Looks like our blaugrana will face la signora vecchia in the quarterfinals. Here's the rest of the draw: ManU - Real Valencia - Inter (Cuper meets his old club) Ajax - Milan All 4 matchups are really intriguing and could go either way, although some will say Milan got the weakest team of the 8. Everyone needs to be healthy for these 2 games, and Nedved will need to be contained if el Barça want to get to the semis. Mario, what side of the fence are you on for this one? Visca el Barça
The draw for the quarter finals of the Champions League has taken place in Nyon, Switzerland. The tie that stands out is between the holders Real Madrid and Manchester United. The two club are the first and second favourites to lift the trophy according to the bookmakers. The three Spanish side have been kept apart, as have the three Italian teams. However, there is the potential for Real Madrid to meet Barcelona in the semi-final for a second season, while Inter Milan could face AC Milan if they beat Valencia and Ajax respectively. Inter Milan's coach Hector Cuper faces his former team Valencia in a repeat of last seasons Uefa Cup quater-final. AC Milan's chash with Ajax is a repeat of the 1995 final, which the Dutch side won 1-0. Quarter-Final Draw: Real Madrid V Manchester United Inter Milan V Valencia Ajax V AC Milan Juventus V Barcelona Semi-Final Draw: Real Madrid/Manchester United V Juventus/Barcelona Ajax/AC Milan V Inter Milan/Valencia Ties to be played on April 8/9 and 22/23. The semi-finals will take place on May 6/7 and 13/14, while the final will be held at Old Trafford on the 28th May.
BTW I want revenge for Athens '94!!!!!! Milan in the final please!!! http://www.rsssf.com/ec/ec199394.html
Yeah, well, 'they' should tell that to Arsene Wenger. That draw at Highbury gave them scads of confidence and look where they are now. Anyway, the bianconeri seem to be quite happy that they avoided the other Italian teams...I don't know whether they're assuming that Barça will be an easier draw or whether they just want to avoid the physical pounding of two additional top-flight Italians sides who want at them. Hopefully Antic can use this as a motivator. And hopefully Nedved will cool off before then! ps- I'm with Mario-- revenge for 94!
My prediction nice to know that Jay! actually once we get rid of the bianconeri, red devils or blancos putos are in front of us lets kick their @sses and hope to avenge Athens! cus I'm not underrating Valencia but somehow I feel Cuper will get advantage of that years at the helm in the ché side (he even already demonstrated beating them in last year's qf Uefa Cup! ) and we will have a derby della madonina in the semis (Milan punishing Koeman's squad) so it will be a spanish side vs an italian side on May 28th!
Re: My prediction Yes, 'better the devil you know than the one you don't' as we say over here. Also, El Che are just in a poor run of form right now. They haven't won domestically in about a month and they didn't look good at all yesterday against Espanyol until about minute 75. They need to tighten up fast, or they'll be sunk. And pleeeeeease, no injuries this Wednesday!
I was really hoping to square off against Koeman and Ajax, but I guess of all the other non-liga teams, this would have been my choice. I need to brush up on my Juve knowledge..anybody care to break them down? Del Piero, Treze-Gol, Nedved, Salas et al. Mario, would you do us the honor of giving us the skinny on Juve?
Id like to admit that I was thoughtful all the weekend and I came to one conclusion regarding the draft, if ManU beats the crap out of Madrid (and please read carefully, Im saying this on march 24th at 7:45 pm ) NO ONE will beat them! the title will stay in Manchester! the fact that the final will be played in their city is more than an alicient, it wont work against them as happened to us back in 99 when we were celebrating our centenary! Ok having said that off my chest I can elaborate about my (not so beloved this time!) bianconeri. Lippi plays an attractive 442 (sometimes a 352 like saturday against Milan) with a weak point in central defense, Ciro Ferrara (former Maradona's teammate in Napoli) and uruguayan intl Paolo Montero havent been able to shut down any big opponent with the possible exception of Inter (3-0 with Batistuta and Vieri upfront) Mark Iuliano does not enter in the coach plans; Thuram (WC champion in the '98 french side) plays right back and Reiziger might have problems with his runnings, as left back usually plays Pessotto, Zambrotta goes wide as a winger on the left with Davids (their main threat!) in the middle in recuperation along with Tacchinardi (sometimes Tudor) and the biggest surprise of the season (argentine naturalized italian) right winger Mauro German Camoranesi (be careful wuth his crosses) with Nedved (always dangerous) as fwd withdrawn and either Zalayeta or Marco Di Vaio (sometimes Trezeguet who was coming from an injury) as a true '9'. They play a vertical footie but sometimes tend to bore with non sense passes in midfield which makes a pain in the SS theit intentions to reach the goal (alas vs Milan on saturday!) I hope they crash against our defense too!
