UEFA Champions League Quarterfinal Draw

Good fortune found its way to Manchester United’s side once again, as they managed to draw the three weakest teams remaining in the competition on their side of the draw.

                       

 Their quarterfinal opposition will be FC Porto, in what looks like to be the biggest mismatch of the four fixtures. Manchester United will sleepwalk through this match up and have become the odds on favorite to win it all after this generous draw. After dumping out Porto, Man U will either run into the weakest of the four English sides in Arsenal or the solid Spanish squad Villarreal.

 

Villarreal-Arsenal is sure to provide a close tie that will go down to the wire. Arsenal needed eight rounds of penalties to beat a battered down injury plagued Roma side, and really don’t have a legitimate chance to get to the final. Villarreal grabbed a big road victory in Greece to eliminate Panathinaikos and can be seen as the better side in this fixture.

 

Manchester United     vs.              FC Porto

          Villarreal                     vs.              Arsenal

                  

          Liverpool                     vs.              Chelsea

          Barcelona                    vs.              Bayern Munich

 

          On the other side of the draw there was no such luck for the clubs, as four European powerhouses lineup in each other’s way. In the all English fixture Liverpool and Chelsea find their way in each others path once more. With Chelsea winning the most recent Champions League war last season in the semi finals. On the contrary, it can be argued that Liverpool has looked the sharpest of all squads in Europe in the recent weeks. They have hit top form with emphatic wins against Real Madrid and Manchester United, and show no signs of slowing up. Chelsea has battled back from a disappointing start to the season and after eliminating Juventus seem to have regained their confidence, as striker Didier Drogba seems to be back on top form. Look for Liverpool to advance from this fixture.

 

            The fourth and final fixture puts Barcelona against German side Bayern Munich. Barcelona was the early favorite to win the Champions League, but has been knocked down from the top spot after this tough draw and a not so easy advancing vs. French side Lyon. They still field arguably the most talented lineup in the competition with Lionel Messi leading the attack, but they face a challenge in the quarters from this Munich side. Bayern Munich has underachieved basically the whole season, but as shown last round against Sporting Lisbon, they can explode at any moment due to their abundance of goal scorers. Unfortunately for Munich they drew Barca though, as the Spaniards are likely to be just a little to balanced and experienced for the German side.

 

            So buckle up futbol fans because despite my disappointment in the draw, the Champions League never seems to disappoint, as we are sure to be pleased with some quality futbol in the quarterfinals of the most prestigious tournament in Europe.

~ by pete1020 on March 28, 2009.