Alright. The UEFA Champions League season 2007/2008 is now at the quarter-final stage! Some interesting match-ups are coming up. Anyway, here are the quarter-final matches:Roma (Italy) v Manchester United (England)
Schalke (Germany) v Barcelona (Spain)
Fenerbahce (Turkey) v Chelsea (England)
Arsenal (England) v Liverpool (England)
The matches will be played on a home & away basis in the middle of this week & next week. Here's my forecast on the outcomes of the quarter-final ties:
Roma v Manchester United:
Both sides met at the same stage last season, & Manchester United ran out big winners, inflicting Roma a heavy defeat at Old Trafford. What will happen this time round? I think the matches will be a lot closer this time. Roma will definitely want to give a much better account of themselves this time round. Whether that extra motivaton will be enough to get past Manchester United is open to question. The tie promises to be interesting, as both sides like to play attacking, adventurous football. I think Manchester United will get to the semi-finals, simply because they have a stronger attack & have been in very fine form domestically & in Europe.
Schalke v Barcelona:
On paper, Barcelona are hot favourites. However, their form has not been impressive of late. For that reason, their ties against Schalke could be a lot closer than many people would expect. All is not well at Barcelona. They have been showing inconsistent performances & during the weekend, they let slip a 2 goal lead to lose 3-2 away to Betis in the Spanish league. An embarassing collapse, that, & a blow to their hopes of winning the Spanish championship. It's hard to tell quite how Barcelona will react to that massive setback. If they carry that patcy form into the Champions League, then Schalke are quite capable of causing a shock. However, if they can put that setback behind them, then they should beat Schalke. As it is (& perhaps I'm biased), I tip Barcelona to go through, but not by a huge margin.
Fenerbahce v Chelsea:
Turkish giants Fenerbahce caused quite a sensation by dumping highly fancied Spanish outfit Sevilla out in the previous round. That must be considered quite an achievement, given the talented footballers Sevilla have at their disposal. For that reason, it would be foolish to underestimate Fenerbahce. However, I still think Chelsea should have the measure of them & more. Chelsea look to have too much all round experience, & do have a bigger & better squad than Fenerbahce. For that reason, I think Chelsea will once again reach the Champions League semi-finals. But don't expect a walkover, for Fenerbahce should be tough to beat in Turkey. However, when they travel to London, it will be a different story altogether. And that's where this tie will be decided in the Londoners' favour.
Arsenal v Liverpool:
England's top 4 clubs have done very well in the Champions League this season. Two of them meet each other in the "all-English" quarter-final tie. Seasoned campaigners Liverpool travel to London to face talented Arsenal. Given their experience & European pedigree, some have considered Liverpool as the side no one wants to face in the Champions League. Many have said that they will be too experienced for Arsenal to handle. But then again, Arsenal were also written off when they were drawn against last year's Champions League winners Milan in the previous round. And guess what happened? Arsenal showed what they are capable of, knocking off the defending champions on their home ground. So having eliminated Milan, Arsenal will have no real reason to fear Liverpool, even though they may be the less experienced of the two sides. This will be a tactical battle between the respective coaches - Arsenal's Wenger & Liverpool's Benitez. Who will win the tactical battle, that's anyone's guess. But Arsenal are more talented than Liverpool & over both legs, I actually think Arsenal will narrowly edge it.
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