It’s Time Again!

Just under two weeks after the exciting first round play offs for the UEFA Champions League, we’re ready for the second round action starting March 10. The first stage of the round of 16 saw crisp soccer action with the likes of the current English leaders Man Utd. taking it on the current Siere A leaders Inter, nine time European champions Real Madrid going toe to toe against the five time champions Liverpool and several other nail biting classic European matches like Chelsea against Juventus, FC Barcelona against Lyon etc. Soccer played was just like we’re used to seeing at a stage as grand as the UEFA Champions League: top tier with responsive crowds, lots of goals being scored and lots of not being scored, teams pushing for away goals to make it easy for the return leg, and trust me when I say this, we are in for even more exciting mid week soccer action than before. The stakes couldn’t get higher than this.

Let’s have a brief look at all the fixtures coming up in the return leg of the UEFA Champions League and give a sneak preview on how things are shaping up for the most watched footballing event in Europe.

Liverpool FC -VS- Real Madrid CF:

People called it the biggest round of sixteen clash in the entire history of UEFA Champions League: a cumulative total of fourteen time champions locking horns for the first time other than a final. With Liverpool’s first visit to the Santiago Bernabeu, we saw an overall steady flow of the game, both teams had scarce chances, but it was Liverpool in the dying moments of the match which can be dubbed as majorly uneventful, who clinched an away goal courtesy a blazing fast Fabio Aurelio free kick being converted to a brilliant header by the inform Yossi Benayoun. Liverpool sat on the plane back to England with something extra in their bags: a precious away goal to keep at Anfield, and a lot of confidence with it. Liverpool lost to Middlesborough the following weekend which supremely dented their Premiership bid, but are back on course with a win against Sunderland. Real Madrid on the other hand enjoyed a great win streak in the La Liga until last week when Atletico Madrid held them to a draw, ending their 10 match win streak and pushing them six points behind leaders Barcelona. Both teams look forward to this second phase match with great importance. Liverpool will certainly be the favorites as they enjoy European nights at Anfield, but no one can and should count out Raul and his men, since everyone knows what quality this record title winning club. Football fans are set to yet another crunch match come this Tuesday.

Manchester United -VS- Internazionale

Man Utd came to San Siro as the under dogs, blatant Murhino talks clearly made them look like one. The current World, European, and English champions were hit hard by word talk before their visit to Italy, but they replied with actions: Man Utd. played as good as they have been playing all this season on Inter soil giving no hint of any pressure, and clearly Sir Alex Furgeson would be considering his side to be unlucky not to score an away goal. Come this Wednesday, Inter will be watching out for Man Utd. with an impressive run and recent trashing of Fullham in the FA cup sixth round, Man Utd. are seemingly getting more and more difficult to beat with each game passing by. With Alex Furgeson’s vast experience, he has lined up arguably the best squad in England, or perhaps Europe, only time will tell. One thing is for certain: Man Utd. are at the top of their form, and no one can deny this. Not even Murhino! Inter will have to play their socks off in order to really beat them, but we all know the attack led by Zaltan Ibrahimovic is more than capable of doing it.

Juventus -VS- Chelsea

Didier Drogba’s early goal gave Guus Hiddink a win in his first home game since taking over at the Chelsea FC helm as last season’s runners-up saw off a concerted Juventus fight back. Juventus fought hard at Stamford, but to no apparent avail. Chlesea clearly enjoyed the advantage at the Blue end of London as they put themselves in a pole position for the upcoming return leg on Tuesday. Travelling to Juventus own yard has however narrowed the advantage which Chelsea will carry with them tomorrow, since Juventus being so good at home, so this match is widely being regarded as equally likely for anyone of the two teams to win and go on. It will, alas be decided on the given day, whoever plays better will eventually make it to the quarter finals of the European championship. The Key for Chelsea will be their recently returned to form Didier Drogba who is enjoying a hand of affection from the new coach. Juventus would surely rely on their big guns Del Piero and Nedved.

FC Bayern München -VS- Sporting

Bayern was written all over the field in the last match in Lisbon. Sporting was on the receiving end of a fiery Ribery and scintillating Toni, being pushed to the limits, and to their fan’s grieve, Sporting didn’t live up to it. Despite a good start, Sporting eventually lost hold of the match and then it was bayern going all in, producing attack after attack with the brilliant Ribery dismantling Sporting defense not just once but twice, single handedly. Bayern have almost secured a spot in the quarter final draws and this second leg has become more of a formality than a match after the five goals to nil trashing of Sporting at their home. It would take a miracle for club de Sporting to actually fight back and knock out Bayern. Question that remains till Tuesday late night: Can they do it?

Villarreal -VS- Panathinaikos

Villarreal CF preserved their proud unbeaten record at El Madrigal in the UEFA Champions League but surrendered a crucial away goal in drawing with Panathinaikos FC.
The result of this first knockout round first-leg tie could have been worse for the Spanish team, however, as they wasted a number of opportunities while continuing this season’s statistic of conceding over a goal a game in Europe. After controlling much of the play, the Yellow Submarine fell behind to a superb long-range strike from Giorgos Karagounis, before Robert Pirès was tripped for a penalty converted by Giuseppe Rossi. With the next tie as crucial as it can get, the stakes are high of what will happen as these two promising teams of Europe go neck to neck against each other in deciding which one of them deserve a spot in the top eight of Champions league.

Roma -VS- Arsenal

Arsenal FC hold the advantage at the midway point of their last-16 tie with AS Roma after Robin van Persie’s first-half penalty inflicted another dose of travel sickness on the Serie A side. Roma have now suffered six successive defeats on English soil although they may feel relieved to have lost by just the one goal given the clear chances that Nicklas Bendtner and Emmanuel Eboué missed in the second half to extend the Gunners’ lead. After a frustrating run of results in the Premier League, Arsène Wenger is hoping this tie would bring the best out of his Arsenal players and they certainly need start on the front foot. The victory means Arsenal stay on course of realizing their goal for a first ever European title and defeat would surely darken their ongoing season with more disappointment as they see themselves out of another major competition for gaining silverware. Though advantage will be on Arsenal’s side, they will be under more pressure not from others, but by the drive to achieve silverware arising amongst themselves and this is where Roma would like to capitalize on, build up enough pressure to cause Arsenal to sink down. Only time will tell who prevails…

Barcelona -VS- Olympique Lyonnais

Barcelona are on the top of the food chain right now: they don’t like to lose, not even draw these days. However, Lyon tested them to their best when Barcelona went to France two weeks ago in the first leg, but still, the Spanish leaders came out strong with a Henry finish to scrape off any misleading score lines against their names. Barcelona will be at home against Lyon. Things will look extremely tense at Camp Nou this Wednesday, as yet another tough fixture takes place between two very capable clubs.

FC Porto -VS- Atlético Madrid

Lisandro took his UEFA Champions League tally to six goals for the campaign as FC Porto twice came from behind to earn a well-deserved draw against Club Atlético de Madrid. But that just made things more complex, eventful and fun for the return tie at Porto’s home, Estádio do Dragão. Both teams have young squads, and game is expected to be as fast and pacey as it was the first time. Chances will occur for both of the teams and this is probably the only match where the ‘home ground’ factor will count much less than it will for the rest of the matches. But that’s the beauty of football, isn’t it? One gets to see diverse games on one single night. Both these well performing clubs will sort it out when they go one on one on Wednesday, march 11, 2009. The fans and pundits are waiting for it to happen and see who tops out the other.