There will only be eight teams left standing come Wednesday night in the UEFA Champions League and I have a feeling that English clubs will make-up half of that number.
Celtic are really up against it at AC Milan and I believe they will find it very hard to get the better of the Italians after a scoreless first leg. They are appearing in the knock-out rounds for the very first time and would love to make it to the quarter-finals. It would be foolish to write them off completely as they have always shown incredible fighting spirit when their backs are to the wall but they may have to wait until next season before booking a spot in the quarter-finals. The one major positive is that they did not concede an away goal in the first leg and the longer they can keep it at 0-0 the more frustrated Milan will become. If Milan do get through it will not be by much.
Liverpool were the story of Matchday 7 with that incredible victory over Barcelona at the Camp Nou. The holders have had their problems off the pitch and it does seem that their coach Frank Rijkaard is going to leave at the end of the season. Their grip on the trophy is slipping and they will need to score goals on Tuesday. Samuel Eto’o should be fit to start the match and if they are to stay in the competition, they will need him to be at his very best.
There were bad signs for Barca in Spain in the first leg and it seems that the problems off the pitch have begun to have an effect on the way the team plays. Liverpool will keep it tight for as long as they can and will try to frustrate the visitors. I think that Liverpool will do enough to get through.
Chelsea are in a very strong position to qualify after their 1-1 in Porto two weeks ago. Porto are a good side but they will not have enough to do what they need at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea have re-discovered their form in the last few weeks and are playing well again. They have the cushion of the away goal from the first leg and should cruise into the quarter-finals.
Arsenal are in a more difficult position as they welcome PSV Eindhoven to the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday. They trail 1-0 from the Philips Stadium and welcome a team who have been difficult to score against all through the group stages.
Thierry Henry will be key to their chances and he will need to find that killer-instinct in front of goal if they are to progress. Arsenal had a good win over Reading on Saturday after a run of terrible results, which started with their first leg loss in Holland. I think they will continue their winning run with a victory over PSV after a tight match.
Manchester United are in a great position to return to the last eight after their victory in Lens against Lille the week before last. They have their away goal and will be high on confidence after their success at Anfield on Saturday afternoon. The worry for their fans is that they are not playing well. They are getting the luck at the moment, as we saw at Fulham and Liverpool but they will not be able to play as poorly against Lille; if they do they will be dumped out of the competition.
There was a lot of bad feeling in the first game with the trouble in the ground in Lens and I think this will be a niggly match that could easily boil over. Lille will have to chase but I do not think they will have enough to get through.
I was amazed to read that they had decided to appeal to UEFA about the Manchester United goal scored by Ryan Giggs. They were never going to have it ruled out and all they have done is distract their players from the task ahead. Their coach, Guy Puel, may be able to use the sense of injustice they feel as a positive but I do not think that will be enough. They are a big strong physical side and they will make it difficult for Manchester United but the ’99 winners should be good enough to qualify for the quarter-finals.
