Posts Tagged ‘UEFA Champions League’

UEFA Champions League Quarter-Finals Draw (2008-09): It’s Liverpool vs. Chelsea Again!

Friday, March 20th, 2009

UEFA Champions League

The draw for the Quarter-Finals of the UEFA Champions League took place at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland, today at 12:00 CET (I liveblogged the event on Soccerlens).

No Serie A teams were involved alas, and most of us will be watching the next rounds sighing in sadness and regret. Yup. No Juve, no Inter, no Roma… sad sad sad. But while we cry, there’s no reason not to enjoy the best football action European football still has to offer.

I’ll try to make a more elaborate analysis later in the day, but for now here are the draw results.

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2008/09 UEFA Champions League
Quarter-Finals
to be played April 7/8 and 14/15

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Villareal
Villarreal
vs.
Arsenal
Arsenal
Man Utd
Manchester Utd
vs.
Porto
FC Porto
Liverpool
Liverpool
vs.
Chelsea
Chelsea
Barcelona
Barcelona
vs.
Bayern
Bayern Munich


.

2008/09 UEFA Champions League
Semi-Finals
to be played April 28/29 and May 5/6

.

Man Utd/Porto
vs.
Villarreal/Arsenal
Barcelona/Bayern
vs.
Liverpool/Chelsea


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Manchester United 2-0 Inter Milan: Nerazzurri Complete Italy’s Big European Disillusion (UEFA Champions League Round of 16, Second Leg)

Friday, March 13th, 2009

Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic, bottom left, reacts with teammate Rio Ferdinand, top left, after scoring a goal during their Champions League second round, second leg, soccer match against Inter Milan at Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester, England, Wednesday, March 11, 2009. (AP Photo)

Bad luck? I don’t buy it. Okay, had Inter’s woodwork efforts (Zlatan’s crossbar and Adriano’s post) entered the net you probably wouldn’t be reading these lines now, but certainly there are factors other than old-fashioned “sfiga” (as the Italian press is claiming) explaining Inter‘s defeat at the hands of Manchester United Wednesday.

How about the fact that for the third consecutive year, Inter are out of the UEFA Champions League in the round of 16? How about “Man Utd played better, and showed 100% cynicism by converting their two biggest scoring chances in the game”? How about the fact that yet again, English club football has proven its superiority over its Italian counterpart? It’s sad to admit folks, but the truth often hurts and this case is no different: for the late part of the 2000′s, EPL >>> Serie A big time.

As for José, at least in the eyes of the English press he’s just “not special any mour“.

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Roma 1-0 Arsenal: Hero-Mode Isn’t Enough, Giallorossi Beaten on Penalties (UEFA Champions League Round of 16, Second Leg)

Friday, March 13th, 2009

AS Roma defender Max Tonetto, left reacts after missing to score as Arsenal players celebrate during the penalties shootout of the Champions League round of 16 second leg soccer match between AS Roma and Arsenal at Rome's Olympic stadium, Wednesday, March 11, 2009. Arsenal beat AS Roma 7-6 in a penalty shootout to reach the Champions League quarterfinals. (AP Photo)

Compared to their Italian rivals, Roma‘s stay in the UEFA Champions League lasted just a little bit longer: 30 extra minutes + a peanuts for spot kicks. Not a whole lot to be proud of, for at sundown the end result is the same: like Juve and Inter, the Giallorossi are leaving Europe and going home.

Unlike Bianconeri and Nerazzurri however (and all things considered), Roma are those who had the biggest chance of qualification ultimately, and also those who perhaps will have the most regrets at the end of the night. To quote Gazzetta, “they put their hearts, their bandages, their minds and their will into this match… everything they had.” It wasn’t enough. Once again this year the English “evil” proved to be stronger: it wasn’t a colossal 7-1 slap at the Theatre of Dreams, it was a penalty elimination at the hands of Arsenal. Same difference.

Once again, it’s Italian football as a whole that’s taken a beating.

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Juventus 2-2 Chelsea: Bianconeri Fighting Spirit Not Enough, Blues Qualify for Quarters (UEFA Champions League Round of 16, Second Leg)

Thursday, March 12th, 2009

Juventus' Sebastian Giovinco reacts at the end of the Champions League round of 16 second leg soccer match against Chelsea in Turin, Italy, Tuesday March 10, 2009. (AP Photo)

At the end of the night, the accolades between Juventus and Chelsea players after the full-time whistle are the only consoling (and beautiful) images emanating from the Stadio Olimpico of Turin. The Blues have won on aggregate, the Bianconeri are out of Europe.

Over-turning the 1-0 deficit from the first leg was going to be a big hurdle for Ranieri & friends to overcome; at the end of 90 minutes an insurmountable one. The match ended 2-2, with the strokes of Vincenzo Iaquinta and Alessandro Del Piero giving Juve hope twice, only to see it destroyed by the daggers of Michael Essien and Didier Drogba, two players which had been so crucially absent during Scolari’s reign.

The Bianconeri, decimated by injuries (which even last night did not fail to take their toll on the Old “rotten luck” Lady), played in true Juve spirit: with their hearts. They needed to play the perfect game, score goals without conceding any. It was not to be. Once again Chelsea (and by extent, the English Premiership) proved their superiority as a great team, concentrated in defense and cynical in attack, morally solidified by the arrival of expert tactician Guus Hiddink. One manager who, you may remember from WC 2002, already crushed Italian hearts with South Korea, and who continues the English Juve-killing trend initiated by Liverpool (2005) and Arsenal (2006).

But speaking of Hiddink, one seriously has to wonder if fate would have been kinder to Juve had Scolari still been at the Blues’ helm. We will never know. One this is for certain though: after overt two years of absence, Juventus can be proud of their return to the UEFA Champions League. “There is always next year” as they say, and the rebuilding towards European grandeur continues.

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Inter Milan vs. Manchester United: The PLAYERS

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

inter-man-utd_cl-gazzetta

So remember that great “Serie A vs. EPL” section on La Gazzetta which I promised I’d partially translate?

Here’s the first batch of pink-goodness: a look at ALL THE PLAYERS from tonight’s Inter Milan vs. Manchester United UEFA Champions League match.

Boy I can’t wait for game-time. Meanwhile, feast your eyes on this. (oh, and credit goes where credit is due of course: the original)

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