What a draw?

There will be some mouth watering ties in the Champions league. The ties will be played in the last week of February and second week of March. But as a fan it is really hard to wait for so long. Some of the matches will be real cracker. It is very difficult to say who will win in these ties.

Chelsea will have to improve their home form against Juventus if they want to progress to the quarterfinal. Juventus won both their match against Real Madrid. Chelsea on the other hand had struggled to qualify. But it will be a superb match to watch. But I believe Chelsea can make it last eight.

The most interesting match will be Manchester United against Inter Milan. This match is popularly known as Mourhinho versus Ferguson. Mourhinho wanted an English club before the draw. So he may have something on his mind. It will be very difficult to predict the winner for this match. Inter is going great guns in Seria A way ahead of its rival Juventus and AC Milan. On the other hand Manchester United is having an average season so far. They are lying third in the EPL. Inter Milan is favorite in this match for me.

Arsenal will have a difficult time against Roma. It will be a tricky match. Though Arsenal played some superb matches especially against bigger opponents but they lacked consistency. Arsenal has to play brilliantly to win this tie. Roma who started the season disastrously has made an excellent recovery. Roma will start as favorite for this match.

Liverpool will start as favorite against Real Madrid. Ramos will eager to proof that his failure with Spurs is just one off incident in his career. Rafa Benitez should guide his team to last eight of the Champions league.

The above four matches have taken so much attention that people will hardly notice there are four more matches to be played. For me the tournament favorite Barcelona will cruise easily to the last eight. Lyon may not able to put any real challenge to them. Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Villarreal should win their respective ties against FC Porto, Sporting Lisbon, and Panathinaikos respectively.

Del Piero: Old is Gold

Del Piero again showed his class. This time he scored twice against Real Madrid. He is showing his class. He already scored 4 goals out of 7 that Juventus scored. Juventus is almost through to the second round. Real has to wait for the next round. They lost twice to Juventus. Zenit St Petersburg defeated BATE Borisov 2-0 in group H to keep their hope alive.

All English teams struggled this time. Liverpool is lucky to survive against Atletico Madrid. Gerrard scored in the 95th minute penalty to salvage 1 point. Both the teams are in 8 points and most likely to qualify for the next round from group D. Marseille defeated PSV Eindhoven 3-0 after losing to them 0-2 in the previous match.

Roma surprised many by defeating Chelsea 3-1. In another group A match Bordeaux defeated CFR Cluj-Napoca 2-1. Chelsea is leading the group by 7 points following by Roma and Bordeaux with 6 points. CFR Cluj-Napoca has 4 points and also has a chance to qualify.

Arsenal played a tame 0-0 draw with Fenerbahce in group G match. In another match Dynamo Kiev lost to FC Porto 1-2. Arsenal is leading the group with 8 points followed by FC Porto with 6 points and Dynamo Kiev with 5 points. Fenerbahce has only 2 points.

Manchester United was held to a 1-1 draw by brave Celtic. Celtic dominated the proceedings but failed to win. AaB Aalborg held Villarreal 2-2 in another match in group E. Manchester United and Villarreal are leading the group with 8 points followed by Celtic and AaB Aalborg with 2 points each.

Barcelona sealed their place in the 2nd round after drawing with Basle 1-1. Sporting Lisbon also qualified from group C after defeating Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0. Shakhtar Donetsk will fight it out with Basle to qualify for the UEFA Cup slot.

Anorthosis Famagusta continues their good run. They held Italy champions Inter Milan 3-3 in group B match. In another match of group B Panathinaikos shocked Werder Bremen 3-0. Inter leading the group with 8 points followed by Anorthosis Famagusta with 5 points. Panathinaikos with 4 points and Werder Bremen with 3 points can also qualify from this group.

In group A Lyon defeating Steaua Bucharest 2-0 to share the top slot with Bayern Munich who drew with Fiorentina 1-1 in group F. Both Lyon and Bayern Munich have 8 points. Fiorentina have 3 and Steaua Bucharest have 1 point.