Borussia Dortmund coach Edin Terzic is excited by the prospect of facing former BVB heroes Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Christian Pulisic after they drew Chelsea in the Champions League.
Dortmund finished second to Manchester City in Group G of the Champions League, and were subsequently handed a tie against Graham Potter's Blues in Monday's last-16 draw.
The first leg – set for February 15 at Signal Iduna Park – will see Aubameyang and Pulisic return to their old club, for whom the Gabon striker scored 98 Bundesliga goals in a prolific five-year stint.
Asked about the draw at a press conference on Monday, Terzic said: "With Chelsea, a top team from England awaits us.
"With Aubameyang and Pulisic, they have players that were with us up until a few years ago.
"I am also close friends with the coach Graham Potter. I'm looking forward to seeing him again. But we won't play them now, but in February.
"Until then, there is a lot to do, so much homework to do, but we definitely look forward to those games.
"Attractive opponents like this are what we expect from the Champions League, and we will try to progress to the next round."
Meanwhile, Chelsea's director of football operations David Barnard is relieved they will not be facing former Dortmund striker Erling Haaland, who has made a flying start to life in England with Manchester City.
"We're looking forward to playing Dortmund because this will be the first time that we've come across them in the Champions League, it will be interesting from that point of view," he said.
"They played in the City group, as you know, and hopefully we'll get some inside knowledge from City on this particular one. At least Haaland is not playing for Dortmund on this occasion.
"We've obviously got Pierre going back to one of his old clubs, so we are looking forward to it."
Napoli chief confident of Spalletti stay as contract talks remain on hold
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis is confident coach Luciano Spalletti will remain with the Scudetto hopefuls beyond the expiration of his contract at the end of the season.
Napoli appear destined to win their first Serie A title since the Diego Maradona era this campaign, having built a huge 19-point lead over second-placed Lazio.
Having earned a club-record 71 points from their first 27 games of the Serie A season, Napoli will also face Milan in the club's first Champions League quarter-final appearance next month.
Napoli reportedly hold an option to trigger a 12-month extension to Spalletti's contract, with the 64-year-old having previously ruled out talks over fresh terms before the title is secured.
De Laurentiis is not worried about the prospect of Spalletti walking away, praising the coach's seismic impact upon the club as he recalled his 2021 appointment on Friday.
Speaking at an event in Naples, De Laurentiis recalled: "To throw everyone off the track, I went for [Sergio] Conceicao and [Massimiliano] Allegri, who came to give me football lessons in my office four times.
"In the end, Luciano came to bring us back to the top three in Italy and also last year, something different could have happened.
"If the rules of football were different, perhaps we would have brought the Scudetto to Naples a few other times already. Spalletti will stay in Naples."
Napoli host Milan in their next Serie A fixture on April 2, while the first leg of their Champions League last-eight tie with the Rossoneri will take place 10 days later at San Siro.
Aguero rates chance of Messi return to Barca at '50 per cent'
Lionel Messi has a "50 per cent" chance of returning to Barcelona, according to former team-mate and close friend Sergio Aguero.
Messi left Barca for French side Paris Saint-Germain in 2021 after a long and decorated spell with the Catalan giants, winning 10 LaLiga titles and lifting the Champions League on four occasions.
His time in the French capital has been mixed, however, failing to deliver PSG's long-awaited first Champions League having been knocked out in the last 16 the last two seasons.
Messi scored his 800th career goal with a stunning free-kick as Argentina returned after World Cup glory in Qatar with a 2-0 victory over Panama on Thursday.
With the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner's contract at the Parc des Princes set to expire at the end of this campaign, Aguero feels a reunion with the club he first joined when he was 13 could be on the cards.
Aguero called upon Barca president Joan Laporta to bring Messi back to Camp Nou, telling Kings League's Twitch: "Laporta has to make an effort to bring Leo back.
"I think Leo should retire at Barca. Barcelona is his home, he has to finish his career here.
"My feeling is that there is a 50 per cent chance that he will return.
"I think if Laporta does that step [to contact Messi], everything will be much closer to happening."
Messi's Argentina are back in action on Tuesday against Curacao, when the 35-year-old will have the opportunity to score his 100th goal for La Albiceleste having moved on to 99 with his historic strike against Panama.
Rumour Has It: Bayern Munich turning to Tuchel
Bayern Munich have sensationally sacked Julian Nagelsmann, and Thomas Tuchel is in line to take over.
While not officially confirmed by the German club, widespread reports on Thursday suggested Nagelsmann had been dismissed.
Bayern sit second in the Bundesliga, one point behind Borussia Dortmund, and it is one of their rivals' former coaches who is favourite to replace Nagelsmann.
TOP STORY – TUCHEL SIGNS BAYERN DEAL
According to Fabrizio Romano, Tuchel – who was sacked by Chelsea in September – has already agreed to become Bayern's new coach.
Tuchel's first game would be against his former team Dortmund on April 1.
Bayern face Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-finals. Nagelsmann, meanwhile, is sure to be linked with plenty of high-profile job opportunities.
ROUND UP
- The Sun, citing a Sport Bild report, claim that Eintracht Frankfurt have placed an £88million (€99.7m) price tag on Manchester United target Randal Kolo Muani.
- The father of Brighton and Hove Albion's Alexis Mac Allister has informed ESPN no clubs are in concrete talks with his son, but that there are interested parties.
- According to 90min, Chelsea, Newcastle United and Manchester City are all scouting Juventus winger Samuel Iling-Junior.
- Fabrizio Romano says that Barcelona, Real Madrid and Liverpool are interested in Florian Wirtz, though Bayer Leverkusen are confident of keeping hold of the youngster.
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