Quarter Finals, Leg 1 Part 2

More on last nights game in a bit, but first, let’s look at tonights games.

Barcelona vs Shakhtar Donestk

Although no one would openly come out and say it, I think its fair to say that of all the teams in the last 8, most managers would’ve liked to have drawn Shakhtar. Its not a lack of respect to the Ukranian outfit, but it would be fair to say that given the rest of the opponents, Shakhtar do shape up as the weakest of the remaining teams. Barcelona, themselves rightly claimed as the favourites for back-to-back titles, will hardly see it as an easy-win game, but secretly, they must be thankful for the draw they’ve been given. Barcelona have been rampant in every aspect this year. Water-tight in defense, free-scoring in attack, and boasting arguably the best midfield any team in Europe has been able to boast for a long time, make no mistake that we are watching perhaps one of the greatest football teams of the modern era.

Barca are riding high in the Primera Division, 8 points clear of Real Madrid, having only suffered the one loss this season so far. In the UCL, they’ve been making similar waves, comfortably coasting through their group, which admitedly, was a fairly easy one for them to draw. They got past Arsenal in the final 16, despite an way loss in the first leg, and whilst the Gunners may have given them a slight scare when they were level 1-1 midway through the 2nd half, 2 more goals sealed their progress. What was more impressive from that game was that Arsenal failed to get a single shot at goal that night, their strike coming courtesy of an own goal. A lot is made of Barcelona’s attacking abilities, but this sort of figure shows that, defensively, they’re pretty sound as well. Lionel Messi leads their goals and assists tally, but there is quality all over the park, and you’d be silly to not have your money on a Barca win here, and, in that regard, for the entire tournament.

Shakhtar are showing good local form as well, having attained a 12 point lead at the top of the Ukranian league, and so far, have progressed quite comfortably so far in the UCL this season. They topped their group, which included Arsenal, and then easily coasted past Roma in the last 16. They are so far undefeated in the Champions League this season, and have scored a very healthy 18 goals in 8 games, going to show that they do have a bit of potential up front, especially with former Arsenal striker Eduardo. Shakhtar also has a relatively good form against the Catalan club. They won at the Nou Camp in 2008, and in the 2009 Super Cup, pushed the Spaniards all the way to extra time, a 115th minute winner deciding the tie for Barca.

You would be hard-pressed to back the Ukranians though in this tie. When your up against a team like Barca, you’ll need a bit of luck, and Shakhtar have nothing really to lose other than to throw everything at the Spaniards. If they are lucky enough to snatch an away goal or perhaps even a draw, then who knows what might happen in the return leg. But I think Barca will simply have too much for them. A lot stronger teams than Shakhtar have troubled to contain this side, and if Barca turn on the fireworks, this could be all over before the 2nd leg even kicks off.

Chelsea v Manchester United

All focus in England will be on this blockbuster, and you can understand why. The two most dominant sides in English football for the past 6 season already have a pretty fierce rivalry going on, not to mention a bit of history in this competition. Chelsea are still searching for the ellusive first Champions League tie, and its usually around this time that Chelsea’s run comes to a hault. Twice in the Jose Mourinho era, Liverpool knocked out their London rivals at the quarter-final stage. Then came their heart-breaking penalty shoot-out loss to United in the 2008 final, and then finally, a very controversial loss to Barcelona in the semi’s in 2009. So needless to say, Chelsea will fire up for this one.

Domestically, Chelsea haven’t looked too flash. They currently sit 3rd, 11 points behind United, and they could realistically say that the Champions League is all that’s left for them this season. An $80million investment in the transfer window on two players has had mixed results, with David Luiz’s comfortably settling into the side, and indeed, proving one of the buys of the season. That is in contrast to Fernando Torres, who is still looking for his first goal in blue, and still appears to lack match sharpness.  Chelsea comfortably negotiated Group F, topping the table with 5 wins and a loss, before a 2-0 first leg win against FC Copenhagen pretty much ensured their progress to this stage. The big question at the moment is where Chelsea’s goals will come from. In their last 9 games, their 3 man striker force of Torres, Nicholas Anelka and Didier Drogba have scored just 4 goals between them, 3 of those belonging to the Frenchman. And without Luiz, who is cup tied for this game, Chelsea’s reshuffled defense will need to focus, as they’re up against a strike force who are experiencing exactly the opposite.

United lead the Premier League from Arsenal by 7 points, and despite looking less than convincing for much of the season, the results have still come. They also have negotiated their route through their Group relatively easily, having conceded just twice and still undefeated. They got past Marseille, although they narrowly held on to a 2-1 home leg win to get past that particular hurdle. They are no strangers to this point in the competition either, having made regular appearances in the quarter-finals over the past 2 decades. And, history sits on their side as far as European clashes go, with their last meeting with the Blues in this competiton resulting in United lifting their 3rd European cup.

United’s frailties lie in defense at the moment. Injuries have plagued United’s backline since Xmas, with at one point 6 defenders having been ruled out with injury. The good news on that front is that the United backline may be nearly back to full-strength tonight, with Rio Ferdinand a chance of starting alongside Nemanja Vidic. Only Raphael Da Silva is missing from what would be a regular back four, but his brother, Fabio, has proven an adequate replacement so far. Up front, United aren’t suffering the same goal shortage from their front 3 as Chelsea are, with 41 goals being shared between Dimitar Berbatov, Javier Hernandez and Wayne Rooney. And should Nani take his place in midfield behind that strike force, you can add 9 goals and 13 assists to that tally as well.

It seems the true winners of this game will be which midfield comes out on top. Chelsea’s midfield has come under heavy criticism of late, with many claiming poor service from the midfield as the reason for the strikers lack of goals. United’s midfield has also been targeted for criticism, Nani excluded, although their strike-force has obviously been more adapt at creating their own chances. A lot will depend on how the sides approach this game. United will almost certainly come out with attacking intent, with the reward for an away goal worth any risk of conceeding. Chelsea, on the other hand, know that a clean-sheet will be vital here, and therefore, may opt to be a bit more defensive minded in their setup. Nevertheless, this will prove to be a cracking tie, and its just so hard to pick the winner. I suspect Chelsea will have the edge at Stamford Bridge, but United won’t mind that if they can get that precious away goal.

Last Night’s Games

Just quickly, some very surprising results last night. Real Madrid emphatically dispatched Spurs last night, quite contrasting with my prediction yesterday (oh the shame!). Obviously being reduced to 10 men after just 14 minutes didn’t help their cause, but a 4-0 scoreline pretty much ends the tie. I can’t see Spurs matching that at White Hart Lane, although, in the only positive to take from last night, up until the 2nd goal was scored, Spurs did look a bit dangerous.

Schalke produced the shock result, hammering Inter 5-2. It was all locked up 2-2 at halftime, but 3 2nd half goals have given the Germans a definite ascendency. Inter will know that a 3-0 home win would be enough, but on this evidence, that might be asking a bit too much. Full credit to Schalke for throwing everything against their more illustrious opponents. Looks like they may be getting some good reward for their postivity.