UEFA Champions League 2012 – Quarter Final Draw

The draw for the 2012 UEFA Champions League was held earlier today and as usual, one of two interesting ties were thrown out. Holders Barcelona would take on Serie A champions AC Milan whilst the lone remaining English side Chelsea were handed a trip to Portugal against Benfica.

Real Madrid were handed an easy match against Cypriot side APOEL, whose fairytale run in this season’s tournaments continues. Bayern Munich take on French side Marseille in the remaining QF.

First legs of the matches are on the 27th/28th of March with the return legs on 7th/8th of April. The Semi Finals’ first legs are scheduled for 17th/18th of April and return legs on 24th/25th of April. Final is on the 19th of May at Bayern’s Allianz Arena.

It’s Internazionale Vs. Bayern München

Vs.

Inter Milan were down to ten men (we’ll come back to that later), fought manfully, defended for their lives with striker Samuel Et’oo even playing at left back and ended up losers on the night but they beat the current European Champions Barcelona over two legs to book their place in this year’s Champions League final, where they will take on Bayern Munich for the biggest prize in European Football.

The match against Barcelona was touted as Jose Mourinho’s biggest challenge and he came up trumps again, as he did a week ago at Milan. Yeah they lost the match 1-0 but came out 3-2 winners in the tie and that’s as much down to the manager’s tactical brilliance as it was to the players. Walter Samuel, Lucio, Javier Zanetti, Maicon, Esteban Cambiasso et al put in stellar defensive purposes and stifled Barcelona so much that towards the end they had to resort to long balls and crosses in search of the elusive goal.

The match would’ve been a different affair altogether if it weren’t for the theatrics of Barca midfielder Sergio Busquets, whose dramatic antics after being touched on the face by Inter’s Thiago Motta (who was already on a yellow) and probably the crowd & Barca players’ reactions, conned/convinced the referee into showing a straight Red. Down to ten men with more than an hour to go, Inter downed gears and played as defensively as they could. Though that made the match less interesting, it offered an insight into how Barca would cope up with overtly defensive play – and the answer is: not good. Theyc ould only muster a total of 4-5 shots on-goal even though possession was 75% in their favour! Messi was subdued for the most part but the colossal-est disappointment of the night for me was Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who apart from changing his torn jersey, did little.

Hats off to the Inter side and now they must be favourites to win the big prize, come May 22nd. Of course, Bayern are no slouch and in Louis Van Gaal, possess a shrewd and experienced manager who might just manage to outwit Jose in the big match. We’ll all see in a little over three weeks’ time.

More: UEFA Match Report | BBC Sport Match Report

2010 UEFA Champions League Draw

The draw for the 2010 UEFA Champions League Quarter Finals was held earlier today and it threw out what seem like some very intriguing matchups.

Home	Away	First Leg	Return Leg
Lyon	Bordeaux	30th March	7th April
Bayern Munich	Manchester United	30th March	7th April
Arsenal	Barcelona	31st March	6th April
Inter Milan	CSKA Moscow	31st March	6th April

The Semi Final draw looks like this:

• Bayern Munich / Manchester United Vs. Lyon / Bordeaux (21st & 27th April)
• Arsenal / Barcelona Vs. Inter Milan / CSKA Moscow (20th & 28th April)

On paper, Manchester United seem to have an easy draw but Bayern have a bone to pick with United after their ‘98 loss in the final and won’t be easy opponents. Of course, both Man Utd & Barcelona have the advantage of the 2nd leg being played at home so a deficit from the first leg won’t be an insurmountable task (unless of course, they lose the away leg real bad)

Arsenal have a tricky tie with holders Barcelona and face the prospect of a rejuvenated Inter Milan if they get past the Catalans. Mind, I’m not too aware of the Russian team but do know that they’re freshest of them all, what with their season starting just a while ago. And both the French teams are also quite good – one brushed away Real Madrid and the other has a real miserly defence.

All in all, it should a right real football fest come the first week of April. I’m betting on a Man U Vs. Inter Milan final…Inter to lose, of course

UEFA Champions League QF Draw

The long-awaited draw for the UEFA Champions League Quarter Finals was held earlier today in Nyon and the worst fears have come true for Chelsea! They have been drawn to play on-a-red-hot-streak Liverpool in the QF’s. The other two English clubs have a comparatively easier draw with Arsenal drawing Spain’s Villareal with the English Club having the advantage of a home game in the 2nd leg.

Manchester United will play Porto at home in the first leg but the 2nd leg will be a tricky away affair for the holders. Barcelona will play Bayern Munich in the last of the QF, with the second leg away at Munich. Bayern thumped in 12 goals in their two fourth round matches but face an uphill battle with injuries to key players.

1st leg: 07/08 April; 2nd leg: 14/15 April
1	Villarreal CF (ESP)	v	Arsenal FC (ENG)
2	Manchester United FC (ENG)	v	FC Porto (POR)
3	Liverpool FC (ENG)	v	Chelsea FC (ENG)
4	FC Barcelona (ESP)	v	FC Bayern Munich (GER)

The two Semi Finals will match-up the winners of QF #1 & #2 and winners of #3 & #4. So if the matches go according to the form-book, we may see Man U vs. Arsenal and Liverpool Vs. Barcelona in the Semi Finals. Should be a cracking affair! But hey, let’s not count the chickens before they hatch…the QF’s themselves present a heady prospect and we should be in for some great matches. The one to watch out will indubitably be Liverpool Vs. Chelsea.

Bring-it-on!

UEFA Champions League QF Draw