Just got this off sportingo.com.
Sorry, Chelsea and Manchester United - it's Liverpool to Kop the Champions League again
Tom Harness
The draw has thrown up the possibility of revenge on a grand scale. Liverpool's path to glory may be crossed by three teams who have more reasons to beat them than just winning the cup.
Rafa Benitez will not take the PSV Eindhoven and Ronald Koeman threat lightly. Even though Liverpool beat them in the group phase, it was coach Koeman who masterminded the Champions League downfall of both the Anfield side and Manchester United last season -and has just dispatched Arsenal.
But Benitez and Liverpool are aware of the PSV danger and should over two legs get over this hurdle and make their way to the semis. Then the Benitez path to glory gets a little interesting. Chelsea have been handed the toughest draw of the English teams in the quarter-finals but if they overcome Valencia, in all probability we will have a re-run of the 2005 semi-final. What sweet revenge it would be for Jose Mourinho and his men if they were able to turn around the result of two seasons ago and beat Liverpool.
Being knocked out of the competition by Liverpool then is probably the most painful event for Chelsea`s players and fans since Mourinho took over, so we can expect Jose’s boys to be fired up and their fans to demand revenge.
But Benitez will not fear Chelsea. This is a much better Liverpool team than the one that beat the Stamford Bridge side in 2005 while the Chelsea team then was better than their current squad. And the 2-0 league win at Anfield in January will have given great confidence to Rafa's men.
In Benitez, Liverpool possess one of the greatest tacticians in the game today and over two legs his team can beat anyone - as they proved against Barcelona. So they should overcome the Chelsea challenge and march on to the final.
In the other half of the draw, we have Manchester United paired against Roma, not an easy tie as the Italian club have played some very good football on their way to the last eight. If United get through this test, they then face either AC Milan or Bayern Munich; I expect Milan to come through as today’s Bayern are a shadow of the once-great giants of German and European football.
So then we should have an AC Milan v Manchester United semi-final, which on current form should be won by Sir Alex Ferguson’s side. Milan, like Bayern, are just not the force they used to be and Roma are the better of the two Italian teams barring United’s way to the final. But Italian football has taken a nosedive recently so we should expect the Old Trafford side to come through unscathed.
This leaves us with a Liverpool v Manchester United final - a mouth-watering prospect for sure. But which of these teams will lift the trophy in Athens? United were played off the field in the recent Anfield clash but weathered the storm and scored in the dying minutes to walk away with the three points. But Liverpool have nothing else to play for now; the Champions League is their season and if they dominate United like they did at Anfield, luck won’t be on the Mancunian side again and I can’t see anything but a Liverpool win.
The biggest threat to the Anfield path to glory probably comes from Benitez's old team, Valencia. They are very good defensively and with David Villa deadly in attack, Chelsea could do Liverpool a huge favour by knocking them out of the competition at the quarter-final stage.
It would be to Liverpool`s advantage if PSV were the last foreign team they meet this season because they are more than capable of turning over Chelsea and Manchester United.
And we may even get to see what all Liverpool fans worldwide will remember forever - a weeping Gary Neville sitting on the turf in Athens as Steven Gerrard lifts the greatest club prize of all. Again.
Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Valencia - who do YOU fancy for the Champions League? Let Sportingo have your views.
Sorry, Chelsea and Manchester United - it's Liverpool to Kop the Champions League again
Tom Harness
The draw has thrown up the possibility of revenge on a grand scale. Liverpool's path to glory may be crossed by three teams who have more reasons to beat them than just winning the cup.
Rafa Benitez will not take the PSV Eindhoven and Ronald Koeman threat lightly. Even though Liverpool beat them in the group phase, it was coach Koeman who masterminded the Champions League downfall of both the Anfield side and Manchester United last season -and has just dispatched Arsenal.
But Benitez and Liverpool are aware of the PSV danger and should over two legs get over this hurdle and make their way to the semis. Then the Benitez path to glory gets a little interesting. Chelsea have been handed the toughest draw of the English teams in the quarter-finals but if they overcome Valencia, in all probability we will have a re-run of the 2005 semi-final. What sweet revenge it would be for Jose Mourinho and his men if they were able to turn around the result of two seasons ago and beat Liverpool.
Being knocked out of the competition by Liverpool then is probably the most painful event for Chelsea`s players and fans since Mourinho took over, so we can expect Jose’s boys to be fired up and their fans to demand revenge.
But Benitez will not fear Chelsea. This is a much better Liverpool team than the one that beat the Stamford Bridge side in 2005 while the Chelsea team then was better than their current squad. And the 2-0 league win at Anfield in January will have given great confidence to Rafa's men.
In Benitez, Liverpool possess one of the greatest tacticians in the game today and over two legs his team can beat anyone - as they proved against Barcelona. So they should overcome the Chelsea challenge and march on to the final.
In the other half of the draw, we have Manchester United paired against Roma, not an easy tie as the Italian club have played some very good football on their way to the last eight. If United get through this test, they then face either AC Milan or Bayern Munich; I expect Milan to come through as today’s Bayern are a shadow of the once-great giants of German and European football.
So then we should have an AC Milan v Manchester United semi-final, which on current form should be won by Sir Alex Ferguson’s side. Milan, like Bayern, are just not the force they used to be and Roma are the better of the two Italian teams barring United’s way to the final. But Italian football has taken a nosedive recently so we should expect the Old Trafford side to come through unscathed.
This leaves us with a Liverpool v Manchester United final - a mouth-watering prospect for sure. But which of these teams will lift the trophy in Athens? United were played off the field in the recent Anfield clash but weathered the storm and scored in the dying minutes to walk away with the three points. But Liverpool have nothing else to play for now; the Champions League is their season and if they dominate United like they did at Anfield, luck won’t be on the Mancunian side again and I can’t see anything but a Liverpool win.
The biggest threat to the Anfield path to glory probably comes from Benitez's old team, Valencia. They are very good defensively and with David Villa deadly in attack, Chelsea could do Liverpool a huge favour by knocking them out of the competition at the quarter-final stage.
It would be to Liverpool`s advantage if PSV were the last foreign team they meet this season because they are more than capable of turning over Chelsea and Manchester United.
And we may even get to see what all Liverpool fans worldwide will remember forever - a weeping Gary Neville sitting on the turf in Athens as Steven Gerrard lifts the greatest club prize of all. Again.
Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Valencia - who do YOU fancy for the Champions League? Let Sportingo have your views.
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