Two other former champions are also in action, with Porto taking on surprise package Malaga, and Bayern
Munich facing eternal hopefuls Arsenal.
Galatasaray, meanwhile, will seek inspiration from Burak Yilmaz, who has six goals in six outings in this year's competition, and Didier Drogba, who scored on his recent debut for the ambitious Turks, as they look to outgun Schalke. For the Bundesliga side, striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar will be hoping to add to his tally of four goals in this year's edition.Match of the day
AC Milan-Barcelona, Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan, 20:45 CET
For the fifth time in less than two years, AC Milan and Barcelona are ready to do battle in the Champions League. The sides have met 15 times in the competition to date and Barça hold the slight edge, with six wins, four defeats and five draws. They are also unbeaten in their last seven meetings with the Rossoneri, winning four and drawing three.
After a stuttering start to their Serie A campaign, Massimiliano Allegri's youthful AC Milan side have fought their way impressively back into contention in the top three. Their recent form owes much to the blossoming strike duo of Mario Balotelli and Stephan El Shaarawy, the former having scored four times in his first three games for the club. Former Barcelona front man Bojan Krcic may also feature against his formative club. Bojan became Barça's youngest ever league goalscorer on 20 October 2007 when he found the net aged 17 years and two months.
For Barça, coach Tito Vilanova is again absent as he continues to receive medical treatment in New York, but he will no doubt be in regular contact with assistant Jordi Roura. The Catalan side are running away with La Liga and remain on course to replicate their clean sweep of trophies of two seasons ago, thanks in no small part to the continued scintillating form of Lionel Messi. The Argentinian has 56 goals in the Champions League and is edging ever closer to Raul's all-time record of 71. His brace in the club's recent 2-1 win over Granada, meanwhile, moved him to an extraordinary 37 league goals in 24 games this season.
The other matches
Arsenal-Bayern Munich
Arsenal were knocked out of the FA Cup's Round of 16 by second-tier Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, having exited the League Cup in similar fashion earlier in the season. That, coupled with the fact that they lie 21 points behind Premier League leaders Manchester United in fifth place, means the Champions League represents their only hope of a first trophy since 2005. First, however, the Gunners must overcome Bayern Munich, who are cruising towards the Bundesliga title with a 15-point lead over second-placed Borussia Dortmund.
The Bavarians, whose Champions League away record stands at 29 wins, 29 defeats and 24 draws, are spoiled for choice upfront but must do without defender Jerome Boateng, who is suspended. Arsenal, for their part, will take some heart from their home stats in the competition, which show 24 wins and only two defeats - to Manchester United and Schalke - in 31 games at the Emirates. The north Londoners will also be keen to avenge their defeat by Bayern in the last 16 of the 2004/05 tournament.
Porto-Malaga
Six Portuguese internationals, five Brazilians and four Argentinians are in line to feature in this, the first ever meeting between the Iberian neighbours. Malaga, this season's revelations, are the only qualifiers left in the competition, having gone through the group phase unbeaten and finished top of their section, four points ahead of AC Milan. Hosts Porto, meanwhile, have reached the knockout stages ten times, and go into this game on the back of a 19-match unbeaten league run of 15 wins and four draws.
Argentinian pair Luis Gonzalez and Javier Saviola will be tasked with providing attacking inspiration for the hosts and visitors respectively. But the two real game-changers are likely to be Porto's Colombian striker Jackson Martinez, who has 20 goals in 19 league games in his debut season, and Spanish rising star Francisco Roman Alarcon Suarez, the 20-year-old more commonly known as Isco.
Galatasaray-Schalke
Galatasaray host Schalke in what is the pair's first competitive fixture. Fatih Terim's Galatasaray started their European campaign poorly with two defeats, before recovering to record three straight wins and seal second spot in Group H. The Turkish side will be hoping their impressive attacking trio of Wesley Sneijder, Didier Drogba and Burak Yilmaz can continue that positive momentum against Schalke.
The Germans find themselves mid-table in the Bundesliga, but have lost just one of their last nine European away games. That sequence includes a notable victory over Arsenal, and they are one of only four teams still unbeaten in this season's Champions League. The game also marks the Champions League debut of Schalke's new coach, Jens Keller, who replaced Huub Stevens in December and will no doubt be preparing for a fiery first test in Istanbul.
Player to watch
Côte d'Ivoire striker Didier Drogba, 34, returns to the Champions League looking to add to his tally of 39 goals in 77 games, which he amassed while at previous clubs Marseille and Chelsea. After a brief stint in China with Shanghai Shenhua, Drogba is now starting a new adventure in Turkey with Galatasaray. The forward made an immediate impact in his league debut on 15 February, scoring five minutes after coming on in the 63rd minute to help his side to a 2-1 victory over bottom-placed Akhisar Belediyespor.
The stat
4 - The number of sides still unbeaten in this year's Champions League. They are Borussia Dortmund and Juventus, who played the first legs of their last-16 ties last week, Schalke and Malaga. The latter are the only remaining qualifiers in the competition.
What they said
"I'm looking forward to seeing Poldi (Lukas Podolski) and Per (Mertesacker) again, as it's always special to meet your international team-mates. They're also a team I've never faced and it's a stadium in which I've yet to play. We're going to need to play our best football," Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm.
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