Football...... Champions League
The draw was made today for the knockout stages of the Champions League. The British teams are highlighted in bold for you.CHELSEA v Barcelona Real Madrid v ARSENALWerder Bremen v Juventus Bayern Munich v AC Milan PSV Eindhoven v Lyon Ajax v Inter Milan Benfica v LIVERPOOLRANGERS v VillarrealI think we are robbed of the classic final which would be Chelsea and Barcelona. They met last year in the early knockout stages and Chelsea prevailed back then but this year I think Barcelona have found another gear to their game. It's a tough one to call but I take Barcelona to edge it.Real Madrid and Arsenal looks like an attractive tie and I fancy Arsenal to extend their European journey into the last 8, not without some excitement though.Werder Bremen v Juventus. Lucky Juventus! I feel WB were the team all the other managers were hoping draw.Bayern Munich and AC Milan is the next best tie for intrigue. German efficiancy against Italian flair. It's a tough one to call and a season or two ago I would have fancied Milan but I wonder if the nightmare of last year's final is clear from their minds. If it's not, the Germans will exploit that. I don't know how to call it. Toss of a coin.PSV Eindoven v Lyon. I think both teams will have taken each other in avoidance of Barcelona or Chelsea but both have a chance. It will be a good match-up but since I nominated Lyon as my 'dark horse' for the tournament i a previous post, I'm going to run with them.Ajax and Inter Milan is another close call but I'm going with Inter only because Ajax are a young side and experience would be a valuable asset against a very 'hurtful' bunch of players.Benfica v Liverpool is another kind draw for the scousers. Benfica will be a test but Liverpool are on an impressive roll and will be too strong for the Portugese.Rangers and Villareal. This will be the end of the road for the Scottish team and Alex Macliesh as their manager. Ho hum, never mind.This round takes place on the 21/22nd February.
The draw was made today for the knockout stages of the Champions League. The British teams are highlighted in bold for you.CHELSEA v Barcelona Real Madrid v ARSENALWerder Bremen v Juventus Bayern Munich v AC Milan PSV Eindhoven v Lyon Ajax v Inter Milan Benfica v LIVERPOOLRANGERS v VillarrealI think we are robbed of the classic final which would be Chelsea and Barcelona. They met last year in the early knockout stages and Chelsea prevailed back then but this year I think Barcelona have found another gear to their game. It's a tough one to call but I take Barcelona to edge it.Real Madrid and Arsenal looks like an attractive tie and I fancy Arsenal to extend their European journey into the last 8, not without some excitement though.Werder Bremen v Juventus. Lucky Juventus! I feel WB were the team all the other managers were hoping draw.Bayern Munich and AC Milan is the next best tie for intrigue. German efficiancy against Italian flair. It's a tough one to call and a season or two ago I would have fancied Milan but I wonder if the nightmare of last year's final is clear from their minds. If it's not, the Germans will exploit that. I don't know how to call it. Toss of a coin.PSV Eindoven v Lyon. I think both teams will have taken each other in avoidance of Barcelona or Chelsea but both have a chance. It will be a good match-up but since I nominated Lyon as my 'dark horse' for the tournament i a previous post, I'm going to run with them.Ajax and Inter Milan is another close call but I'm going with Inter only because Ajax are a young side and experience would be a valuable asset against a very 'hurtful' bunch of players.Benfica v Liverpool is another kind draw for the scousers. Benfica will be a test but Liverpool are on an impressive roll and will be too strong for the Portugese.Rangers and Villareal. This will be the end of the road for the Scottish team and Alex Macliesh as their manager. Ho hum, never mind.This round takes place on the 21/22nd February.
