UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Leg 1

Today we had he first Round of 16 fixtures between Lyon and Real Madrid which ended in a 1-0 victory for Lyon. Makoun's stunning goal at the start of the second half was enough for the French side to take the first leg. This doesn't mean Lyon are in the quarter finals, but they did take a giant step to get there. Real Madrid couldn't do very much to score or stop Lyon. Lyon had many chances while the Spanish giants failed to deliver. Real Madrid can reach the quarter finals, they have to beat Lyon by one goal to go into penalties or by two to qualify directly. Real Madrid has to be careful, and not concede a goal because of the away goal rule. Real Madrid has some adjustments to improve their defense which often makes mistakes with the aerial game. Lyon played a great match, and the don't need to change very much. They need to defend will, and take advantage of their counter attack opportunities. My prediction is that Lyon will eliminate Real Madrid from the Champion's League.

Apart from Real Madrid Lyon, there was a great match between AC Milan and Manchester United. David Beckham faced his old team, and he admit he wouldn't celebrate goal. The result was an away win for Manchester United with many goals, 2-3. The game started with an early goal from Ronaldinho, but Paul Scholes tied the game with a lucky goal. It seemed Milan would take the lead again, but just minutes after Luis Antonio Valencia came in for Nani, he set up a beautiful cross for Wayne Rooney who scored with an amazing header. Then, Milan was devastated, they lost control of the game. Man United took advantage, and once again, Rooney scored with his head. It all seemed like it was the end for Milan, but Clarence Seedorf scored a late goal to keep the Rossneri's heads held high. Milan has to score many goals at Old Trafford, but they can qualify directly with a 2-0 victory. Milan's defense has to improve. They failed to stop Wayne Rooney, and Rooney who is now one of the world's best forwards can't be left alone. They need to asphyxiate Rooney, and not let him touch the ball. If Milan play like they did in the first half of today's game, and the manage to stop Wayne Rooney, they should be able to get the job done at Old Trafford.

Tomorrow, there's another two fixtures. Bayern Munchen vs. Fiorentina, and FC Porto vs. Arsenal. Both seem to be interesting fixtures, but Arsenal comes out with five key injured players.

Seria A and Liga BBVA Leaders Slip Up

This weekend we, had no Barclay's Premier League because of the FA Cup, but we did have a very intense Serie A and Liga BBVA with leaders, Inter and Barcelona failing to earn three points.

Italian leaders, Inter, faced fourth place Napoli who has been having a formidable campaign. Inter who had an eleven point lead over Milan; had all the confidence in the world despite Milan's victory over Udinese on Friday http://footyroom.com/ac-milan-3-2-udinese-2010-02/. Napoli who is fighting for the last spot that will take them to the Champion's League, needed to win to extend its lead over Sampdoria and Juventus. Neither Inter nor Napoli were able to score a single goal, which ended the match in a draw http://footyroom.com/napoli-0-0-inter-milan-2010-02/. Both sides had very clear chances, but it seems Napoli had more chances. Even though Inter have conceded two points, they are still dominating the Serie A. The have a very comfortable lead, and everything seems to indicate that they will take the league, once again http://soccernet.espn.go.com/league?id=ita.1&cc=3888.

This weekend we had something we hadn't seen during the whole Liga BBVA. We saw Barcelona lose a match. They faced bottom half Atletico Madrid at the Estadio Vicente Calderon. Atletico had been humiliated by Barcelona at the Camp Nou 5-2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxhawqlfo24. Barcelona had to play the match with substitute defense because of Pique's red card ban, and Dani Alves and Abidal's injuries. Milito, Maxwell, and Jeffren had to take their rolls. Atletico played an excellent half an hour which was enough to get the result they needed. For the first time in the whole year, Barcelona were trailing, and they failed to turn the game around http://footyroom.com/atletico-madrid-2-1-barcelona-2010-02/. To make matters worse, Xavi and Keita have been added to the injured list. The only good news is that Ibrahimovic finally scored after six games of no goals. This result makes La Liga more interesting because Real Madrid was able to beat Xerez with two CR9 goals http://footyroom.com/xerez-0-3-real-madrid-2010-02/. La Liga is getting more competitive, but there are only two teams that are candidates to take the league, Barcelona and Real Madrid http://soccernet.espn.go.com/league?id=esp.1&cc=3888. Maybe Real Madrid can take advantage of Barcelona's injuries to reach the top, but they have tough match against Villareal after playing against Lyon in the Champions League. A Spanish newspaper released the following statement, " Real Madrid is two points behind Barcelona, but light years away in game quality."

