Fairy Tale Reunions - David Beckham At Old Trafford, Mourinho At Stamford Bridge

The Champions League draw proved itself to be as eager to please as ever, throwing the ties that had everyone had been wishing for before the balls were picked.

Yes sir, Olympiacos v Bordeaux is going to be a humdinger alright.

Elsewhere, a bit of fuss has been made about a couple of reunions that the draw has facilitated, Surprise Surprise-style.

David Beckham will get the hero’s return to Old Trafford he had so openly wished for, while Jose Mourinho may not be so happy about his flying visit back to Stamford Bridge.

Becks said on the eve of the draw: “I would really like it if we draw my old club. Since I left in 2003 I have not gone back to play at Old Trafford (as a club player). Seven years have gone by and I want it to happen. Me against United, great no? It would be very difficult but also very exciting.”

Exciting is one way of putting it, though perhaps it’s not the emotion that Alex Ferguson is feeling. A Kaka-inspired Milan comfortably beat United en route to their 2007 crown, and the clamour for Fergie to meet Beckham when he arrives next March adds an awkward sub-plot to a clash that he would rather have avoided.

The pair’s relationship had grown frosty during the then England captain’s final season at the club, as Brand Beckham began to threaten to Fergie hairdryer for supremacy. With the strategic use of an Alice band to show off the head wound sustained by the boot which Ferguson kicked in anger across the dressing room, Beckham moved on to Real Madrid.

The last time their paths crossed sums up the enmity between the two. After United’s semi-final win at Arsenal last season, Ferguson came out after the match to find Beckham and Fabio Capello waiting for him. Ferguson greeted the England boss warmly, and even gave the Italian a manly hug as Beckham stood there with a strained grin. It’s just as well he didn’t spread his arms in anticipation of his own share of the man-love, because Fergie breezed right past him, with only an almost imperceptible acknowledgement to the man who was such a key part of possibly his greatest side.

Beckham is sure to get a rapturous reception from the Old Trafford crowd when he arrives for the second leg, but he will be determined to take his chance to finally prove his former boss wrong. Ferguson need only ask Capello or Steve McClaren to find out what happens when you rub Golden Balls up the wrong way - he always wins in the end.

Mourinho’s return to Chelsea will follow in a similar vein. The Bridge faithful will welcome him back with open arms, but the hierarchy of the club may be less keen to embrace him following his acrimonious departure.

However, the Chelsea fans have now moved on, as, in Carlo Ancelotti, they finally have a manager that they have taken to their hearts. They have learned to love again.

By contrast, the Special One will arrive for perhaps the most high-pressure match of his career, as another year of mediocrity in Europe is unlikely to be tolerated by the Inter board.

Mourinho’s mark is still all over Chelsea in terms of their powerful personnel and their forceful style of play, but he is in real danger of being savaged by the very monster that he himself created.