The Italian jobs: How English clubs have fared against the Italians

Manchester United thumped AC Milan 7-2 in two seasons ago (GETTY IMAGES)

Arsenal and Chelsea were both drawn against Italian opposition today in the shape of AC Milan and Napoli respectively.

It appears a tough draw for the two remaining English clubs in the Champions League. But the London clubs can draw confidence from English teams' recent record against their Italian counterparts.

Here, we take a look at how things have gone over the past five seasons...

2011/2012

Napoli-Manchester City (2-1) 22 Nov 2011

Manchester City-Napoli (1-1) 14 Sep 2011

It was Napoli's strong showing in the group stages of this year's Champions League that led to Manchester City being relegated to the Europa League. A sign that perhaps Italian clubs are on the rise once again.

2010/2011

Tottenham Hotspur-Internazionale (3-1) 02 Nov 2010

Internazionale-Tottenham Hotspur (4-3) 20 Oct 2010

Tottenham played Inter during the group stage of the Champions League. Bale's hat-trick was not enough at the San Siro but at White Hart Lane they ripped the Italian giants apart.

Tottenham Hotspur-AC Milan (0-0) 09 Mar 2011

AC Milan-Tottenham Hotspur (0-1) 15 Feb 2011

Tottenham dumped Arsenal's impending opposition out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage thanks to a Peter Crouch goal away from home followed up by a solid defensive display at White Hart Lane.

2009/2010

Chelsea-Internazionale (0-1) 16 Mar 2010

Internazionale-Chelsea (2-1) 24 Feb 2010

Returning to Stamford Bridge, Jose Mourinho would follow up a 2-1 win at the San Siro with a 1-0 victory secured 11 minutes from the end of a scrappy encounter by Samuel Eto'o. Inter would go on to win that season's Champions League.

Manchester United-AC Milan (4-0) 10 Mar 2010

AC Milan-Manchester United (2-3) 16 Feb 2010

Inter's San Siro bedfellows were not so impressive against English opposition. United's 3-2 win on Italian soil meant AC, who had on-loan David Beckham among their ranks, knew they had to attack at Old Trafford. But that simply meant United could tear them apart, winning 4-0, including a couple of goals from Wayne Rooney.

2008/2009

AS Roma-Chelsea (3-1) 04 Nov 2008

Chelsea-AS Roma (1-0) 22 Oct 2008

During the group stages of the Champions League, Roma and Chelsea shared the six points on offer, both winning on home soil.

Juventus-Chelsea (2-2) 10 Mar 2009

Chelsea-Juventus (1-0) 25 Feb 2009

Chelsea faced Italian opposition again after progressing from their group and reaching the last-16. Under the guidance of Guus Hissink they won at home thanks to Didier Drogba's strike and the Ivorian was on hand again to score the second equaliser in Turin.

Manchester United-Internazionale (2-0) 11 Mar 2009

Internazionale-Manchester United (0-0) 24 Feb 2009

Jose Mourinho's Inter were unable to score across 180 minutes of football as United progressed to the quarter-final stages of the Champions League thanks to goals from Namanja Vidic and Cristiano Ronaldo in the second-leg at Old Trafford.

AS Roma-Arsenal (1-0) 11 Mar 2009

Arsenal-AS Roma (1-0) 24 Feb 2009

With Arsenal and Roma equal at 1-1 after the second leg, the game would go to penalties at the Olympic Stadium to decide who would earn a place in the quarter-finals. The Gunners would win the shoot-out 7-6 when Max Tonetto blazed his spot-kick over the bar in sudden death.

2007/2008

AS Roma-Manchester United (1-1) 12 Dec 2007

Manchester United-AS Roma (1-0) 02 Oct 2007

After being matched up in the group phase, United won 1-0 at home thanks to a goal from Wayne Rooney. Having already qualified by the time of their trip to Rome, an experimental side was able to secure a 1-1 draw, with Gerard Pique getting on the scoresheet for the visitors.

Manchester United-AS Roma (1-0) 09 Apr 2008

AS Roma-Manchester United (0-2) 01 Apr 2008

Manchester United met Roma again in the knock-out stage of the tournament, and reached the semi-finals when Carlos Tevez secured the tie at Old Trafford. Roma would always struggle in the second leg after being stunned 2-0 at the Olympic Stadium, goals coming from Ronaldo and Rooney.

Internazionale-Liverpool (0-1) 11 Mar 2008

Liverpool-Internazionale (2-0) 19 Feb 2008

Liverpool were able to beat Inter home and away in the last-16 stage of the Champions League. Inter went down to 10-men at Anfield but it needed two late goals from Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard to take control of the tie. The second leg was won by a Fernando Torres goal.

AC Milan-Arsenal (0-2) 04 Mar 2008

Arsenal-AC Milan (0-0) 20 Feb 2008

After a 0-0 draw at the Emirates, the odds were stacked against Arsenal. But they went to the San Siro and became the first English team to beat AC Milan there thanks to late goals from Cesc Fabregas and Emmanuel Adebayor.

The facts...

Record over the last five seasons: Played 24, England 14, Italy 6, draws 4

Total record in the Champions League: Played 72, England 33, Italy 19, draws 20