Champions & Caffeine

Tomorrow night, the first game of this year's semi-finals will be played at Anfield, as Chelsea travel to Liverpool in the first-leg.

While the media have typically entered into overdrive at the thought of two European giants clashing, the rest of us remember the last six times these two sides met in the competition.

Yep, those half-dozen games yielded a mighty, erm, three goals. Just three. And Luis Garcia's "goal" back in 2005 (right) never went in!

With both managers favouring tactical battles rather than attacking football (however many times Avram Grant says otherwise), that terrible tally will probably not budge on Tuesday night.

Chelsea have been playing boring football recently-since a certain Portuguese manager drove off into the sunset (left)-and don't seem to know how to score over one goal a game.

Meanwhile, Liverpool are the masters at putting men behind the ball when they need to, and with Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres carrying the rest of the team for the whole season, nine men are put into the starting line-up just to make up the numbers!

The prize for negotiating this two-legged affair is a place in Moscow for the final in May, but what do we get for having to watch what will no doubt be a turgid game of football?

The Champions League whores itself out is sponsored by companies like Mastercard, Heineken, and Vodafone, but maybe they should take this game into account and add a new sponsor to it's arsenal:

Champions League Showboats

Great video here featuring some of the best tricks and skills from this year's competition:



Enjoy!

Virtual Champions League

At football1×2.com the virtual Champions League is played out every hour. So far this month Chelsea are second only to Barcelona in tournament wins. Could it be a prediction of the final!? Click here to bet on the current virtual tournament.

Fab Four

The names are in, the games are all set up, and this year's 'big four' have been revealed.

With Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United joining Barcelona, it is the fourth time in four years that an English side will be in the final.

United made the semis by breezing past Roma over two legs, with the Italian side barely putting up a fight in either game. They had a chance to bring themselves back into the game at Old Trafford but Daniele De Rossi had obviously been watching his Roberto Baggio videos as he blazed a penalty high over the crossbar.



A weakened United side took the lead in the 70th minute through Carlos Tevez and the game was over as they extended their aggregate score to 3-0.

They will now face and out of form and out of favour (with their own fans) Barcelona side, who breezed past absolutely crushed scraped past a resolute Schalke 04 side at the Nou Camp.

Barcelona 1 - Schalke 0 (SSN)

Posted to 101 Great Goals by Ronaldo on April 09, 2008

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Schalke had a whole host of chances, but some comical defending ultimately cost the German side a shock result, as Bojan's cross-shot was weakly headed into the patch of Yaya Toure who scuffed a shot into the back of the net.

A moment reflecting the unrest of the Barca fans happened in the second-half, as boss Frank Rijkaard took Bojan off to a crescendo of boos and a smattering of white hankerchiefs. They must have been angry!

The other semi-final will be played by Liverpool and Chelsea, with the first-leg at Anfield meaning the Reds twelfth man will get an early run out this year.

With both managers under immense pressure, the Champions League may be their biggest chance to take their neck from the guillotine. However, after the run so far in the competition, whoever survives will no doubt have a pretty impressive transfer kitty to play around with!

Two legs good? Probably not

The Champions League re-awakens again after a short one week slumber, with the quarter-finals to be decided once and for all (for this season anyway).

Tuesday night will see one semi-final decided with Chelsea and Fenerbahce battling it out to play either Liverpool or Arsenal after the first legs which ended 1-2 and 1-1 respectively.

Fenerbahce must travel from their comfortable home-or 'Hell' as they like to call it-to Stamford Bridge, London as well as attempting to defend their slender first-leg lead.

Their win in the Şükrü Saracoğlu saw a 30-yard stunner from Deivid-who had put his side 1-0 down with a well-finished own-goal in the first half-but with Chelsea's impressive home record and strength in depth squad-wise, the Blues may be the ones to back for this game.

