Quarter-Finals Loom At Last

After what has seemed like an age, the quarter-finals are finally here....almost.

In just over 24 hours, Roma and Manchester United, Schalke 04 and Barcelona will take to the Stadio Olimpico and the Veltins-Arena respectively, aiming to reach the last four and go one step further to booking a place in the Moscow final.

With United and Barça seen by many as the favourites for the competition, they can really show their credentials with good away performances in the first legs of the quarters, and of course pick up one or two 'precious' away goals in the process.

Roma have been performing solidly this season in Serie A, sitting second in the table with only the reigning champions Inter Milan ahead of them. A 1-1 draw with perennial relegation-battlers Cagliari wouldn't have helped with preparations for Tuesday's European game however.

They have also been hit with the news that influential captain Francesco Totti will miss the United tie with a thigh injury picked up in that draw. Totti has been around since the dinosaurs, or so it seems, and just keeps on going. If Roma are to keep going in this competition, they will have to look to someone else to bag the goals, but against Alex Ferguson's side they would have liked to have all the help they could get.

Especially seeing as Manchester United completed their customary whipping of Aston Villa on Saturday, winning 4-0 with the goals coming from Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney, a triangle which is almost as dangerous as that famous one in Bermuda.

Schalke 04 prepared for the impossible, a two-legged tie with Barcelona,
by playing out a dull 0-0 draw with Karlsruhe. Probably saving themselves for Tuesday eh?

However, Barcelona showed that they are indeed beatable despite their string of big names. A La Liga game against mid-table side Real Betis should really have given the Catalan giants another three points as they chase Real Madrid at the the top of the table, however things didn't exactly go to plan.

An early Barça 2-0 lead was wiped out by a second-half Betis blitz as Frank Rijkaard saw his team fall to a 3-2 defeat.

They do say football is an unpredictable game, and that match proved that yes, it really can be. But if Schalke win in the same vein on Tuesday, it will be more than unpredictable.

It'll be downright ridiculous!