UEFA Champions League, and Europa League.

[Androo]

Some people here must watch, or if not, still come and get involved, ask, discuss etc. So discussion of anything on Champions League and Europa League. Heres the current Champions League Last 16 fixtures and standings (Bristish teams bolded):

Tuesday, 8 March 2011
Barcelona v Arsenal, (agg 1-2), 19:45
Shakhtar Donetsk v Roma, (agg 3-2), 19:45

Wednesday, 9 March 2011
Schalke 04 v Valencia, (agg 1-1), 19:45
Tottenham v AC Milan, (agg 1-0), 19:45

Tuesday, 15 March 2011
Bayern Munich v Inter Milan, (agg 1-0), 19:45
Man Utd v Marseille, (agg 0-0), 19:45

Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Chelsea v FC Copenhagen, (agg 2-0), 19:45
Real Madrid v Lyon, 19:45

The big Barca v Arsenal return leg tonight! Whos watching? Predictions etc?

Who are your teams? Who do you fancy? Who do you see progressing to the Last 8 and further? Finalists? Winner? I guess its kinda hard as the draw isnt set out but still.

Heres the Last 16 first leg fixtures for the Europa League (Bristish teams bolded):

Thursday, 10 March 2011
Bayer Leverkusen v Villarreal, 18:00
Braga v Liverpool, 18:00
CSKA Moscow v FC Porto, 18:00
PSV Eindhoven v Rangers, 18:00
Ajax v Spartak Moscow, 20:05
Benfica v Paris SG, 20:05
Dynamo Kiev v Man City, 20:05
FC Twente v Zenit St Petersburg, 20:05

So same again. Who are your teams? Who do you fancy? Who do you see progressing to the Last 8 and further? FInalists? Winner? Still kinda hard at this stage but...

Anything else you want to discuss about this......?

[Regal>Cena]

It's all about the Europa League these days, with the mighty Reds to win it in Dublin.

The Barca v Arsenal Champions League tie looks nicely set up, and the first leg was awesome to watch as a neutral. Barca will probably turn over the gooners and go on to win the whole thing imo

[Androo]

Well Barca were just relentless tonight! Could have been 7 nil! Arsenal had 0 attempts on goal the whole game! That just shows how good they were! Plus Barca had something over 700 passes, Arsenal had over 100! That also just shows you, considerin this is what Arsenal do in the PL! Well i wanted Arsenal to go through and win the whole thing, theyre my English team, always supported them, but Barca looked pretty unstoppable in that game! although the Van Persie sendin off was ludicrous IMO.

Hope Tottenham get through tomorrow. Then Man U. Dont really care for Chelsea at all, infact i quite dislike them, except from Drogba, so not bothered if they go out or not.

As for Europa, yeh Liverpool could maybe get there, i hope so anyway. Man City aswell have the talent so they could do well. Rangers will struggle, but hey they made the final in 2008 when it seemed highly unlikely. I think Ajax might do well, but its too hard to predict, English teams are the best bet for me just now.

[CGBigMan]

Hey the mighty gers beat them last time on our road to the final

[Lowki]

Europa league lol...

CL has some dark horses to reach the semis - Shakhtar and Spurs could make it depending on their draws.

Barcelona, Inter/Bayern, Madrid/Lyon will most likely reach the semis with United and Chelsea in there somewhere but it is all depending on the draw; Could have the favorites all playing each other.

Barcelona 5/4

Real Madrid 4/1

Chelsea 5/1

Man Utd 7/1

Bayern Munich 11/1

Tottenham 12/1

Shakhtar Donetsk 20/1

Inter Milan 25/1

Schalke 04 33/1

Marseille 125/1

Lyon 125/1

FC Copenhagen 750/1

Wouldn't mind if the four favorites all drew each other; would add some excitement to the Quarters and could give us an interesting final.


Last 8 will be;
Barca
Shakhtar
shalke
Spurs
Bayern
United
Chelsea
Madrid

I think there'll be an all british tie in the next round and chelsea will get handed one of the "easier" teams like shakhtar or shalke.

