Previewing the Second Leg of the Quarters

This week gives us the return legs of the quarter finals of this years Champion's League. We will see who the top 4 teams in Europe are this year and who will meet in the semi's.

Inter Milan @ CSKA Moscow... Inter held serve at home with a 1-0 winner through Diego Milito's second half goal. A 1-0 lead means this tie is very much in doubt, but it should be noted that Italian sides are famous for winning 1-0 at home and holding on to a nil-nil draw on the road to advance. These teams usually "park the bus" and have 10 men behind the ball at all times, but I do not see Inter or Jose Mourinho taking this tactic. I expect to see Inter play just like they did on the road against Chelsea and push forward in attack and defend strongly when needed. CSKA will be able to play at home in the second leg and many European teams have trouble traveling to Russia in the Champion's League. CSKA also didn't "park the bus" at the San Siro and looked dangerous at times in the attack. They had a few chances and could have scored that important away goal but just didn't manage it. With Necid, Honda, Krasic, and Mamaev in attack, this team can score goals. They also move the ball very well and pass and keep the ball well in very tight quarters. Their one touch passing can open up quick spacing for them and give them opportunities to score. In the end I see this game ending 1-1 with CSKA opening the scoring, Inter leveling early in the second half and then fighting furiously at the end to get the other goals necessary to move on but only getting 1.

Arsenal @ Barcelona... Barca saw a late come back from Arsenal mean they only got a draw at the Emirates stadium in London. The big news in this return leg are the players who will miss out. Barcelona saw Pique and Puyol, their two first choice center backs, get suspended for this game which means Gabi Milito will pair along side either Rafa Marquez, most likely, or Dmytro Chigrynskiy. Eric Abidal is back healthy and may play but Andres Iniesta is still out thru injury and goal scorer, Zlatan Ibrahmiavic, will also miss out with a calf problem. Arsenal will be without captain Cesc Fabregas through suspension and injury while Gallas, Arshavin, and Song will all miss thru injury. Arsenal, who were already having problems in defense against Barca, will be without 2 center backs and will most likely have to start Sol Campbell who isn't preferred because of his age and speed. In the game, Arsenal must score at the Camp Nou and they must win. A draw of 3-3 or more will send Arsenal through as well. A 1-0 victory is what Arsenal will be playing for but that means they must keep Barca from scoring which does not seem likely. I expect Arsenal to look for a goal on the counter attack in the first half and if they don't get then they will start to push forward later. In the end I see Barca taking this game and this tie. and 2-1 victory or more seems likely as Barca looked great at the weekend while playing a lot of younger non-starters and Arsenal need a late goal to win over a 10 man side.

Bayern Munich @ Manchester United.. The big news in this game is that Wayne Rooney may not make a surprise return to the lineup, though I don't see that happening. With Wayne Rooney out, Man U lost at the weekend to Chelsea and may have lost the Premier league title as well. Man U lost 2-1 at Bayern which means they must score at least once and with Rooney out this could be difficult. Berbatov just hasn't seemed like scoring in any game I have seen but hopefully for Man U he can. Bayern will get Arjen Robben and Bastian Schweinstiger back for the game which will make them even more potent in attack. I honestly think that Bayern will be able to get a 1-1 draw at Man U and move on to the semi's. The only real reason for this is because of Rooney being out and I see Man U having a hard time scoring.

Lyon @ Bordeaux... This was the second most exciting game last week and saw Lyon take a 3-1 advantage at home. Bordeaux could easily have scored more but didn't manage to and now need a minimum of 2-0 victory to move on. Give the poor play in defense for both sides this outcome could easily happen but I see more goals than this. A possible 4-2 game is likely which would see Lyon move on but I personally see it ending 3-2 and Lyon moving on. No major players will be missing out in this game and it should be fun to watch again.

If these results do happen then we would see a Lyon-Bayern Munich and an Inter-Barcelona semi finals.

Champion's League Draw

Well the draw happened on friday and a soccer fan's dream has come true with Barcelona and Arsenal getting drawn together. This is the best and most interesting match up of the bunch with out a doubt. But first I'm gonna talk about the others.

Man U v. Bayern Munich... Interesting match up here. Obviously a rematch of the '99 Champion's League final which Man U won with 2 stoppage time goals from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Man U will definitely be the favored side in this tie but Bayern could cause a scare for the Red Devils. Man U will have the advantage of the second leg being at home but if they are not careful Bayern can score at home and put this matchup in doubt. With Robben and Ribery causing problems down the flanks, Bayern have a definite attacking scare. I still think Man U will win this tie (and eventually make it to the final) but I think Bayern win's at home but Man U gets the away goal and then finishes it off at home.

Lyon v. Bordeaux... The all French match up. These two teams obviously know each other very well being from the same league. In fact, they will play 3 games in quick succession as they play in the league right after the second leg of this tie. Bordeaux have the second leg at home and are currently in better form than Lyon, sitting atop the Ligue 1 table with Lyon in 5th (but only 5 points back). Lyon have the experience on their side as they have made the knock out stage in the past 6 years. I like Lyon in this matchup because of the experience and having defeated Real Madrid in the previous tie. Though this one is almost 50-50. The winner of this tie gets Man U in the next leg and will have the second leg at home. Man U will be favored against either of these teams and I think Bayern would be too. I see Man U moving on to the final.

