Champions League Predictions: Liverpool, Manchester United, Barcelona and Chelsea to go through
European football is around the corner (as soon as we deal with today’s Sunday fixtures – Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham for the win, btw) and it’s time for us (you and me) to predict the future with all the confidence that being arm-chair critics gives us.
Here are my predictions (that’s my crystal ball up top) – let me know yours in the comments:
On league form and history you would side with Arsenal, but as Chelsea have found out over the last few years, Liverpool are a different beast altogether when it comes to the Champions League.
Thing is, so are Arsenal. The quarter-final – more suited to a grand semi-final perhaps (definitely a more attractive proposition than a Chelsea-Liverpool or Chelsea-Arsenal semi-final – no offense but those rivalries have been done to death in recent years) will be a pulsating affair, and the winner of this tie has already been tipped by people to reach the final.
Prediction: Liverpool.
QF #2: Roma v Manchester United
Manchester United are in imperious form in the league while Roma have improved quite a bit in Europe since last season. Their ties are unfortunately remembered for action off the pitch as well, and hopefully the authorities will keep that from happening this time.
United are good enough to come away with a draw in the away leg, and even with a goal down in aggregate, as we saw last season, United are simply irresistible at Old Trafford.
Prediction: Manchester United.
Schalke have done good to get this far and Barcelona won’t have Messi, which limits their chances of getting out of a jam if they go behind in either leg. The reverse they faced against Betis on the weekend – they were cruising at 2-0 at one point only to lose 2-3 – won’t have done their morale any good either.
You’d back Rijkaard and his men to pull together and qualify for the semi-finals, but Barcelona are probably the weakest of the top 6 sides left in the competition (I’d fancy Roma to beat them over 2 legs, if they were to get a shot) and they’ll have a tough time against Schalke.
Prediction: Barcelona.
If Grant puts out a full-strength Chelsea team, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be able to win the away leg or at least come away with a score draw. Chelsea have come under a lot of criticism this season but they are one of few teams in Europe whom you can count on to pull through under the most difficult of circumstances. Fener are better than people expect them to be and they’ll give Chelsea a good fight (perhaps even score at Stamford Bridge) but I don’t see them dumping Chelsea out this time around.
Prediction: Chelsea.
Your Predictions:
Arsenal v Liverpool
Roma v Manchester United
Schalke v Barcelona
Fenerbahce v Chelsea
who do you think will progress to the semi-finals? And beyond?
I’ve tried all season to predict 4 results on sky bet, did it once out of 30 trys
Difficult to look too far ahead, so much depends on form, fitness and injuries. Also, what happens in the first legs, changes the dynamics of the second leg. But here my punt:
QF:
Arsenal v. Liverpool: draw (1-1); return 1-1, Liverpool on pens (Raina makes the difference in the shoot-outs!).
Fenerbahce v. Chelsea: Chelsea win (0-1); return 2-1 Chelsea
Schalke v. Barcelona: draw (2-2); return 3-1 Barcelona
Roma v. Manchester Utd: draw (1-1); return 2-0 United.
Semi-final line-ups:
Liverpool v. Chelsea: Avram Grants succeeds where Mourinho failed twice. Chelsea to win, and get to a CL final for the first time. Roman Abramovich is going home: “Football’s going home to Moscow”
Barcelona v. Man Utd: On current form would give it to United, but will give it a shout closer to the game if they both make it, when we can assess form.
to me i don’t believe in history. you know what i believe my team and i know that it can change the history your talking about. who knew arsenal can give ac milan we did. and i also believe in history some times how by saying that in season 2005 to 2006 moved to the final and liverpool in 2006 to 2007 so this year is fro arsenal to final. so i believe strongly that arsenal will move the final again and take the champion. coz last time we lsot by accident to barcelona. see me there.
funny, frankie I had the exact same predictions
even if we are based in history Arsenal will beat Barcelona in final as it happen to liverpool last year when milan beat them
very undecided but hey lets have a try…
i’m having all my fingers crossed( n my toes 2 if they count) that lfc beat arsenal away n draw a home- or even come away with the qualification in any way- even paying the referee 2 send off fabregas at the least dissent- sorry could not stop myself… i’m very worried. i had hope bolton crush arsenal morals but they boosted it up!!! typical.
