Wow so no talk about Bayern absolutely tearing Basel apart after being embarrassed the first leg?

bayern absolutely hammering basel wasn't completely out of the ordinary....gomez' strike rate is ridiculous.

Forgot if it isn't EPL it doesn't matter here :ugh:

Back to the mixed my350z soccer thread.

^ That's hilarious..

Seriously! I'm very happy Chelsea was able to pull that off. I really hope the guys can give their all for the rest of the season and Champions League as they did today. (I'm a ManU fan, but have much respect for the guys like Drogba, Terry, etc.)

Also very happy Real Madrid pulled off an easy win vs Moscow.

:tup: I hope we can keep this form up for the duration of the season as well.


So you wouldn't agree that Chelsea's win last night was one of the most improbable and memorable victories of the tournament, or in recent memory for that matter? To overturn that deficit against a great Napoli side was incredible, just as it would have been had Arsenal defeated Milan at the Emirates last week. Not the biggest Arsenal supporter, but I would have been the first to congratulate their brilliance had they done the unthinkable, and they came very close. I like to think of this as the premier club competition in the world, and the ties should reflect that. The two English teams provided the most exciting second legs of the tournament in my opinion.



Agreed, Bayern thrashing Basel at home was no more than I expected honestly. They swept Hoffenheim aside in the Bundesliga by 7 goals and conceding just 1. I don't think they were 'embarassed' in the first leg, Basel scored at the death to take a slim 1-0 agg. to Munich. Bayern had many chances to score during the first leg, but quite honestly, the Basel keeper won that game for them. We watched Messi put 5 past Leverkusen and Barcelona advanced 10-2 on agg., so the Bayern scoreline wasn't shocking for me. Basel are good, but they certainly got a reality check against Bayern, as they are incredibly strong at home in this competition. As are Real Madrid, so CSKA didn't have much of a chance against them at the Bernabeu. If anything, we should be talking about how the little Cypriot side called Apoel Nicosia are in the quarter finals after eliminating Olympique Lyonnais.


With that being said, if you'd like to talk Eredivisie, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, La Liga, Swiss Super League, or Europa, by all means, lets talk. Speaking of Europa, some nice looking fixtures to be played today-

Schalke/Twente
Besiktas/Atletico Madrid
City/Sporting Lisbon
PSV/Valencia


Quarter final draw is tomorrow. I think this is one of the most diverse elite 8s in recent memory. England, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Portugal and Cypress all represented. Dream ties for me:

Chelsea FC / Olympique de Marseille

(History here: Didier Dechamps old club Chelsea and Drogba's old club Marseille)

FC Barcelona / FC Bayern

(Should just be awesome football to watch, two great sides)

Real Madrid CF / SL Benfica

(Iberian derby)

AC Milan / APOEL FC

(David vs. Goliath. 7 time champs Milan against little APOEL, upset in the making)



Anyway, my $.02

Schalke / Twente is a good match. It's not a very high-profile match, but the one I am really looking forward to is AZ Alkmaar / Udinese at the Friuli. That will be a fun match, Udinese need to turn over a 2-0 aggregate deficit, and Di Natale should be back in the lineup. Hopefully they pick up the pace, they've been horrible to watch recently, VERY slow pace.

I'm still laughing at Marseille going through. Ranieri is still in charge of Inter for now, but the noose tightens ever faster...!

I want APOEL to make a Cinderella run to the finals...but I'm not sure if that's mean or not. They'd get absolutely SHATTERED by Barcelona.

Realistically, we could have Barca / Bayern or El Clasico in the UCL finals. I really, really despise the thought of yet another Clasico. They're not even classic anymore.

i too dislike the idea of another Clasico but i don't think it will get to that, we all know Madrid doesn't perform vs Barcelona (seems like some sort of physiological barrier in Madrid players).

i think Marseille is going to the team to surprise by continuing in the tourny. between Barca and Bayern i think it will be a good match but Barca will come out on top.

besides that one crap game Milan had.....i feel they will reach the final (Barca v Milan, if they don't meet before). Barcelona will absolutely tear apart any of the teams still in the tourny but Milan proved twice it can stand up to them in the group stages (Barcelona had too many luck goals) vs them.

Hasn't been a good year for Manchester United in Europe. They are out of the Europa League:

Athletic Bilbao 2 Manchester United 1; agg 5-3: match report - Telegraph

Man City is on their way out too. They'll need to score four to advance. 1 pulled back so far from Kun Aguero.

So not exactly my dream draw, but still an interesting one nonetheless:

Apoel Nicosia v Real Madrid

Marseille v Bayern Munich

Benfica v Chelsea

AC Milan v Barcelona


to the semi-finals;

Marseille/Bayern Munich v APOEL Nicosia/Real Madrid

Benfica/Chelsea v AC Milan/Barcelona

I want to see Barcelona vs Bayern in the final.

poor Apoel.