Back to the future for United

Thanks to the Champions League draw, we now know the ghost of Christmas past will be returning to the Theatre of Dreams in 2013 in the form of old boy wonder Ronaldo.

But, more intriguingly, Manchester United’s meeting with Real Madrid will also see an appearance at Old Trafford by a contender for the role of ghost of Christmas future, as Jose Mourinho arrives to once more pit his wits against Alex Ferguson.

For those reasons and also because, historically, these are two of the most storied clubs in the history of European football, the clash of United and Madrid stands head and shoulders above the rest of the last-16 draw, ensuring a vast global audience will be tuning in when the first and second leg drama unfolds in Manchester and Madrid in late February and early March next year.

Not that we’re witnessing the clash of two heavyweights in their prime, however. Right now Real are so far behind Barcelona domestically that Mourinho has more or less conceded the game is already up for his team in La Liga, while United are sitting but hardly pretty atop the Premier League, their current supremacy as much an indictment of falling standards in England as it is a vindication of their own somewhat suspect good health.

That decline is nowhere more clearly magnified than in a last-16 draw in which Spain are the most heavily represented country with four, followed by Germany (three), Italy and England (two) and one each from Turkey, France, Ukraine and, remarkably, Scotland. And perhaps even more telling for the league which likes to bill itself as the best in the world, are the elephants who are not in the room, as it were, with holders Chelsea and domestic champions Manchester City having both suffered the ignominy of an early exit from Europe’s elite competition.

Which is not to say that one of England’s two remaining representatives couldn’t still go all the way, of course, just as Chelsea confounded the odds by emerging triumphant last season. When the modern Champions League mutates into the old-school European Cup, as happens with the onset of the knockout phase, then anything can happen. That said, Roberto Di Matteo’s team achieved their deserved if unlikely triumph last May by placing the emphasis squarely on stopping the other lot playing, a strategy it’s impossible to see being adapted to the essential DNA of either Man U or Arsenal.

For giantkillers Celtic, by contrast, safety-first is not just the best way but probably the only way and, given their heroics against manifestly superior opposition in the qualifying phase, none will be foolish enough to write off their chances of claiming at least one more glamour scalp at the expense of Juventus, though they’re bound to have their work cut curbing the influence of the peerless Pirlo.

As for Arsenal, neutrals will hope against hope Wenger’s team can get the better of Bayern Munich, if only to relieve the intense pressure on a manager who has done more than most to enhance overall standards in the English club game. Given the Gunners’ habitual misfiring this season, however, the expectation must be Bayern will prevail and, if the manner of such a victory turns out to be emphatic, it could hasten the day when the Frenchman finally departs North London.

Elsewhere, the draw is speckled with intriguing match-ups, not least the one between nouveau riche PSG and comparatively cash-strapped Valencia but, when looking for the source of the likeliest champions, the eye can’t be distracted from another mouthwatering clash, Milan v Barcelona.

The news of a recurrence of manager Tito Vilanova’s illness has cast a dark cloud over the Catalans but, such is the singular spirit of the club, that it’s possible to see even this sad setback being used to help redouble the team’s efforts.

Above all, if Lionel Messi stays free from injury and takes up in 2013 where he is leaving off in 2012, it’s hard to look past Barca as the ultimate winners come May.