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Champions League preview and predictions: Real Madrid v Liverpool, Chelsea v Juventus
Posted 25 Feb 2009 at 11:50 AM by Ollie Irish
Tags champions league, chelsea, juventus, liverpool, real madrid
Another intriguing night of Champions League football lies in wait. Here's my take on the pair of ties involving Premier League clubs…
Real Madrid v Liverpool
Six weeks ago, I'd have made Liverpool slight favourites. Now Liverpool are stumbling, whereas Real are thriving under Juande Ramos, a manager who left England with his reputation in ribbons - I'm sure there are Spurs fans out there who don't follow La Liga and still think of Ramos as "Christian Gross with hair".
Of course, Rafa Benitez has drawn up a tactical masterplan to confound Real, the club where he spent much of early career. No doubt it will be a lot like Rafa's other masterplans when playing away in Europe: take no risks, congest the midfield to the point of strangulation, then hope for an undeserved goal from a set-piece (Liverpool don't have the pace to score on the counter-attack). It's not rocket science, and I don't mean to slag off the Fat Goateed Waiter for perfecting it.
Real know they will spend a lot of tonight's game camped in Liverpool's half. The question is, can they get past the two red walls in front of them, or will this be another night when Javier Mascherano and Dirk Kuyt take the plaudits - it's always them - for their hard-working, defensive performances?
This will be tighter than a Scotswoman wearing a very tight pair of tights. The safe money says 0-0, which suits both teams nicely. However, Real have scored 10 goals in their last two games and I just don't see Liverpool keeping them out for 90 minutes. Fernando Torres doesn't look 100% fit and with Steven Gerrard also recovering from injury and set to start on the bench, Liverpool will find it hard to score a valuable away goal. But for some reason, I'm getting the words "Fabio Aurelio"…
Prediction Real Madrid 2-1 Liverpool
Chelsea v Juventus
With Guus Hiddink freshly installed in the Abramovich hot seat, this tie has come at a lousy time for Claudio Ranieri - the Tinkerman never was a lucky coach. With Big Phil Scolari in charge, I gave Juve an even chance. Now I can't see the Italians getting past a suddenly rejuvenated Chelski. Juventus may always be a big name in European football, but their squad pales into comparison with any of the Prem's big four. The likes of Alex Del Piero and Pavel Nedved are past legends with the emphasis on past - I honestly believe Chelsea have nothing to fear from either of them. And with Tiago and Momo Sissoko set to start in midfield, Juve's team is not short on Prem rejects. I'd be amazed if Juve get anything out of the first leg.
Prediction Chelsea 1-0 Juventus
Let me know your predictions…
Real Madrid v Liverpool
Six weeks ago, I'd have made Liverpool slight favourites. Now Liverpool are stumbling, whereas Real are thriving under Juande Ramos, a manager who left England with his reputation in ribbons - I'm sure there are Spurs fans out there who don't follow La Liga and still think of Ramos as "Christian Gross with hair".
Of course, Rafa Benitez has drawn up a tactical masterplan to confound Real, the club where he spent much of early career. No doubt it will be a lot like Rafa's other masterplans when playing away in Europe: take no risks, congest the midfield to the point of strangulation, then hope for an undeserved goal from a set-piece (Liverpool don't have the pace to score on the counter-attack). It's not rocket science, and I don't mean to slag off the Fat Goateed Waiter for perfecting it.
Real know they will spend a lot of tonight's game camped in Liverpool's half. The question is, can they get past the two red walls in front of them, or will this be another night when Javier Mascherano and Dirk Kuyt take the plaudits - it's always them - for their hard-working, defensive performances?
This will be tighter than a Scotswoman wearing a very tight pair of tights. The safe money says 0-0, which suits both teams nicely. However, Real have scored 10 goals in their last two games and I just don't see Liverpool keeping them out for 90 minutes. Fernando Torres doesn't look 100% fit and with Steven Gerrard also recovering from injury and set to start on the bench, Liverpool will find it hard to score a valuable away goal. But for some reason, I'm getting the words "Fabio Aurelio"…
Prediction Real Madrid 2-1 Liverpool
Chelsea v Juventus
With Guus Hiddink freshly installed in the Abramovich hot seat, this tie has come at a lousy time for Claudio Ranieri - the Tinkerman never was a lucky coach. With Big Phil Scolari in charge, I gave Juve an even chance. Now I can't see the Italians getting past a suddenly rejuvenated Chelski. Juventus may always be a big name in European football, but their squad pales into comparison with any of the Prem's big four. The likes of Alex Del Piero and Pavel Nedved are past legends with the emphasis on past - I honestly believe Chelsea have nothing to fear from either of them. And with Tiago and Momo Sissoko set to start in midfield, Juve's team is not short on Prem rejects. I'd be amazed if Juve get anything out of the first leg.
Prediction Chelsea 1-0 Juventus
Let me know your predictions…
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Total Comments 11
Comments
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Evens at the Bernabeu, most likely a score draw though.
Juve holds Chelsea at the Bridge, may possibly steal it late. I'll go with 1-1 for this match.Posted 25 Feb 2009 at 11:54 AM by electrickeeper 
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"The likes of Alex Del Piero".... Del Piero is in fine form , I am now 100 % sure that you only know about English football and nothing else.Posted 25 Feb 2009 at 12:03 PM by El-CapitanoR7
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Two good games and interesting ties.
Agree with you on RM, I'll go 2-0.
I believe in Karma, so Juve gets at least a draw: 1-1.Posted 25 Feb 2009 at 12:41 PM by TrueCrew 
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Ollie Irish your ignorance towards anything other then English football shines once again.
And your argument for that statement is…?Posted 25 Feb 2009 at 12:43 PM by TheGrimSweeper
Updated 25 Feb 2009 at 06:33 PM by Ollie Irish -
Irish has a point, no? The quality in EPL is simply better. last year, 3 of the last 4 teams were EPL-based. Simple.Posted 25 Feb 2009 at 01:26 PM by Balls of Fire
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Last year is not this year , dummy.
Posted 25 Feb 2009 at 01:27 PM by El-CapitanoR7
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Last year is clearly not this year but you can't write it off completely. That would be irresponsible.
Posted 25 Feb 2009 at 02:36 PM by Bauer
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Chaps, calm down, it's only a blog. I am no defender of the Premier League, I only write about it, as truthfully as I can. Chill the freak out.Posted 25 Feb 2009 at 06:35 PM by Ollie Irish
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Ollie, I suggest you read some "Which is the best league in Europe" threads on the UEFA forums. People on this website become very emotional when this topic comes up.
Posted 25 Feb 2009 at 06:54 PM by evangel
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Well Ollie, you were close with part of your prediction for Pewl and Real...
"take no risks, congest the midfield to the point of strangulation, then hope for an undeserved goal from a set-piece (Liverpool don't have the pace to score on the counter-attack)."
Only thing is Liverpool deserved the goal as Real were just simply awful frequently.Posted 25 Feb 2009 at 08:54 PM by And_ROOS
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