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Champions League Quarterfinals 2nd Leg - Tuesday - Past Champions League Winner through
By Joe, BettingExpert.com | Edited
Google+: Joe Bexpert
The difference between Manchester United and Chelsea in the first leg of the quarterfinals was down to one man, Wayne Rooney which he left Stamford with the Blues. Manchester United will be looking to finish the job at home while Barca travels to Ukraine to hold out for their semifinal place.
Manchester United vs. Chelsea (Agg: 1-0)
There is little margins between the two teams and that was proven last midweek where Chelsea made one error from a Chelsea Ashley Cole mistimed high ball which Man U’s winger Ryan Giggs took full advantage by crossing it to Wayne Rooney who slotted away past Petr Cech. That one second of brilliance that wins you Champions League could also mean the end of Chelsea’s silverware dreams this season.
Manchester United showed further reliance on their squad depth this weekend when they won their home premiership match against Fulham. Wayne Rooney served his first of the two match ban for swearing and in comes Man U current top scorer Berbatov which also scored the first goal of the match, Valencia finished off the rest. Rooney was not the only one out of the game, manager Alex Ferguson was also hit with ban and saw the win in the stands. Both will return to take on Chelsea in the 2nd league. Darren Fletcher, Hargreaves, Lindegaard and Rafael will not be amongst the squad for Tuesday return game.
Chelsea have all to do when they travel to Manchester on Tuesday. All the silverware lies here and only a win will help them through to the next round. The weekend saw Chelsea took all three points against Wigan at home but they had to battle to through to the 2nd half to get that only goal. Once again the question will be who will be starting up front. Torres came in for Anelka in the 2nd half whilst Drogba play the whole game, with this in mind, it looks likely Torres to be starting on Tuesday. It doesn’t matter whoever starts upfront if the Chelsea midfielders don’t get their rhythm going. They saw lots of the ball in the first leg but time after times, they knocked it to places where it was ineffective and that won’t do them all good. The play needs to involve the width and Drogba did make things happen from nothing, so Drogba would be preferred if they were to be physically.
Manchester United contained Chelsea in the first leg by packing themselves in the midfield to force the Blues to pass the ball in the middle of the park. The difference was that United was able to exploit the width with ease going forward while Chelsea saw nothing but going through the middle which creatd much talks about penalties. Another close encounter but maybe the first leg will be just enough for United to squeeze through.
Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Barcelona (Agg: 1-5)
The Ukrainians showed they were out of their depth last midweek at the Nou Camp and what more to inflict that pain, a weekend home defeat to FC Obolon Kyic in their domestic league. The European defeat might have taken some confidence out of the team and that was evidently shown when Shakhtar had to endure their first defeat at home in all competition since October 2008. Their run up to the return leg might not give them the confidence to overturn a four goal deficit but the Ukrainians will certainly try. They will have to do the miracle without their captain Darijo Srna , who was substitute at half time against Obolon Kyiv and with that in mind, this one might just be for the pride.
Barcelona are master of arts when it comes to inflicting more pain on opposition when they are down. It’s not even sure whether Coach Pepe Guardialo will be taking his strongest eleven to Ukraine after the seeing the performance of his team in the weekend 3-1 home win over bottom club Almeria in the La Liga. They had David Villa on the bench while Lionel Messi scoring two goals, an assumption that Messi, Villa and Iniesta could start from the bench. Only Puyol and Abidal are still missing but they won’t be sorely missed for this match. Barcelona will have to hold out in Ukraine to make sure their other foot is in the Champions League semi-final.
Certainly many have already got this game covered with a Barcelona going through to the next round while it still remains a bit tricky whether Shakhtar can redeem themselves at home against the team that demolish them 5-1 the week before. The setting is set for a all Spanish affair in the semi-final so this is one game Barca just have to get through, without any scare of course.
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