All Leagues, EPL, England, Europe, Features, Ian John, Leagues, Regions POSTS
Deja Vu?
Published by Ian John on March 20, 2009
Are you a soccer fanatic? Do you have strong opinions about the game? Think you have the chops to write about it? Contact Us then...
This morning’s Champions League draw has once again seen an all Premiership quarter final drawn and once again Liverpool and Chelsea’s paths will cross, this time in the latter stages of the competition.
There is a sense of unerring inevitability that at some point both Chelsea and Liverpool will play each other in the Champions League at least once a season. The draw in Nyon this morning confirmed it will be the fifth successive year that the both clubs face each other in the Champions League. Certainly Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez and Chelsea boss Gus Hiddinck could be forgiven for wondering if the football gods were against them once again, as the winners of their tie must then take on the victors of the other very tough quarter final tie; Bayern Munich or Barcelona.
Arsenal meanwhile face a re-run of their 2006 semi final in the same competition with a tie against Villareal. The winners of that tie will face Manchester United or FC Porto in the semi final in what looks the much easier half of the draw on paper at least. While there are no easy games at this stage of the competition, Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger will probably be very happy at the way things have turned out for their respective charges, even if it does bring up the possibility of a renewal of their often heated rivalry in the semi finals.
It is the second year in succession that four Premier League teams have reached the last eight and already there have been somewhat muted bleatings of malcontent from the great and good in UEFA stating that one countries dominance of the competition isn’t “good for the game.” What nonsense! I didn’t hear such moans and gripes when Italian sides dominated the competition, or when the Spanish sides did the same a few years back… Why should it then be a problem when it is English sides who dominate? The answer isn’t to whine and whinge and legislate against it, but for teams from Spain, Italy, Germany or wherever in Europe, to beat the English sides out on the pitch.
As for who will progress to the semi finals… It is hard to put a realistic case for FC Porto to beat Manchester United over two legs. Sir Alex Ferguson’s side are, last weekend apart, in excellent form and should have far too much quality in depth for the Portuguese side. The Villareal – Arsenal tie should be a closer affair, but with Arsenal welcoming back several key men in the next few weeks, I think that will just tip the balance in their favour against a Villareal side who have impressed many with their performances in La Liga this season. The Liverpool – Chelsea tie looks to be a coin toss. Although Liverpool have done the double over Chelsea in the league this season it means little. I can remember Chelsea humbling Liverpool 4-1 at Anfield in the league, but still losing to the Reds in the Semi Final stages of the competition later that year. It will be a close run thing and it really is too close to call. The other quarter final is equally difficult to call with Bayern Munich and Barcelona each having a great many of their own merits. However I fancy Bayern to eventually be victorious over the two legs, mainly because they are better defensively.
The beauty of football is that these predictions could be wildly inaccurate. Only one thing is certain however and that is if three English teams reach the semi finals once again, you will hear the bleatings from UEFA about the ‘English dominance’ of the competition being a bad thing, getting louder and louder.
Image Courtesy of **Toksuede** on Flickr.com
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading ...1,242 views
2 so far
Nabyl Charania on Fri, 20th Mar 2009 1:04 pm
Can’t complain about this Champions League draw !
Villarreal v Arsenal
Manchester United v Porto
Liverpool v Chelsea
Barcelona v Bayern Munich
Nabyl Charania on Sat, 21st Mar 2009 3:49 pm
With Chelsea and Man U both faltering in their EPL Games this weekend, if Liverpool can capitalize and keep their good run of form going, Chelsea will find them hard to beat.