The 2009 UEFA Champion’s League quarterfinal and semifinal draws are set.
Quarterfinal #1
Eduardo and his Arsenal FC club will take on Villareal.
Thoughts: An incredibly favorable draw for the Gunners. They should move onto the semis.
Quarterfinal #2
Manchester United lock horns with FC Porto.
Thoughts: United should lock up a birth to the semis in the first leg.
Quarterfinal #3
Liverpool face common foes Chelsea in an all-England battle.
Thoughts: It’ll be a solid two-legger, but I have Liverpool moving on. They’re playing too good right now not to go through.
Quarterfinal #4
Barcelona will be tested by the Kings of Bavaria, Bayern Munich.
Thoughts: Bayern will have their hands full as Barca is no Sporting Lisbon. Barcelona easily advances.
*Teams shown in italics are at home for the first leg on April 7th/8th.
The winners of Quarterfinal #1 and #2 will play each other in the semifinal round while winners of Quarterfinal #3 and #4 will face off in the ‘Final Four’.
This gives the possibility of Arsenal taking on Manchester United and Liverpool facing Barcelona in the semifinals.
Meaning everyone’s dream finale matchup of ManU v. Barca is now realistic.
In the UEFA Cup draw…
Ivica Olić, Mladen Petrić and Hamburg will take on Manchester City in the quarterfinals. Should be a hell of a two-legged affair. If you’re going to watch any UEFA Cup matches, this is the one you want to keep your eyes on!
Darijo Srna and Shakhtar Donetsk face off against Marseille.
Ognjen Vukojević’s Dynamo Kyiv side pairs up with Paris Saint-Germain.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Man City’s participation in this competition is a disgrace. I cannot believe no other country complains about it. Man City are in it cos of ‘Fair Play’ yet Croatia doesn’t get a team in Europe through Fair play and neither does any other country. Why has England’s Fair play mean more than any other country. Its disgusting. I also hate the fact that 3rd place teams in the group qualify for the next round. Third place sides in a group of 5 are losers. they Shouldn’t be rewarded. All those sides who finished third should have gone out. I support Dinamo and we were rubbish in the competition and even when we had only won 1 game against a poor NEC side we still we’re close to qualifying. That sort of thing just rewards poor football.
This UEFA Cup needs totally reshaping. I quite enjoy the matches as everyone tries to go all out to beat each other as there all on similar level, but its being weakened at the moment by bad decisions by the Footballing bodies. If they are having groups only top 2 should go through and also does 3rd and 4th place teams like Arsenal and Liverpool should be in this competition not the Champions League. They don’t deserve Champions League money they get. If teams like Liverpool win the Champions League it cheapens that tournament as well.
Yea but when Man City plays well they do very good in their matches. Robinho when hes spot on is untouchable in points of the game.
I think Hamburg have a very good chance at winning the Cup. They’re having an excellent season and Olic and Petric have played a big role in their success. Man City are inconsistent and are lucky to still be in the competition. That said they are no mugs and the likes of Robinho and Wright-Philips do pose a threat. Should be an interesting match. Think it will be a Udinese v Hamburg semi-final