The Return of European Football
Well, Liverpool are in the crappy competition now, but I'll still be watching them passionately... on five. Oh dear (their dislike for capital letters frequently pisses me off). But over in the good competition, we still have three English clubs. Obviously, I'd love nothing better than for all of them to get owned 
. But here's some (reasonably) unbiased previews, and the key players for all the English teams.
Champions League
AC Milan vs Manchester United
One of the ties of the round, and all 'cos of some old guy. David Beckham left the Red Devils in 2003, went to Madrid, then signed an 81p-a-second deal for LA Galaxy and then got bored and went to Italy. To be fair, the guy values his England career. These two met a few seasons ago (where Liverpool ended up winning) and the Italians won 1-0 in both legs, with that little fail Crespo scoring. Oh yeah, and again more recently, with Milan winning 6-2 on aggregate or something, Kaka pulling the strings.
Key Man: Wayne Rooney. In the form of his life.
An amazing individual performance in 2007.
Inter Milan vs Chelsea
Jose Mourinho makes a return to Chelsea. Both teams are going strong in their domestic leagues, and this will be a tough one to pick. Inter lost 3-0 on aggregate the last time they played against an English club (Liverpool). I think that Chelsea might sneak it, but it should be tight. I'd love a penalty shoot-out (we don't see enough of them
)
Key Man: Didier Drogba. Another striker in form.
Jose here coming to within 5 minutes of losing his unbeaten home record.
FC Porto vs Arsenal
Whenever I look at this tie and think that it's the battle between "two of the smaller remaining clubs". Not sure why. Porto are pretty much the best team in Portugal, and fake Barcelona are lovely to watch. I still expect Arsenal to steamroller the Portuguese. Interestingly, both team lost at Anfield against Liverpool during the 2007/08 campaign.
Key Man: Fabregas. Need I say more?
This might be a good vid. I don't know, as I only watch the first 20 seconds of 'em all XD.
Hmm, and the fixtures of these seem messed up. 16 fixtures spread out over 4 weeks (4 every week) it looks like.
Europa League
Liverpool vs Unirea Urziceni
Liverpool's opposition are Romanian. So basically automatically cool. Should be a comfortable win for the 'Pool. Unirea did very well in their Champions League group in all honestly, and if they're as difficult to break down as their name is to spell, you never know...
Key Man: Pepe Reina. Only 'cos everyone picks Torres or Gerrard. Although I hope that he doesn't need to be on the night(s).
One of Voronin's better days. *shudders at thought of Voronin*
Fulham vs Shakhtar Donetsk
Fulham were going so well in the league, until the loss of Bobby Zamora derailed them, and now they're struggling slightly, and will find it difficult to qualify for Europe again. They've done well to get this far, and a notable performance was against Roma in the Group Stages, where they ended up with 9 men (still lost, mind) I don't know anything about the Ukranian team. Elano used to play for them, if that is of any use.
Key Man: I'll go for Zamora. Not really the joke he used to be any more, and perhaps quite rightly so. Needs to stop cursing the Hammersmith End though. They just want the best for you, Bobby.
A lovely win against Basel here.
Everton vs Sporting Lisbon
Whoopsy, forgot about the Bitters. They struggled a bit in their group, won three and lost three. They only won 1 home game, that is a worrying sign. A 5-1 drubbing vs Benfica at the Stadium of Light was a bit lame from the Toffees. Sporting can win this if they don't get too cocky.
Key Man: Arteta. Basically the only guy I would like at Liverpool. Shame he's Spanish, behind Alonso, Iniesta, Xavi and Fabregas.
A hidden gem of a vid here
. But here's some (reasonably) unbiased previews, and the key players for all the English teams.Champions League
AC Milan vs Manchester United
One of the ties of the round, and all 'cos of some old guy. David Beckham left the Red Devils in 2003, went to Madrid, then signed an 81p-a-second deal for LA Galaxy and then got bored and went to Italy. To be fair, the guy values his England career. These two met a few seasons ago (where Liverpool ended up winning) and the Italians won 1-0 in both legs, with that little fail Crespo scoring. Oh yeah, and again more recently, with Milan winning 6-2 on aggregate or something, Kaka pulling the strings.
Key Man: Wayne Rooney. In the form of his life.
An amazing individual performance in 2007.
Inter Milan vs Chelsea
Jose Mourinho makes a return to Chelsea. Both teams are going strong in their domestic leagues, and this will be a tough one to pick. Inter lost 3-0 on aggregate the last time they played against an English club (Liverpool). I think that Chelsea might sneak it, but it should be tight. I'd love a penalty shoot-out (we don't see enough of them
)Key Man: Didier Drogba. Another striker in form.
Jose here coming to within 5 minutes of losing his unbeaten home record.
FC Porto vs Arsenal
Whenever I look at this tie and think that it's the battle between "two of the smaller remaining clubs". Not sure why. Porto are pretty much the best team in Portugal, and fake Barcelona are lovely to watch. I still expect Arsenal to steamroller the Portuguese. Interestingly, both team lost at Anfield against Liverpool during the 2007/08 campaign.
Key Man: Fabregas. Need I say more?
This might be a good vid. I don't know, as I only watch the first 20 seconds of 'em all XD.
Hmm, and the fixtures of these seem messed up. 16 fixtures spread out over 4 weeks (4 every week) it looks like.
Europa League
Liverpool vs Unirea Urziceni
Liverpool's opposition are Romanian. So basically automatically cool. Should be a comfortable win for the 'Pool. Unirea did very well in their Champions League group in all honestly, and if they're as difficult to break down as their name is to spell, you never know...
Key Man: Pepe Reina. Only 'cos everyone picks Torres or Gerrard. Although I hope that he doesn't need to be on the night(s).
One of Voronin's better days. *shudders at thought of Voronin*
Fulham vs Shakhtar Donetsk
Fulham were going so well in the league, until the loss of Bobby Zamora derailed them, and now they're struggling slightly, and will find it difficult to qualify for Europe again. They've done well to get this far, and a notable performance was against Roma in the Group Stages, where they ended up with 9 men (still lost, mind) I don't know anything about the Ukranian team. Elano used to play for them, if that is of any use.
Key Man: I'll go for Zamora. Not really the joke he used to be any more, and perhaps quite rightly so. Needs to stop cursing the Hammersmith End though. They just want the best for you, Bobby.
A lovely win against Basel here.
Everton vs Sporting Lisbon
Whoopsy, forgot about the Bitters. They struggled a bit in their group, won three and lost three. They only won 1 home game, that is a worrying sign. A 5-1 drubbing vs Benfica at the Stadium of Light was a bit lame from the Toffees. Sporting can win this if they don't get too cocky.
Key Man: Arteta. Basically the only guy I would like at Liverpool. Shame he's Spanish, behind Alonso, Iniesta, Xavi and Fabregas.
A hidden gem of a vid here
