Semi-final Roma or Manchester United v AC Milan or Bayern Munich (24 April, 2 May) Chelsea or Valencia v PSV Eindhoven or Liverpool (25 April, 1 May)
Conventional wisdom would probably dictate Manchester United, Milan, Chelsea and Liverpool in the the last four. However, the Champions League has a habit of producing a surprise side each season. Valencia at the turn of the century, Bayer Leverkusen in 2002, Porto two years later followed by Liverpool and Arsenal.
For me for the tie of the round is Chelsea vs. Valencia. This one will be a real test for Mourinho's side.
I hope Valencia can take out Mourinho. Roma and ManU will be very very interesting--I'll be a fascinated neutral. It'd be great to see a mediocre side like PSV somehow manage to take out Lpool, the side that took out the champions. But my best wishes to Lpool all the same--they deserve their run.
There is no way that Henry will leave Arsenal. He hasn't been fully fit at all this season, yet it 3rd among strikers with at least 5 goals in goals/minutes played. Why would Arsenal want to get rid of him, especially now that he will be well rested for next season? Makes no sense to me, but if he does go, it will be to the continent...or Liverpool. New found riches and Henry's fondness for the Anfield crowd may be intriguing. But again, my money is Henry staying in London.
I think there's a very good reason Henry will leave Arsenal. Once a player (or anyone) starts having sciatic nerve problems, they are never 100% again (consistently). I don't think Henry will ever be what he once was again. Wenger can be ruthless when it comes to players approaching the 30+ age (excepting Bergkamp). He may have a very hard time doing it but I think he will try to sell Henry ultimately. Or Henry will want to go himself.
Milan is my favorite of the eight, who will be the only non-English team in the top 4 imo. On the other hand, it'd be super-sweet for Liverpool if they can beat Chelsea in the semi.
Re: Henry. Even an inconsistent Henry could offer a lot to Arsenal's young team at least psychologically. He's their most valuable property if you look at the club as a whole. The management would be nuts to let him go and I don't think he'll want to leave.
Henry is going nowhere, Wenger will never ever ever sell Henry he is like his son why he loves him so much I don't know. Henry is to proud o####uy to leave Arsenal after probably his worst season in Arsenal thats not what he wants to be remembered for and Verbal points also are true.
My final favs are Milan also I just feel like this might be there years I think they will face Sheva and his Chelski boys and beat them 2-1 in the final. Thats my dream but realistically speaking I have no clue what will happen this tournament has become to unpredictable. But I see Roma pulling the shock of the 1/4's and beating Man Ure.
How come no one likes Bayern? They had a poor season, sacked a manager and are still in the title hunt in Germany. Bad news for chokers like Schalke. The game with Bremen will probably tip the balance as to who wins the Bundesliga.
As for the CL, is there a manager under less pressure than Ottmar Hitzfeld? The most experienced and successful manager of the bunch. He's won this thing twice, won UEFA Cup, scores more other trophies and has to be psychologically fresher than his rivals coming back from his break.
He's got a nice blend of youth and experience, including Owen Hargreaves rounding back into form and motivated to do well as he heads toward the transfer window.
His German national team players - Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Podolski, Kahn - will relish another grab at glory after their fine World Cup.
Some players have found tough domestic and European campaigns too much to handle after a World Cup year, but Bayern's chasing two titles and a very big shot of redemption after a poor start to their season.
And their Allianz Arena just rocks these days, nice to see a big, new stadium full of noisy supporters.
Not a faahionable club this year. Just a very dangerous one.
Afer tomorrow Valencia will likely only be a point behind Barca. It won't be a cakewalk for Chelsea but today's news that Joe Cole is only a few weeks away will give Chelsea a huge boost in the UCL. If Chelsea get through to the semis, then I think they'd now have a real chance against Liverpool.
Bobby, what do you make of Liverpool? They certainly have the ability to overpower opponents, but still seem vulnerable to quicker witted teams sneaking past them. I think their win against Barca was an example of how they can beat good teams who aren't right at the top of their form.
I suspect that the singing at the end of the Barca game shows that the fans sense that the team is on a roll and it might see them through. It was moving stuff even for a non-Liverpool fan. My gut feeling is that they're still missing top quality in several positions but do you think they have enough to overpower their way to win this tournament?
Last edited by LosAngelesChelseaFan on March 11th at 1:03 AM.
Valencia vs Liverpool in Athens is not possible but may be a semi?
I see Man Utd as a star in its last brightest spell before it falls. Next season I doubt they will be higher than 4th in the prem and will be looking for new personnel both in the summer and the Jan transfer windows.
In truth, of the the teams left in the CL, any one of them could win it in my opinion and I feel that the best clue might be with the coaches. The likes of Hitzfeld, Koemann, Ferguson, Maurinho, Benitez etc, make for an interesting last 3 match days. Who will out-strategise who, is the real question.
I dearly hope for a sixth in Athens, for Rafa to do his stuff and the others left scratching puzzled brows.
I am the soccer analyst for the Fox Soccer Report and appear twice a week - every Monday and Friday at 10:00 EST. I have also been a regular contributor to the Fox Soccer Channel website since the summer of 2004. Over the last twenty years I have contributed to various radio and television programs throughout North America as well writing about the game for newspapers, magazines and websites.
Thank you to all who take time to visit this blog and especially to those of you who post your comments and thoughts.
PS - If you have questions please post them on the regular Monday blog. I am unable to answer e mails posted to the inbox on this site.
And one more thing. If you have questions or complaints or compliments about programming please contact Fox Soccer Channel or Fox Sports World Canada directly. I have no control over what the stations televise.
