After leaving Manchester United for Real Madrid in 2003, David
Beckham will get his Christmas wish come true as AC Milan will play
Manchester United in the Champions League Round of 16 starting on
February 16 in Milan's San Siro and will go to Old Trafford in
Manchester on March 10.
The day prior to the draw, the on-loan Los Angeles Galaxy
midfielder told the Italian paper
La Gazzetta dello Sport that he wanted to face Manchester
United in the Round of 16, stating that he would love to face his
old side.
The last time Beckham played in Old Trafford in the Champions
League was seven years ago in a 4-3 thriller over Real Madrid,
which Beckham didn't start but got substituted late by manager Sir
Alex Ferguson and subsequently scored twice to give United a win,
but Real still advanced onto the semifinal.
But along with Beckham's return to Old Trafford, this will
also be a renewal of one of the best matchups in the Champions
League this decade, as Milan faced United twice this decade and
have beaten United in as many tries in the knockout stage.
The first time that they did this was in 2005, when Milan
beat Manchester United 2-0 on aggregate in the round of 16,
including a 1-0 loss at Old Trafford, which ended United's chances
of winning the Champions League.
And in 2007, Milan faced United in the Champions League
semifinal, where they beat Milan 3-2 in the first leg at Old
Trafford on a late goal by Wayne Rooney, but lost 3-0 at the San
Siro to eliminate United as AC Milan went on to win the Champions
League over Liverpool.
But regardless, this will be a great matchup to watch, and it
will be great to see David Beckham return to the Old Trafford pitch
for the first time since he left Man United in 2003.
Andrew Jordan is an analyst for Bleacher Report, the open
source sports network.
