The draws for the second round of the Champions League were held yesterday and, at first glance, it seems that whereas the current holders Barcelona and second favourites Real Madrid should have no big problems to make it to the last eight, the rest of the clashes are more or less balanced affairs that are difficult to predict.

Barcelona were drawn to play Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen, a club which has little history in Europe, having reached the final of this competition only once, and losing to Real Madrid. Messi and colleagues, playing the most spectacular and equally efficient football around the globe, should have no problems.

Real Madrid will not find the Moscow winter too much to their liking, but the Russians will not be helped by the fact that the domestic league will not have started by the time they have to face the European champions. Again, Mourinho’s boys start off as clearly the side which is better equipped to qualify.

The draws pitted two English clubs against two Italian clubs, and this always generates interest in Malta. London clubs Chelsea and Arsenal will have home advantage in the second leg against Napoli and Milan respectively. Napoli have made it this far for the first time in their history, while Chelsea are by now an experienced club in this competition. It is the fourth time in a row that Milan are facing an English club at this stage of the competition, and in the previous three times they were knocked out.

Bayern Munich, who will be hosting the final in May, will not have to travel far to Basel in Switzerland. Things might look easy for the Bavarians, but they must remember that the Swiss side eliminated Manchester United in the first round.

Inter will also start off with better chances against Marseille, but the Italian club is having a roller-coaster of a season, and one has to see what their form will be like come February.

The last two clashes will be the least interesting for us Maltese – although very appealing for the clubs taking part. The other French side in the competition, Lyon, will face Cyprus’ Apoel Nicosia, who created the biggest surprise of the tournament so far by winning their group.

The clash between Zenit St Petersburg and Benfica will bring together teams of equal strength but different history. The Portuguese side were crowned European champions twice in the 1960s, and seek a return to the glorious days, while the Russians have won the Uefa Cup in 2008, although they are still to make an impact in the more important European competition.