however the others r bound 2 be shockers… barca will be stunned by Schalke- the first tough team they met so far-well xcept celtic… or so i hope. if barca make it 2 the finals, i’ll be certain uefa have a hand in it.
bet all ur money on fernerbache-0sorry can’t spell- but even i wont trust myself with this one. but, i can easily think of fernerbahce instead of chelsea in the final.
well, manchester utd… plz god, dont let them go 2 the final but if our 2 teams do meet- make the uefa decide an unbiased ref who can support the weight of the media n wont crack because the previous week a freak chelsea player( ok, ok asley cole) committed a vicious act gone unpunished…
on another note, look what blogs can do. my english is sooo distorted.. my god if my english professor would ever look at that…geez.
Now Bilal being the ManU fan that your are I doubt it that you would ever go for an Arsenal win unless of course they played derby county.
on a side note Liverpool is the AC Milan of the Premiership & Milan got swept away by Arsenal at the San Siro in the UCL where they are considered best.
I think that the three English teams are going thru to the semis… and it will be Arsenal in there against Chelsea. Arsenal would do what they did to Milan…
I’m actually intrigued about the Schalke-Barca tie… there might be a big upset come April 3… there MIGHT.
Roma-Man U… I like the Romans, but without Totti…it will be difficult…
Man U have THE right to get to the final… its just been brilliant this year. And if they do get to the final this year, they WILL have to win it convincingly this time… not the lucky one against the team I support. (Who I hope, will win the UEFA Cup, contest Man U in the Supercup and be grouped with them in next year’s CL.) Anyone fancy that possibility?
United are guarenteed finalists as far as im concerned! Totti was Romas only hope of an upset and Barca wont be going to any finals on their seasons form.
Chelsea are also in the semis already and the only game i’d dare to predict is Arsenal v Liverpool. I hope we win but ive already experience 2 CL finals in my life time so i wont be too devasted.
If Arsenal beat us i hope they win the comp though Chelsea- Man U- Liverpool may all hate each other but Liverpool and Arsenal as everyone will probably know dont dislike each other too much!
You’re too young to remember the big Liverpool – Arse games?
Or more likely…Liverpool have been so out of the league for the last 2 decades and Arsenal have been so poor in Europe that their paths never crossed?
Arsenal will beat l’pool, utd will beat roma, barca will beat schalke. not too sure about chelsea though, they have beaten psv, inter and sevilla so far and with chelsea being unpredictable in the CL this year Fenerbahce could sneak through, i hope so anyway. Not too sure about the semi finals, although i can see utd bottling it like last year, henry to score and to celebrate like a madman. arsenal-barca final and a 3-0 arsenal win, barca fans crying that cesc left and thierry wondering why he moved.
AFC:
Crystal ball gazing or just indulging in flights of fancy – Arsenal style?
Well the same could be said all over Chelsea and Liverpool are the only 2 major English sides to clash in europe.
yes it’s had been a frustating 8 years of waiting before I finally saw Arsenal reach a CL final & they were winners but alas only for 78 minutes
No worries, this is a emergence of a new era & with most players still having an average of 10 years before reaching their peak a lot can be expected.
arsenal wins because liverpool are falloing apart and only bearly won on sunday.. Arsenal will find it at home and play smart away….
Roma will put up a good fight, but youknighted(get it?) are so unstoppable. ronaldo alone might be playing good enough to will it himself. yes 11 on 1 and he will win it….
If barca stop dicking the dog they will be fine, but i wont right off shalke yet.
On paper chelsea won it already. but Avram Grant is an Idiot and could throw it away.
