A British derby will occur if Liverpool and Rangers are paired. It will be a very interesting encounter between two British sides. Liverpool, five times winner of the competition, is having the great form with 10 consecutive games without conceding a goal. In contrast, Rangers are really in crisis with the club’s all time record without winning for 10 consecutive matches.
Arsene Wenger would like having revenge for his long-term rival Sir Alex Ferguson. He remarked that “when you go out to Benfica, that can happen to anybody in the world. Nobody goes to Benfica and wins a game easily.” Moreover, he believes that his team, Arsenal, were going places. In the meantime, Benfica coach Ronal Koeman hailed that Benfica did something big after knocking out Manchester United from the competition.
A beautiful defensive game will emerge if AC Milan entertains Chelsea. But Milan is currently facing the defensive problems with Paolo Maldini, Cafu and Simic are injuried. Milan coach, Carlo Ancelotti, wants either Chelsea or Real Madrid, current not a real threat, in knockout stages. The Russian sugar daddy’s Chelsea is proving as one of the emerging favourites in Europe with two consecutive Champions League semi final appearances and a Premiere League Trophy. Many experts predict many trophies will come into its rank.
Werder Bremen coach, Thomas Schaaf who was rewarded for reaching the knockout stages with the new contract until summer 2008 will desperately want to face with Lyon, unbeaten in both Ligue 1 and Champions League, again. He surely want to prove that last year first knockout stages result, (10 – 0), was just an accident. Lyon, the four consecutive years’ French champion, is stronger than last year. They are 90% on the way to win five consecutive leagues with 11 points lead.
The tie between the two European giants, Juventus and Real Madrid, will repeat their previous semi final meeting. But this time both are in contrast situations. Old lady, Juventus, is playing with great form. They won the Group A above Bayern Munchen and are leading Series A with eight points lead over the nearest rival AC Milan. Another hand, Real Madrid are currently the most unstable and impatient club in the world. They lie fourth in La Liga with six points behind the leader Barcelona.
The giant killer, Guus Hiddink’s PSV will enjoy playing against in Milan again with Inter Milan. The final couple should be Ajax, four times champions, and the Spanish yellow submarine Villarreal.
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