Homecoming ahead for Abramovich?

Chelsea’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich will find out later today if he is going home in the Champions League.

The draw for the first knockout stage is taking place at 11am Irish time, with Chelsea potentially facing Lokomotiv Moscow in the last 16.

However, the big-spending Stamford Bridge side will not face Arsenal or Manchester United.

This time around, clubs from the same national association will not be drawn against each other. In addition, the winner and the runner-up from the same group will not be drawn against each other.

But England’s top three could meet up should they make it through to the quarter-finals.

United lost only one of their six group games and could face old rivals Bayern Munich in the first knockout stage in a repeat of the 1999 final.

Alex Ferguson’s side won it at the death – but the Germans remain formidable opponents.

Arsenal might find themselves up against Bundesliga leaders Stuttgart, who lost at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

Chelsea will avoid Sparta Prague but Arsenal and Manchester United would no doubt welcome a tie against the Czech side.

GROUP WINNERS: Man Utd, Real Madrid, Chelsea, AC Milan, Lyon, Arsenal, Monaco, Juventus.

GROUP RUNNERS-UP: Stuttgart, Porto, Sparta Prague, Celta Vigo, Bayern Munich, Lokomotiv Moscow, Deportivo La Coruna, Real Sociedad.

Meanwhile the shadow of Besiktas is hanging over the three British seeds -Liverpool, Newcastle and Celtic – ahead of the UEFA Cup draw.

UEFA have begun disciplinary proceedings against the Turkish club following crowd trouble at the Champions League match with Chelsea on Tuesday in Gelsenkirchen.

Besiktas lost the game, tumbled out of the group and into the third round of the UEFA Cup.

Surprisingly they are not among the seeds, setting up a potentially explosive clash against one of the British trio.

Another unseeded Turkish club is Gaziantepspor, which is only 50 miles from the Syrian border.

The good news for Liverpool, Newcastle and Celtic is that they will avoid the likes of Barcelona, Inter Milan, Roma and Galatasaray.

There are some dangerous sides, however, in the bottom half of the draw.

Polish club Groclin Grodzisk eliminated Manchester City in the second round while the Turks of Genclerbirligi disposed of Blackburn.

Ukrainian side Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk are also seen as another team to avoid, if only for the travelling involved.

The teams are to be divided into four groups of eight, four seeded and four non-seeded.