Man Utd v AC Milan and Chelsea v Liverpool are live on RTÉ Two and RTÉ.ie ((RoI only; 450k) on 24/25 April.
I have to say I’m really looking forward to the Champions League semi-finals, we have two great pairings and they should be fantastic matches.
Manchester United and AC Milan is first up and I think it will be a really close contest, unless of course United can reproduce the form they showed against Roma, but I don’t think they can.
They will have to adopt the same approach though and pressurise Milan, be aggressive and pin them back in their own half - make it a war of attrition. It won’t be as easy as Roma though because Milan have much more quality and experience, they’ll be a different proposition all together.
Milan have Maldini, Nesta, Pirlo, Gattuso, Kaka – these are world 
class players and will be well prepared – although it is worth pointing out that Roma defeated Inter in Milan at the weekend and beat them 3-1 so that says a lot about the quality of Italian football at the moment! But this Milan team has a lot of experience, international experience, with three or four world cup winners in the side, so they will provide a proper test.
Looking back to the United and Roma result, I wouldn’t just call it a freak result I’d call it a spectacular freak. I just don’t think United can produce that level of performance again. It was one of those occasions where everything clicked, while Roma folded. United deserve great credit though, it would be churlish not to give them credit – but it was only one performance and you have to look at all the evidence and all the evidence suggests that it was a one-off.
Then the following night we have Chelsea versus Liverpool. This will be a huge, huge clash between two psychologically strong managers and two psychologically strong teams.
Rafael Benitez, and the recent record proves it, is not in any way overawed by Chelsea – he doesn’t mind setting his stall out not to lose, as it were, so his teams are unlikely to be beaten on the counter attack, which is Chelsea’s favourite weapon. There are some very strong characters in both teams, which makes it so interesting – Liverpool are much the better side with Javier Mascherano in midfield. He’s a world class player and a very tough character.
Chelsea have the greater burden though as they’re still chasing the Premiership title and FA Cup. Their players are being stretched to the limit physically and psychologically, while Liverpool, who have been out of the title race and FA Cup for some time, have had it quite easy in recent weeks.
So Liverpool will have a slight advantage being a little fresher but it will be a massive contest and I don’t think it will be decided until the last kick of the second game at Anfield on 1 May.
Both semi-finals are very tough to call though but if pressed I’d go for AC Milan in the first semi, while I’d go for Chelsea in the other – but both are very tight calls.
I think a lot of neutrals would like to see a final between Manchester United and Chelsea.
It would be a titanic match and a clash of styles between what is 
a very psychologically strong, well organised Chelsea and an attack-minded Manchester United team that I think still has something to prove. Chelsea are proven champions over the last two to three seasons, while United have yet to get their hands on this year’s league title – so I think that’s the clash I’d like to see and would definitely be the most intriguing.
As I’ve said - United still have something to prove but they will have plenty of opportunities to do that as the season reaches a climax – each team will be severely tested over the next few weeks and it will be a case of the last man left standing. But it’s been great entertainment and great sport and should only get better.
Eamon was in conversation with RTÉ Publishing's Johnny Proby.