It seems someone in Barcelona reads this board! http://www.elmundodeportivo.es/20030325/NOTICIA55707396.html Pese a su derrota del sábado en San Siro, la Juventus tiene serias opciones para revalidar la Liga italiana y consolidarse como el rey de 'scudettos' con el que sería su 27º título. El secreto del éxito se debe al amplísimo abanico de posibilidades que tiene Marcello Lippi para elegir. Hasta 21 internacionales absolutos con sus selecciones se reúnen en la plantilla 'bianconera'. La acumulación de cracks convierte a la Juve en uno de los equipos más poderosos del mundo. De los ocho cuartofinalistas de la Champions, sólo el Manchester United y el Milan igualan el número de jugadores que han defendido la camiseta de sus países en alguna ocasión. El Inter tiene a 20 internacionales en sus filas y supera en este aspecto al Real Madrid (19). El Barça es el sexto en el ránking de los ocho mejores de la Champions con 17. El Ajax de Ronald Koeman y el Valencia comparten la última plaza de esta particular clasificación con 16 internacionales. En la inagotable lista de cracks mundiales, con lógica mayoría de italianos (12), sobresalen dos campeones del mundo y de Europa: los franceses Lilian Thuram y David Trezeguet. El defensa, nacido en Guadalupe, es el que más entorchados (83) suma en la Juve. Le sigue el checo Pavel Nedved (67). En el Bar –ça, Frank de Boer cumplirá los 100 el sábado con Holanda y el sueco Patrik Andersson lleva 96. Un caso curioso es el del argentino Mauro Germán Camoranesi, que debutó en febrero con la 'azzurra' al disponer de pasaporte italiano
Interesting point about Manchester, Mario...they should be extra motivated. I had forgotten the final is in Old Trafford. The only thing I would add about the quarterfinals is that Juventus seem to be maybe a little less focused on their Champions League matches--- in Serie A, they've only given up 20 goals or less all year. If you get behind them, you're doomed because they're a b***tch. But they got beat up twice by Man U in the 2nd group phase and their first group phase wasn't all that impressive in hindsight (Newcastle, Feyenoord, Dynamo Kiev). Maybe they've just been waiting in the weeds for everyone. Oh yes-- Del Piero is back now too, and that is not good news for us.
And Overmars agrees with Jay and me! http://www.elmundodeportivo.es/20030330/NOTICIA55904482.html La Juve es muy fuerte, difícil de superar y tiene grandes individualidades. Pero pasaremos“ Después nos tocará el Madrid y también pasaremos. No podemos perder dos años seguidos contra ellos“
Juventus: Todo sobre el rival del Barça en la Champions Bastó un 'gol de oro' en la final del Euro-2000 para que la cotización de David Trezeguet subiera como la espuma. Pero la Juve ya le había fichado por 4.000 'kilos'. El francés es sinónimo de gol y afronta el cruce ante el Barça en su mejor momento tras haber estado KO desde octubre a diciembre por una lesión en el tendón rotuliano de la rodilla derecha. Desde su vuelta, ha firmado 9 tantos en 17 partidos. 'Trezegol' tiene sólo 25 años pero atesora un palmarés envidiable. Con diez años dijo en casa: “Quiero ser campeón del mundo con Francia”. Una década después conseguía el título con los 'bleus'. David había 'mamado' fútbol desde muy niño. Su padre Jorge, descendiente de emigrantes galos a Argentina, jugaba de líbero en el Rouen cuando él nació. David sólo pasó dos años en Francia y creció en Buenos Aires. A los ocho años convenció en una prueba con el Platense y a los 16 debutó en Primera. Luis Fernández, atraído por las buenas referencias, se lo llevó al PSG. Pero cuando ya había jugado varios amistosos e iba a firmar, el club parisino no quiso pagar los 2.000 euros mensuales y el apartamento que pedía su padre. El tarifeño la lió con su directiva pero recomendó el ariete a Jean Tigana para el Mónaco. David no defraudó y formó una 'dupla' imparable con Thierry Henry. Juntos conquistaron dos Ligas (96, 97) y el Europeo Sub-18 en 1996 a las órdenes de Gérard Houllier. Debutó con la absoluta ante España en el estreno de Saint-Denis y cinco meses después ganaba el Mundial. Trezeguet nunca olvidará el año 2000. En febrero se casó con Beatriz, de madre española, y logró su mejor registro realizador (22) en Liga con el Mónaco; ganó la Eurocopa; fichó por la Juve y, con 14 goles en 25 jornadas, propició la marcha de 'Pippo' Inzaghi en 2001. La pasada campaña se consagró con el 'Scudetto' y el 'pichichi'. Desde Platini (1985), la Juve no tenía al máximo artillero del 'calcio'. Su tope en la Champions son las 'semis' de 1998 con el Mónaco, precisamente ante los turineses. Igualarlo pasa por tumbar al Barça