AND THEN THERE WERE TWO

 

Last time around, there were four Premiership teams in the first knockout round out the Champions League. First and foremost was MUFC, who went on to beat Inter 2-0 on aggregate. Next up came Chelsea who went on to beat Juventus 3-2 on aggregate. Liverpool beat Real Madrid 5-0 on aggregate in what was nothing short of an aweome performance from the Scousers, pretty much mugging the galacticos in the first leg before burying them in the second. To finish off, Arsenal drew 1-1 with Roma on aggregate with both sides winning their respective home legs. Neither side could do anything in extra time and the Gunners won the resulting shootout. Four out of four is very impressive.

This time around, well three Premiership teams made it through to the Champions League 1st knockout stage. Of those three, MUFC and Arsenal are already through. The one team whose fate was still in the balance was Chelsea. They found themselves up against Inter, now gaffered by a certain Jose Mourinho. The Blues lost the 1st leg 2-1 at the San Siro but that wasn't a bad enough result to write off the tie. This Champions League 1st knockout round 2nd leg at Stamford Bridge was certainly going to be a tasty event though and not just due to the returning Jose. Both sides had plenty to prove and one goal would seal the tie one way or another.

Well Chelsea had the first attack of the game and were denied an early penalty. However Inter responded relatively quickly to show they they weren't taking anything for granted. The Blues replied with a good shot that just went wide but they would need to do better than that. The match wasn't exactly borning but neitther side really looked likly to hit the net before half time though a Nicolas Anelka shot gave Inter something to think about just before half time. Half time though and it was Chelsea that had more to think about. They were now 45 minutes away from going out of the Champions League at an earlier stage than they would have liked.

Chelsea had the first attack of the second half and it resulted in a first booking for Inter. The Blues kept attacking but again Inter held firm and eventually broke to start giving Chelsea headaches at the other end. The Blues returned to the front foot though but only Inter to fastbreak in the 78th minute as Wesley Snijder lobbed the ball to Samuel Eto'o and it seemed as though Chelsea was gonners. Finishing the match with ten men just added insult to injury. With one Premiership side KOd at the group stage, another had been knocked out in the last 16. It certainly wasn't an ideal situation for fans of England's top flight but still, no other league has more than two teams still involved.

Going down a level, the Europa League 2nd knockout round second leg matches were taking place. First up Liverpool beat Lille 3-0 at Anfield, though the Ligue 1 side gave the Scousers a match, Pool always seemed to find another gear. Fulham beating Juventus 4-1 at Craven Cottage though was nothing short of fairytale stuff. The Serie A giants may have opened the scoring but went down to ten men before Roy Hodgson's men came up with a result that would have had jaws dropping all over Europe. Great performances from both Premiership sides in this competition and at this point I can't see who will beat them to the trophy.

So, the Champions League quarter final draw has been made and United will face Bayern Munich with the 1st leg at the Allianz Arena. First impression, this will be an awesome tie a rematch of that final in '99 amongst other encounters. Yet, this is the Champions League quarter finals, it should be awesome. Second impression, Bayern are not the toughest team we could have faced. Yes they're top of the Bundesliga but they were still not the toughest team in the draw. Could they still knock us out? Not implausible, but we should still have the edge on them. Why shouldn't we? Even Bayern have to admit that we've become one of the big names at this level now, so we should make the semis.

Elsewhere, Arsenal will face Barcelona with the first leg at Emirates Stadium(the Gunners have their work cut out).

Going down a level, the draw for the Europa League quarter finals has also taken place. Liverpool will face Benefica with the 1st leg at the Estadio de Luz. Definately one of the better ties of the round if not the best but the Scousers should have the edge here. Then Fulham face Wolfsburg with the 1st leg at Craven Cottage. After seeing off two big sides in the last two rounds, pretty much anything is possible with Fulham in this competition. Wolfsburg are no mugs themselves though and will cause a headache. Too close to call. Still, it's certainly not implausible to have two Premiership sides in the semis of this competition which would be quite something.

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