Manchester United, the European champions, and Liverpool were handed mouthwatering ties against Inter Milan and Real Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League.

The draw pits Sir Alex Ferguson against old adversary Jose Mourinho, while Liverpool's fixture against Real means Rafael Benitez will face Juande Ramos, his fellow Spaniard, who has just taken charge at the Bernabeu.

Chelsea face an intriguing reunion with former boss Claudio Ranieri after being paired with Juventus, while Arsenal take on Roma. Mourinho, the former Chelsea manager, was hopeful of drawing an English club, and will be delighted to meet United, with the first leg to be played at the San Siro.

The clash will revive memories of Mourinho's famous dash down the touchline at Old Trafford in March 2004 when Francisco Costinha's last-minute equaliser sent Porto through and United crashing out.

"It's interesting to come up against Jose again," Ferguson said. "He's a character with a good personality and I've always got on well with him.

"He's knocked us out of the competition with Porto, so I hope we have the luck they had in that tie this time round."

"Hopefully we can do the job in the first game and give ourselves a platform to take back to Old Trafford," he said. "The San Siro is a great stadium to play in. We've lost two semi-finals to AC Milan there so we want to go there and do better.

"This is the stage when the competition gets going and I think all the English teams have a good chance. I'm happy with our draw."

Inter director Ernesto Paolillo said: "Mr Mourinho knows English football very well and this can help us. We have the right number of players, and the right quality of players to reach the final."

Champions League last 16 draw

Chelsea v Juventus

Villareal v Panathinaikos

Sporting Lisbon v Bayern Munich

Atletico Madrid v Porto

Lyons v Barcelona

Real Madrid v Liverpool

Arsenal v Roma

Inter Milan v Manchester United

Ties to be played on February 24 and 25 and March 10 and 11.