This week we have four amazing fixtures in the Champion's League. Bayern Munich vs. Fiorentina, FC Porto vs. Arsenal, Lyon vs. Real Madrid, and the most attractive match of the week, AC Milan vs. Manchester United. David Beckham plays against his old team. Both teams have been playing very well, and are strong candidates to win the Champion's League. The last time these two teams played together was when Milan won the Champion's League in 2007. Milan won both games in the semi final with a brilliant Kaka against an unknown Cristiano Ronaldo. CR9 himself warned his former team that AC Milan is a real challenge, a team who has beaten Ronaldo three out of three times.

Barclay's Premier League Round 26

Today, Arsenal played against Liverpool and won 1-0 http://footyroom.com/arsenal-1-0-liverpool-2010-02/, Chelsea lost against Everton 2-1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN3EUmeV9RU, and Manchester United tied with Aston Villa 1-1 http://footyroom.com/aston-villa-1-1-manchester-united-2010-02/. With Manchester City's victory over Bolton http://footyroom.com/manchester-city-2-0-bolton-wanderers-2010-02/, the top four spots on the English Premier League are getting even more attractive http://soccernet.espn.go.com/tables?league=eng.1&cc=3888. Manchester United is one point behind Chelsea, Arsenal is five points behind Manchester United, and both Liverpool and Manchester City are eight points behind the Gunners.

Let's start with fourth place, the last place you can be in to reach the UEFA Champion's League. Liverpool has clearly recovered from its poor season, and has reached fourth place. Manchester City is enjoying a great form with an unstoppable Carlos Tevez. Even though they are tied in points, Manchester City has two games less than Liverpool. It seems that Manchester City will take fourth, but anything can happen when it comes to this sport. On February 21, which is Liverpool's next fixture, Liverpool will visit Manchester City. This is a very important match that might decide who goes to the Champion's League, and who plays the Europa League. even though this match is important, it is critical that the teams maintain good form, and avoid slip ups and concede points.

Now we move on with the first three spots which are the candidates to take the league unless a miracle gets in their way. Arsenal is currently in third place behind Manchester United. Arsenal was behind Chelsea a couple of weeks ago, but Arsenal's games against England's greatest has devastated the team. It all started when the team took only one point from Aston Villa. Then they were humiliated by Manchester United at the Emirates. Their performance improved against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, but a goal-hungry Drogba and a strong defence made their performance useless. The Liverpool victory was very important to maintain the team's hopes alive. Today's Chelsea and Manchester United slip ups saved the Gunners from falling behind. A couple more slip ups and they're on top. Arsenal also need Van Persie to recover quickly, because his absence has damaged the team's offense. Arsenal shouldn't give up because the team still has of solid chance of clinching their first cup since 2005's FA Cup victory.

Next on the list is Manchester United, only one point behind Chelsea. Manchester United are trying to win the title for the third consecutive year without Cristiano Ronaldo. So far they're doing good, but they're still not there. The team isn't as strong without the Portuguese superstar, but Rooney has been the most important player by taking charge of the team. The team needs to keep adding points. Chances are that the table won't change very much and the match against Chelsea at Old Trafford on April 3rd might be decisive. It might be hard for Manchester United to keep a good form considering that they have the Carling Cup Final and the UEFA Champions League round two against AC Milan. Manchester United can win the title, but their performance has to be better than what they showed today.

We finally arrive to Chelsea, the team on top with a one point advantage. Chelsea has been one of the greatest if not the greatest team in the Premier. Great performances getting the job done, an almost perfect record at home, and of course, the most points on the table. Chelsea have been runner-ups three years straight. It seems this year is finally the year they take the silverware back home. They have a strong team in all areas that is a candidate to win the Champion's League. Chelsea has to avoid slip ups like today, they can't miss a chance to add points to their total. Like any other team, Chelsea needs to maintain a great form, but this might be challenging because of other tournaments. They face Inter in the Champion's League, and are still alive in the FA Cup. Chelsea has already shown strength against big teams, but their visit at Old Trafford might be a challenge. In the end, Chelsea has to avoid slip ups, and beating Manchester United would be a huge step to win the league.

My prediction for the final positions on the table is 1. Chelsea, 2. Manchester, 3. Arsenal, 4. Manchester City, 5. Liverpool.