Barcelona are falling apart and Rijkaard has lost his spine…did you see him against Betis this weekend? Frozen, no emotion, not even moving from the bench. Everyone is writing off Schalke already, but I think this is the perfect time to get Barcelona, especially when their league position isn’t exactly rock solid. SCHALKE 2 – 2 BARCA (Schalke on away goals)
The thing that worries me about the Reds is the health and form of the defense; having to play a top side like Arsenal 3 games in a row could be a bit much. And our Anfield advantage this season has not been the same; in the Premiership we’ve allowed as many at home as we have away (12 each). As long as Gerrard and Torres are there though, I won’t bet against ‘Pool. L’POOL 1 – 0 ARSE
Man Utd have got it in the bag, especially with Totti out, won’t even bother there.
And I also think that Chelsea, specifically Terry and Carvalho, will not allow themselves to overlook Fenerbache and their samba attack. By far the most unpredictable matchup in my mind though. Fenerbache at home is a tough ask for anyone, so while my money is still on the Blues, I would not be very surprised to see the Turks do it (nor would I be very upset, haha)
To be honest there is 6 teams that are likely to win it this year. So the only two teams that I’m certain that will go to the Semi’s in Chelsea and Barcelona. That leaves firstly Man Utd v Roma, and With Totti injured in the first leg, and a Totti regaining match fitness in the second leg, it will be hard for Roma to progress. So I’m being bias but in a logical way and going for united to scrape through by the odd goal.
Now the Arsenal and Liverpool game is something which is near unpredictable. If you see this from a League perspective you would near enough go for Arsenal just because of their record against liverpool. However Liverpool have the formula in the champions league. Im going for Liverpool on Pens only because i think the teams are that equal that if it did go to a penalty shootout Liverpool would win because they have bottle, i mean, when arsenal had pressure on them, how many games did they go without a win?
I would have to agree with your picks, though I’m pretty unsure about Liverpool and Arsenal. Both have put in great performances in Europe this year and if they do again over the next 2 legs it’ll be hard to call.
Joe
http://www.fourthewinfootball.com
Come on gunners !!! We will qualify for the 1/2 finals
Arsenal v Liverpool – 1 : 0 – 1 : 1
Roma v Manchester United – 2 : 1 – 1 : 0 for United
Schalke v Barcelona – 1 : 2 – 2 : 0 for Barca
Fenerbahce v Chelsea – 1 : 1 – 2 : 0 for Chelsea
Arsenal – Chelsea – 1 : 1 – 1 : 2 for Arsenal
Manchester United – Barcelona – 2 : 1 – 2 : 0 for Barca
The final repeat and Barcelona – Arsenal – 1 : 2 FT
Liverpool are falling apart? spoken like a true person who doesnt have a clue about football. The only time Liverpool have failed to win in their last 9 games was with 10 men against the champions of England. Surely we have suffered worse form
or werent you around at the beginning of 2008?
Hakieran if United get put out give me you house number and i promise i will clean your house for a month
United are already through face the facts!
Chelsea all the way for gold
Oh man, I was expecting April-fool articles similar to last year!! Why did you miss this year Ahmd?
Mate, you missed them. Here they are. About 10, same as last time.
Liverpool Fan – I’ll take you up on that
yer infact i will clean everyone who posts a comment here house!!
Oops!
well that’s 2 down, 2 to go. Hard to see either Roma or Schalke change their fortunes in the second leg – Schalke don’t seem to have the drive and Roma aren’t that strong defensively.
I think arsenal will beat us 2:0 tonight and hopefully we will make an inspiring come back at anfield
I disagree mate, I think it’ll be closer than that. Ok, I *hope* it will be closer than that
There you go. Advantage Liverpool.
Ditto for Chelsea, although Fener could still give them a scare at Stamford Bridge. Just don’t see Chelsea doing a 7-1
a word for man utd fans. CAUTION! man utd are only good against teams that pass the ball & run forward, but against players that can dribble, they easily get rattled. even now, i still see that same weakness in them. man utd should remember madrid in 2000(raul,carlos & redondo), madrid in 2003(figo, zidane, raul & ronaldo) and milan in 2005 & 2007(kaka). they were humiliated on all these occasions despite the english media noise about them being favourites. i’m fascinated by the hype around united but i don’t know how they will cope against deco, iniesta, messi, eto’o & maybe ronaldinho.