champions league preview

after a week of cycling and death, you might be pleased to know that today's post focuses on the upcoming double-header of delicious champions league nights. all of the games are finely poised, and could have important consequences for the allocation of future champions league spots...

fiorentina v bayern munich, 7.45pm tuesday.
none more so than this one. the bundesliga, buoyed by strong UEFA cup performances in recent times, has been sneaking up on serie a in the notoriously labyrinthine UEFA coefficient ranking system. it's not for the faint-hearted, but suffice to say that it's not just florentines who will be cheering on the viola tonight.
and they'll need the support. beginning with the 1st leg, and the awarding of a ludicrously offside goal to bayern, fiorentina have of late descended into a funk of perceived injustice and fruitless anger. you might think that this would create a backlash and spur the squad onto greater heights, but this is italians we are talking about, and there's little sign of that so far. but if you can't get yourself going for a champions league quarter final spot, you never will.
no doubt bayern will look to defend what they have and hit on the counter, much as they did in their destruction of juve during the group stages. it'll be cagey.

arsenal v porto, 7.45pm tuesday.
another team who will be looking towards the counter attack for inspiration will be porto. a 2-1 lead against arsenal is nowhere near enough for jesualdo ferreira to start planning for the last 8, and porto have to be very careful at the emirates. a less profligate side than arsenal would have taken more than 1 away goal from the dragao 2 weeks ago.
but profligacy might be the defining factor in this one. you'd fancy arsenal to open porto up, even without the creative nous of fabregas, but anyone who saw their performance against burnley will know that they're more than capable of spurning chances that you'd expect a team of children to put away. for all that his linkup play is improving, nicklas bendtner is still woeful in front of goal.
the ease with which burnley got behind the arsenal defenders will also please ferreira, who will look to ruben micael and alvaro pereira to orchestrate the flowing attacks that we saw at times during the 1st leg. porto will want to keep it even until half time, and then capitalise on arsenal's increasing need for a goal. this should be an intriguing match.

real madrid v lyon, 7.45pm wednesday.
certain journalists (and i use the term loosely) have been describing the 2009-10 vintage as the best real madrid team ever, following their impressive second half display against sevilla. the 3-2 scoreline may or may not eventually win them la liga, but we'd do well to remember how woeful they were in the first 45 minutes.
whilst such an offensive disregard for history is in part a natural by-product of our 24 hour sporting news cycle, it still disgusts me. rant over.
whilst not yet perfect, real are indisputably becoming a lethal attacking force. although they are probably a more balanced team without cristiano ronaldo (or CR9 as marca are now calling him- give me strength), he is a force of nature at his best. the onus will be on him, kaka and higuain to cause enough attacking problems to compensate for the loss of xabi alonso in midfield.
lyon will look to use the space created by alonso's absence to dominate possession, and much will hinge on the contest between lass and toulalan. if the latter can win out, and provide sufficient service to govou and pjlanic, then claude puel could yet mastermind a famous victory. but my head says that we're in for more best team ever bullshit.

manchester united v ac milan, 7.45pm wednesday.
speaking of bullshit, the word in italy is that silvio berlusconi, that notorious shrinking violet, interfered in leonardo's team selection for saturday's crucial game with roma; insisting that huntelaar start wide right in the place of david beckham. his contribution? a couple of missed sitters, including one where he chose to duck out of a simple header rather than take a boot in the chest. nice one silvio.
presuming that pato is fit, then leonardo won't start huntelaar, although beckham may yet assume the more central role we saw in the 1st leg. i hope not, because he was ineffectual, and flamini is more suited to the role of taking on the returning darren fletcher.
whilst it would be highly amusing to see milan go through, i can't really see it happening, especially now that it looks as if rooney will indeed be fit. he destroyed milan in the 2nd half at the san siro, and will be looking to prove a point following his reported bollocking from ferguson.

enjoy the games! the round of 16 in the europa league gets underway on thursday, and there are some tasty ties...i'll preview those when i get a minute.