United draw Roma again

 Football  No Responses »
Mar 142008
 

Last week, I had ended a post looking forward to the Champions League draws by predicting that United could draw Roma again in the quarterfinals of the Champions League this year. And that this would settle all doubts about whether the draws are doctored. Surely now, this confirms everything.

The pick of the draw though is the Arsenal-Liverpool tie. That should be enthralling! The Gunners, who have done so well this season in the Premier League with their young squad, knocked holders AC Milan out of the competition in the previous round. Liverpool’s all-but-dead season relies on winning the Champions League. I am torn between picking which of these would come good – Benitez’s tactical nous, or Wenger’s philosophy of flowing football. The return leg is at Anfield; so if I had to pick a winner, I would say Liverpool. (Come to think of it, had the Milanese teams knocked out their English opponents, this tie would have been the Milan derby.)

Chelsea, I had written, might get an easy tie. Fenerbahce, good luck to them, is as easy as it gets. So there is the mouthwatering prospect of an all-English semifinal tie. It could be a Liverpool-Chelsea semifinal, which is now almost a routine annual affair. Or a London derby involving the Gunners.

Barcelona have drawn Schalke, and should be pleased. If the ties turn out as I think, we could have a situation similar to last year, with Barcelona replacing Milan in the semis. I’m already looking forward to the Barca-United clash!

 Posted by Vijay Narayanan at 10:47 am  Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Champions League 2007-08

 Football  1 Response »
Mar 052008
 

For the second successive year, English teams are meeting with increased success in the UEFA Champions League. United, Arsenal and Chelsea are through already to the quarterfinals, and Liverpool look set to join them in a week’s time.

While English football, in general, is moving from one crisis to another (the national side’s poor form, a growing dearth of quality footballing talent, foreign ownership of clubs, an increasing percentage of foreign players), English clubs, and the Big Four in particular, seem to be doing rather well. The past three Champions League finals have featured an English club – Liverpool in 2005 and 2007, and Arsenal in 2006. Except for 2006, every Champions League quarterfinal fixture list has featured at least two English clubs; three clubs reached the semifinals last year.

Assuming Liverpool go through, the other clubs in the running are Barcelona, Schalke, Fenerbahce and Roma, who knocked out a Real Madrid team that I had expected would go farther. With due respect to all the clubs mentioned above, I think only Barcelona are in the same league as the Big Four. So if none of the English clubs were drawn against each other, we can expect a second season in which three English clubs make it to the last four.

Having seen how the ties have come out in the past, I have my own doubts if they are not doctored. Chelsea faced Barcelona in three successive seasons, and Liverpool in the semis twice in three years. My guess is Arsenal would draw Barca, as the Gunners have some grudge left over since the two met in the final two years ago. And United would draw Liverpool, so the Battle of the Reds would spill over to Europe. That gives Chelsea a relatively easy tie, and would also ensure that at least two English teams make it to the semis.

Of course, anything can happen. A dream tie would be to pit Manchester United against Barcelona. Or Liverpool against Barcelona, another grudge tie from the past. Or Roma against Man U once more in the quarters, that would prove beyond all doubt that the draw is definitely doctored.

 Posted by Vijay Narayanan at 10:38 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , , ,
© 2011 VKpedia Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha