I feel that whomever we face we have a quite substantial side that is more than capable of toppling any of the European 'giants.' Anyway, I'm just happy I'll be able to wake up in the morning and find out instantly, as the draw is at 6:45am EST!
Here it is, I said Arsenal was the most probable: Chelsea FC (ENG) v Juventus (ITA) Villarreal CF (ESP) v Panathinaikos FC (GRE) Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR) v FC Bayern München (GER) Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP) v FC Porto (POR) Olympique Lyonnais (FRA) v FC Barcelona (ESP) Real Madrid CF (ESP) v Liverpool FC (ENG) Arsenal FC (ENG) v AS Roma (ITA) FC Internazionale Milano (ITA) v Manchester United FC (ENG) I'm quite happy with Arsenal. It's a match up I've wanted to see for a long time, two sides that play beautiful fluid attacking football. Also all things considered Arsenal is in a weak season this year, and we have advantage of the second game at home. Also a victory against another English side from a psychological point of view is the best possible for our team. If we arrive in good shape we can give them a game! Man I just realized this is an Italia-England war this year. It seems like the England-Italy thing has been getting pushed quite hard the last couple of years. The peak will be when Italy and England meet in the next World Cup, if it happens remember me. I've never been one to support other Italian teams, especially Juve and Inter, but man would it be so freaking sweat if we knocked 3 of their teams out in one round. Just to shut their media up a bit. I actually got into an argument with someone recently that wanted to give the Premier League 5 CL spots, love to pick that argument up again if things went well for Italy. EDIT Right after writing this I remembered: "Contro la Roma tifo Chelsea per non incontrarlo agli ottavi" - Chiellini "I'm cheering for Chelsea over Roma, so that we can avoid meeting them (Chelsea) in the round of 16" - Chiellini To hell with them ... forza Chelsea!
all things said and done, arsenal is indeed one of the better picks for us. I have a good feeling about an Italian team picking up the CL this year. I just hope that it is our team.
I kind of feel like this too, but I'm starting to have some doubts. On one hand Arsenal is having a rather bad season and is not the team they were. Which is good, but then again the game is not tomorrow and a lot can change by then. They could find their form and we could lose ours ... knock on wood. Also historically English teams are not our cup of tea.
It should be very interesting...besides real madrid-liverpool (maybe not even), only the italian-english games look to be high power matchups, the others have a big club against a not-so-big club. But I guess we'll see how it goes...
Hey, we downed a huge English team most recently, ehhuhm ... and I believe our confidence against English sides is very high up there at this point. We have to forget about the historical facts and drink that damn tea! Forza Roma!!!!
I really wanted Roma to stay out of England at all costs...but, to be the best, you have to beat the best and that all starts with defeating quality opponents. Arsenal aren't having the greatest of seasons...but, neither is Roma. These teams are par with each other and as Mike stated, fans shouldn't be scared of the brand name Arsenal. As long as Roma have a healthy lineup...they should be in good condition. Roma are not inferior to any team...anything can happen on any given day!!!
Winning the Champions League this year is worth 110 million Euros. Imagine the players we could buy with that, or the chuck of Rosella's debt that we could pay.
haha i was so happy when i saw that i fell out of my seat, i am also comfortable to see that we are playing arsenal, is there a bracket that will show who will play whop after the round of 16?
I would have preferred Sporting or Villarreal but Arsenal's inconsistency makes them a nice opponent right now. Of course, all of that changes if Arsenal gets hot. If they play like they can play and we play like we can play, this should be a great tie for neutrals as well as fans of both sides. The great thing for those of us in the US is that this game will be on Setanta for sure; I don't see ESPN picking this tie over Man Utd, Liverpool, or Chelsea.
I agree....i wouldn't of minded Sporting. Roma beat them last year i believe and they failed to advance the group. I also agree with the TV rights...having Roma play Arsenal will surely give us a better chance at getting them on tv....or at least have various streams to watch online.
Concerns been developing ever since we heard about Totti getting injured and potentially missing the first leg our round of 16 matchup with Arsenal. Our chances might've been recently boosted though as Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas could apparently be out of action for as long as 3 months due to injury as well! I'm not one to take pleasure in knowing that a player on another team has gotten injured, but considering our current situation it does increase our chances considerably.
Just heard Fabregas will be out for 4 months....he will miss the CL matches in Feb/Mar. Never a good thing when players get hurt, but this puts Roma back on par with the loss of Totti.
Well, at least it'll be a more balanced affair now that the captains from both teams will be out. I'm still confident of our chances though. Especially if Aquilani and Pizarro are both healthy and ready to go at that time as well.