However, Chelsea reaching their fourth semi-final in five years could also see Chelsea bow out at the semi-final stage for the fourth time in five years. As European bridesmaids, they have gone out in the last four to Monaco, Liverpool and, er, Liverpool, who they could face this year if all the results go to plan.


Liverpool welcome Arsenal to Anfield after playing them twice in the space of a week. Both games finished 1-1, although in the league meeting on Saturday, Rafa Benitez decided to rest a whole host of first-teamers and play a few 12 year olds instead (right).

As the Reds still managed a draw, Arsenal's chances of progressing look slim. Liverpool are ludicrously lucky strong in Europe and with home advantage and an away goal, it is likely that they will yet again defy their average league form and take their place in the last four.

They will no doubt be joined by Barcelona and Manchester United, but that's a story for another day.

First leg round-up

Well, after Wednesday's two games we now await the second legs next week almost none the wiser as to who will be in the semi-finals.

Arsenal were held at the Emirates Stadium by Liverpool, but speaking of being held, how the Gunners weren't awarded a penalty after Dirk Kuyt's bodyslam on Alexander Hleb, I do nothow the know. It's as if there are different rules for Rafa Benitez's side in Europe (see matches against Inter Milan this season). Hleb was as disbelieving as the rest of us (right).

With Emmanuel Adebayor's header cancelled out by a Kuyt equaliser, Liverpool have the advantage going into the second leg at Anfield. They have the all important away goal and are experts at putting ten men behind the ball when they have to (see games against Chelsea). If Arsenal concede at Liverpool, it is likely that Benitez will be leading his side into yet another semi-final. Just how do they do it?

Meanwhile, the fourth English side left in the competition, Chelsea, face an awkward but not impossible task in the second leg after losing 2-1 to Turkish outsiders Fenerbahce. Midfielder-and number 99-Deivid was the villain and the hero for Fener, scoring an own goal and a 30-yard wonder strike (left) either side of a Colin Kazim-Richards equaliser.

Avram Grant is either intent on continuing Chelsea's tradition of being the nearly men in Europe or playing an astute tactical game. Most fans will tell you it's the former.

However, Fenerbahce must travel to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday where the Blues are currently in possession of a remarkable 79 match unbeaten record in the Premier League. All they need to progress is a (dull) 1-0 win, and (dull) 1-0 wins are what Chelsea do best, note the fan on the right.

With Manchester United and Barcelona all but through to the last four after their wins on Tuesday, the games to look out for are the Liverpool-Arsenal and Chelsea-Fenerbahce ties next Tuesday. Expect Liverpool and Chelsea to make it through, with the Reds somehow making it to the final in Moscow.

You just know it's on the cards, even if you can't really explain it!

Two more games, loads more hype

After Manchester United and Barcelona pretty much secured their respective places in the semi-finals of the Champions League last night with clean sheets away from home and comfortable wins, the remaining first leg games are just hours away.

Liverpool travel down to Arsenal while Chelsea arrived in Turkey on Monday for their clash against Fenerbahce.

With the English derby set to be repeated on Saturday, and obviously again next week in the second leg, Rafa Benitez and Arsene Wenger's sides will see a lot of each other in the next few days. This first leg could either see both sides go for it, or play out a cautious game ahead of the league clash, but bear in mind the fact that meetings between teams from the so-called 'big four' are often dull. Note the extensive pre-match hype!

Chelsea meanwhile will be playing their European match in Asia, as the Sucru Saracoglu Stadium sits outside the European border in Istanbul.

While they expect an intimidating atmosphere in "Hell", the scariest thing about the game will no doubt be Avram Grant.

Fenerbahce will just be looking to give a decent account of themselves, although they are unbeaten at home in this competition, but the only eye-catchers in this game will be the customary flares being chucked about in the ground.

Grant has played out his fair share of bore-draws and there could be another on show tonight.

The second-legs are usually where the action on the pitch comes to the forefront, so for now just put up with all the talking and wait until Tuesday where the real games will be played.

Tonight is just the dress rehearsal, so who's going to fluff their lines this time?