Inter Milan v. CSKA Moscow... Inter had a great showing against Chelsea and get the "benefit" of the draw against the least well known side. However, playing against Eastern European teams and having to travel there is always difficult (just ask Barca: Rubin Kazan, Dynamo Kiev, and Shaktar Donetsk). Mourinho will have his team ready to go and will have the advantage of the second leg at home. I think the game in Moscow will be tight and tough but the game at the San Siro will be defining and send Inter through.

Barcelona v. Arsenal... Without a doubt the best match up of this stage. Two teams with a similar style who wont sit back and play ugly soccer (are you listening Chelsea?) Barcelona will be favored in this match up as they are arguably the best team in the world at the moment (they would be favored against everyone they play right now though it would be almost 50-50 against Man U). Henry will be facing his old club and Cesc will be doing the same, though Cesc may also be facing his new club as Barcelona want to buy him this summer. Barcelona have the second game at home. This is also a rematch of the '06 final which Barca won 2-1 coming from behind late. I think the game at Arsenal will be high scoring and very exciting (3-2, 2-1, 3-3 type game). I think Barca will, however, once again take advantage at home and win the tie. The other interesting thing about this tie is that the weekend after the second leg Barca must go to the Bernabeu while Arsenal must take on Tottenham. These two games could cause the teams to play different but I don't see too much changing. The winner of this match gets Inter or CSKA in the next round and will have the second leg at home.

I picture it being Barcelona v. Inter and Man U v. Lyon in the semi's. Again I see Man U making the final and in the rematch of the group stage I think Barcelona will once again get by Inter in a very tight match up. This would obviously lead to a rematch of last years final which Barca won. Not sure who would be favored in this game at these are the top 2 teams in the world at the moment. Rooney and Messi are on amazing form and are scoring all the time. Barca's defense is weaker but their attack and possession is much stronger. I am biased so I will say Barca repeat but remember no team has repeated since it became known as the Champion's League. Also, the game will be in Spain which may help Barca and with it being at the home of your rival it could give Barca another advantage. Also, with Mourinho facing Barca it could be very interesting as he may take over for Real next season or Barca in 2 seasons (Guardiola unsure if he wants to continue after next season).

More to come on the Barca-Aresnal match up when it gets closer

Mourinho defeats former team as Moscow moves into the quarters

Jose Mourinho led Inter Milan against his former team, Chelsea, in the round of 16 clash. Mourinho says he never loses at Stanford Bridge and he was right in this case as Samuel Eto'o scored late to give the win and round tie to Inter. Chelsea were unable to reverse the first leg 2-1 defeat at the San Siro. All they needed was to score and keep Inter out of the net and they would have moved on. However, they were unable to find the back of the net and can now only focus on the Premiership.

Chelsea never really looked like scoring the entire game and seemed to be on the back foot to a surprisingly attacking Inter. Italian teams are well known for taking a lead into the second leg of the tie and then sitting back and "parking the bus" to win the tie. Mourinho, however, isn't a manager who likes to sit back and started an attacking team with the intention of playing to win. I applaud Mourinho for this action as it leads to more positive soccer and more enjoyable soccer. And I am especially happy to see this done against Chelsea who are known for their "anti-football" defensive style that they displayed last year against Barcelona.

Inter came close a few times but finally found the mark in the 79th minute with a great thru ball from Sneijder to Eto'o who brought the down perfectly and then slotted the ball in the near post with his next touch. A great goal from a great goal-scorer who didn't have a particularly good game up to that point. Sneijder was great the entire game and who the orchestrator of everything that Inter did.

Drogba once again ended a Champion's League season in shame as he was sent off for a second yellow cardable offense late. Last year he along with Ballack were shamed for their actions after being ousted in the semi's. Drogba's second offense didn't look as bad but I can understand where the ref was coming from.

In the other game, CSKA Moscow defeated Sevilla 2-1 on the road to secure a quarterfinal spot. Sevilla seemed to be in control of the tie after drawing 1-1 in Moscow and grabbing that all, and seemingly, important away goal. However, CSKA Moscow opened the scoring with a clinical finish by Necid. Sevilla equalized almost immediately thru Perotti. This 1-1 scoreline would have lead to extra time but early in the second half Moscow scored again from a freekick. Honda, the played not the car, ripped a free kick that should have been punched away but the keeper fumbled it and it bounced off his hands into his own net. Sevilla was unable to find a good attack in the last half hour now needing two goals to move to the quarters. They brought on all their attacking options but couldn't score.

In the end, Moscow got pretty dirty making very late tackles and were rightly shown many yellow cards. I don't like this tactic as it is bad for soccer and could lead to injuries but it worked. It was a sloppy game the whole time but worked out in the end for Moscow. They join Inter, Man U, Lyon, Arsenal, and Bayern in the quarters.

The last two games are Stuttgart at Barcelona and Olympiacos at Bordeaux. The draw to see who plays who in the next rounds will be held on friday.