Champions League

The most beloved soccer club tournament in the world returns tomorrow. I am basically going to give the times of each games and my novice opinion. I'm doing this so I have a little more reason to post some vids of some goals from the weekend. It should be said I was going to do a little thing on the Wild, but I can't even bring myself to do it. Back 3 points with 3 games to play. We need a Miracle. A nice column on the wild this year though... http://www.startribune.com/sports/wild/42442782.html?elr=KArksi8cyaiUBP7hUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

Onto champions league; what a tournament (Note: These match-ups are played over a 2 game span, home and away. They take the aggregate of both games which means total goals for both teams, with the away goals as the tie-breaker. You want away goals. They don't count as 2, but mean if its 0-0 after the first match and the away team goes up 1-0 in the 2nd match then the home team needs to score 2 to win it. 1-0 and 1-1 will be a lose because of the away goal.)

Tuesday April 7, 1:30 central ESPN2: Manchester United vs. Fc Porto (Portuguese) This seems like a no brainer to pick Man U. It appears that porto has only lost twice in their league this year. I wouldn't know because its just not that good of a league. With that being said it is still impressive to only have 2 losses in 23 games. I don't see Man U going down though. They just have too much talent between ronaldo, rooney, tevez, giggs, etc. They have not been on good form recently, but eeked out a win yesterday without the likes of rooney because of suspension. He will be back Tuesday though. Man U wins this.
With all the injuries Man U had yesterday they got this winner in the 93rd minute from a 17 year old. Brilliant

Tuesday April 7, 4:00 Central Espn Classic: Villarreal(spain) vs. Arsenal Villarreal is currently sitting in forth in La Liga(spain) and are always a good side. They have the rights to our very own jozy altidore though he is loaned out at the moment. Aresenal is unbeaten in their last 17 games and they are getting some big time players back from injury. Cesc, Walcott, and eduardo. The fact that cesc is back in the mix is worry enough for villarreal considering he is the technician that powers arsenals potent offense. He has been out since October with a knee injury. Arsenal takes this match up

Wednesday April 8, No TV*: Barcelona(Spain) vs. Bayern Munich(Germany) You want fire power and up and down soccer? Look no further. There is so much skill on both of these squads that this match up is the most shexy on paper I think (but who am I?). On Barca you got Messi who is imho the best player in the world, eto'o, henry, xavi, iniesta, hleb. This team is loaded and on top of la liga by 6 points. With their fire power they can literally score at anytime. Bayern Munich is no slouch with a roster full of speed and scoring as well. With Ribery, Podolski, Schweinsteiger, Toni, and Klose they have talent and speed that comes close to matching Barca's. Bayern is tied for 4th in the Bundesliga, though only 3 points out of first. They are coming off a crushing 5-1 defeat to wolfsburg who sit atop the table. I am taking Barca in this, but wouldn't be surprised if Bayern won this either.
here is bayern's D in the 5-1 route, disgusting goal

Wednesday April 8, 1:30 ESPN2: Chelsea vs. Liverpool A classic English match up and it seems like these teams meet every year late in the competition to do battle. Both teams are stacked with talent and both are near the top of the Premiership with Liverpool on 67 points and Chelsea on 64 points. When these teams match up it is usually a boring style of soccer. A 1-0 game and a lot of long balls for people trying to run onto. That might be different this game. Liverpool has been playing a different formation and going much more to small passes as the build up to their attack. They have been the hottest team in the premiership lately and one of the hottest teams in Europe. Chelsea has been playing better lately after a stretch in the middle of the season that got their manager fired. I don't see them getting the better of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard though. I got Liverpool taking this, though with any champions league match featuring 2 English clubs this will be a match not to miss. The atmosphere will be amazing.

Honestly all these match ups are great. Teams don't get lucky by making it this far by luck. You need to beat good squads to get this far and the match ups this late are always exciting to watch. If I were going to watch one of the games I would tune into Barca vs. Bayern. That just seems like a time bomb of excitement waiting to blow. just watching messi alone is a treat that everyone should relish. I will be watching all the games and if anyone wants to join in watching them, either in the afternoon (or for the taped ones late in the afternoon which i don't check the scores so its like watching it live) feel free to hit me up.

*I just check the tv times for the games and am saddened, but no shocked, by the fact that there is a marathon of the masters golf tournament from the 1960's. Man that is so lame. Well looks like I will be watching the bayern game on my computer. Shame on espn though, they have been terrible for a while now. This is so weak though.