15/16 and 22/23 February 2011.

All eyes will be on the favourites Barcelona who could face Arsenal, again, in the next round. Another possible mouth watering tie could see last years finalists Inter Milan and Bayern München play each other again.

Wayne Rooney continues to be in ‘devastating’ form according to Sir Alex Ferguson, following Manchester United’s first ever win at the San Siro in Italy on Tuesday night.

Rooney is now tipped to pass 30 goals this season, having already notched up 25 following his brace against Milan in the second half of the UEFA Champions League last 16 knockout stage. United won the game 3-2 after going a goal down to a deflected Ronaldinho effort early on. The red devils weathered the storm in the first half before a moment of luck levelled matters before the break when Paul Scholes scored with a miss kick – the ball coming off his standing leg and trickling past the stranded Dida.

Rooney then dazzled with 2 goals to put United 3-1 up, before Clarence Seedorf pulled one back with 5 minutes to go. Michael Carrick was sent off for kicking the ball away on David Beckham’s first game against his former club. The second leg is played in just under 3 weeks time.

Sir Alex Ferguson, has challanged Owen Hargreaves to be fit and ready for the Champions League showdown with AC Milan in February. The Milan game comes in just 12 days time, and after all the injuries the reds have suffered this season, Hargreaves will be welcome return to the team who have lacked a defensive midfield player all season. Hargreaves has been out of action for some time with operations on both knees to try and fix a long term problem.

Darren Fletcher has been fantastic this term and is one of the regulars on Fergie’s team sheet when it comes to big games. Hargreaves, many feel is in the same mould when it comes to big games; remember he was England’s best player at the last World Cup against Portugal, and his tireless effort helped Manchester United lift the Champions League (European Cup) in 2008. Hargreaves has been given the target of a full week’s training to guarantee himself a place in the squad for Feb 16th.

Fergie said:

I would like to seem him make the squad for the Champions League fixtures against AC Milan, but we won’t rush him. We are being patient with the rehabilitation following his knee operations and he is alternating his training with the reserve and first-team squads, working for two days and then resting a day