Europa;
Last 8:
Benfica
Man city (3 at home isn't too far-fetched)
Twente (3-0 up)
Porto (away goal 1-0)
Rangers (at home next leg)
Villareal (3 away goals; Leverkusen need to either win by 2 or more to go through. 1-0, 2-1 would send them out as would a loss; 3-2 for Bayer to get Extra time)
Liverpool (1-0 down but i can't see them losing or drawing at home)
Spartak

[Androo]

Your right Lowki, some wildcards, its jsut too hard to predict. Yet i am about to engage in it lol. Gotta say well done to spurs. I like their team, would love to see them go far, i think they might get an "easier" team next round. Idunno about Chelsea, they got Copenhagen last 16, surely not another "easy" team? I would agree with your teams to make the semis, seems logical, just depends on the draw again. Its out of these for the final for me: Barca, Real, Inter/Bayern, United. I think its between them. Id go for Real Madrid to win the whole thing, Mourinho to become first manager to win back to back CL with 2 different teams (I think?)? Hes just a good manager. Then he'll come back to England, probably Chelsea.

Your last 8 i agree with, except the Bayern/Inter, its tight, and i know Inter are nothing like they were last season but 2 goals is do-able.

Europa.
Hey well done to the Teddy Bears (Im not a Rangers fan, but its a Scottish team in Europe!!). 0-0 draw away to PSV was a very good result for them. I thought theyd get beat by a few goals, maybe they can make the next round! Liverpool and Man City surprised me a bit! Didnt think theyd lose. I still think Liverpool can win the tie though, Man City? Well i dunno its a big ask!

Heres the next set of fixtures:
Thursday, 17 March 2011
Man City v Dynamo Kiev, (agg 0-2), 18:00
Paris SG v Benfica, (agg 1-2), 18:00
Spartak Moscow v Ajax, (agg 1-0), 18:00
Zenit St Petersburg v FC Twente, (agg 0-3), 18:00
FC Porto v CSKA Moscow, (agg 1-0), 20:05
Liverpool v Braga, (agg 0-1), 20:05
Rangers v PSV Eindhoven, (agg 0-0), 20:05
Villarreal v Bayer Leverkusen, (agg 3-2), 20:05

Ill go with:
Man City then, just for bants.
Benfica, although PSG just need to score to take them through.
Ajax, think theyll score a goal anyway then get through.
Twente, theyve got a good lead.
Porto, good side, goal up.
Liverpool, to keep a clean sheet though.
Rangers then, cant concede, defend defend defend sneak a goal.
Villareal, because i think they'll score then itl be too much for Bayer.

[Tommy Thunder]

I'm a United fan, so I'll naturally back them all the way. I also have a soft spot for Barcelona. I've been there a few times, and to the Nou Camp, and I fell in love with the place. It's hard to see anyone beating them to be honest, but I know that if anyone can, its United!!

[Tommy Thunder]

As for the Europa League (aka channel 5 cup lol), I don't care who wins, I just can't wait to see Man City and Liverpool knocked out!!

[Lowki]

If united sit back and 4 5 1 barcelona we could do it. When we last played them in the final we tried to attack them and it just failed. I love barcelona though, i was there when they signed ronaldinho and visited the youth acadamy across the road. Plus, if anyone knows history they were the people's club back in the civil war (Real was the royal family's club) which is why it's such a fierce rivalry.
I don't think barca can be stopped, if anyone could do it though it would have to be chelsea. If they hit form they could easily soak barca pressure for 90mins with Drogba up top. As much as i hate chelsea, they are normally defensively sound.

[Automatic]

CL I don't care, I actually only care about the Dutch teames, we need the points! I think Twente will make it, they've got a 3-0 lead but they weren't better than Zenit, but a huge suprise nonetheless. PSV has to win, they pretty much dominated Rangers, but they couldn't score, which was btw the fault of 1 man, cause he should've scored a few times. Rangers isn't what is was anymore, the Celtic vs Utrecht showed it. And for Ajax it's going to be hard, even though they were better, a 1-0 loss is hard, but if they start their match in Moscow, like they did in Amsterdam, I have no worries.