Champions League 2011 Quarter-finals : 5-6 April 2011, 1st leg

5 April 2011 – Quarter-finals Real Madrid(home) vs Tottenham Hotspur

Big night for Real fans, everyone went home grinning. With 3 English teams in the quarter finals, Tottenham certainly had the least credentials to show off at this level of the game. They’ve had a brilliant run until now, but it seems this is it. It’s the start to many more big games but in regards to Champions League 2011, this is the best they could have done. Tottenham conceded a goal in the first 5 and saw Peter Crouch depart because of a red card in the 15th minute. That was it. A doomed start. One can always come back, but not tonight.

Real Madrid (home) 4-0 Tottenham Hotspur

With no away goals to boast of, Tottenham really is on the backfoot. The only thing to look forward to would be to watch Tottenham score at least 1 or 2 goals at home next week. For those who weren’t sure about Adebayor scoring, he struck big. Real Madrid did nothing wrong on their big night. D.Maria, and Christiano Ronaldo found the back of the net too.

Goals, yellow cards, and red cards for 5 April 2011 – Quarter-finals Real Madrid(home) vs Tottenham Hotspur

Real Madrid

4′    [1 - 0]    E.S. Adebayor     Goal
12′        E.S. Adebayor     yellow card
36′        Pepe         yellow card
57′    [2 - 0]    E.S. Adebayor     Goal
72′    [3 - 0]    A.D. Maria     Goal
87′    [4 - 0]    C. Ronaldo      Goal

Tottenham Hotspur

8′      P. Crouch               yellow card
15′     P. Crouch               2nd yellow card= Red card
20′    R.v.d. Vaart            yellow card
74′    J. Defoe                yellow card

5 April 2011 – Quarter-finals Inter Milan (home) vs FC Schalke

Are you serious? What just happened? Okay, who in their right mind would have thought that FC Schalke was going to literally clobber Inter Milan at home? Anyone?

Honestly, Inter Milan is already out of contention for the Champions League 2011 title. What can they do? Can they change anything next Wednesday? I certainly have little hope even if  Inter made strategic or tactical changes. The game is gone from their hands, and the last thing I’d want to see is meaningless fouls in a desperate bid to advance.

Inter Milan (home) 2 -5 FC Schalke

Milan was left with a 10 man squad with Chivu being shown 2 yellow cards. Schalke fans would have certainly rejoiced with Raul scoring. Despite an early start, Inter Milan simply couldn’t hold on to their lead, and that could have made all the difference tonight.

Goals, yellow cards, and red cards for 5 April 2011 Quarter-finals= Inter Milan (home) vs FC Schalke.

Inter Milan

1′    [1 - 0]    D. Stankovic     Goal
13′        D. Stankovic     yellow card
34′    [2 - 1]    D. Milito     Goal
53′    [2 - 3]    C. Chivu     yellow card
62′        C. Chivu     2nd yellow card=red card

FC Schalke

17′    [1 - 1]    J. Matip     Goal
40′    [2 - 2]    Edu             Goal
45′        J. Farfan     yellow card
53′    [2 - 3]    Raul            Goal
57′    [2 - 4]    A. Ranocchia    (o.g.)
61′        H. Sarpei     yellow card
68′        K. Papadopoulos yellow card
75′    [2 - 5]    Edu             Goal
85′        Raul             yellow card

6 April 2011 – Quarter-finals Barcelona (home) vs FC Shakhtar Donetsk

This one was never going down to the wire. Everyone quite simply knew Barcelona would win at home. What was exciting was how many goals would the score. On that front, they may have disappointed. Barca fans may certainly have hoped for more goals at home. FC Shakhtar Donetsk never stood a real chance even before the game began, and certainly not when they were playing. It’s brilliant they came this far, and we hope to see more of them.

Barcelona (home) 5 – 1 Shakhtar Donetsk

Seems like everyone wanted a goal, so, it was wonderful to see so many Barca players give it a go. Shakhtar can take pride in the fact that they did get an way goal, which really is a great feat even in the face of those 5 goals staring at them. They simply need to play good football at home next week, and there job’s done. What is left to be seen is how many goals Barca can score in the 2nd leg.

Goals, yellow cards and red cards for Champions League 6 April 2011 – Quarter-finals Barcelona (home) vs. FC Shakhtar Donetsk.

Bacelona

2′    [1 - 0]    A. Iniesta         Goal
34′    [2 - 0]    D. Alves         Goal
53′    [3 - 0]    G. Piqué         Goal
59′    [3 - 1]    A. Iniesta     Yellow card
60′    [4 - 1]    S. Keita         Goal
86′    [5 - 1]    X. Hernandez     Goal

Shakhtar Donetsk

51′            R. Rat  Yellow card
59′    [3 - 1]    Y. Rakitskiy     Goal
66′            Y. Rakitskiy     Yellow card
77′            Fernandinho Yellow card

6 April 2011 – Quarter-finals Chelsea(home) vs Manchester United

Some days, just 1 goal is enough to bring about the winner, and that’s just what Manchester United achieved. Having lost a spate of games to Chelsea at home ground, Man Utd must have certainly gone into the game on the back foot. Popular for having conceded goals just around half time, Manchester United almost suffered the same fate but Van Der Sar dived for his life on this day. That one great goal from Rooney on Giggs’s exceptionally clean pass saw the Red Devil’s smile at half time.

Chelsea ( home) 0-1 Manchester United

The 1 goal lead was all they needed. As many times as Chelsea struck, the much needed goal eluded them.  Lot is being said about Evra’s foul and the red card and penalty that Chelsea deserved, but football isn’t always about 100% correct decisions. Nothing went down the wire, and though it was just the matter of 1 goal, Chelsea took a beating and never got that goal. And yes, Torres did try.

Goals, yellow cards and red cards for Champions League 6 April 2011 – Quarter-finals Chelsea (home) vs. Manchester United.

Manchester United

24′    [0 - 1]        W. Rooney     Goal
74′            N. Vidic     yellow card
80′            E.v.d. Sar     yellow card

Chelsea

36′        Y. Zhirkov         yellow card
60′        Ramires          yellow card
66′        M. Essien         yellow card
90′        F. Torres         yellow card

Quarter-finals : 12-13 April 2011, 2nd leg

Semi-finals : 26-27 April 2011

Semi-finals : 3-4 May 2011

Final : 28 May 2011, Wembley

I’m a Manchester United fan, so we’ll just look at that angle. If Manchester United gets through t0 the 2011 Champions League final, we play away at Wembley, very Ironical. What’s worse is that if we follow recent trends, the Theater of Dreams won’t see Manchester United victorious, simply based on stats this past decade.

Personally, I have nothing against Sania Mirza, and I was really happy when she entered mainstream tennis. Here was a young girl from an ancient city who was putting the country on the global map. From the seat of Biryani, and pearls, came a tennis gem. The serious looking and nervous Sania Mirza who played with a mission. The country sat back and took notice. Tennis became a sport parents wanted their children to play, and there were tennis academies galore because there was money in it.

Then came a peak in her a career, and a dream to better achievements, but Sania failed. Most people fail, and we forget them. Probably that’s when all the advertisement contracts they’ve signed become visible, and we start laughing. Terrible makeover in that girlie bike ad, I agree, but it was meant for Sania Mirza because she was a marketable product.

Her injuries were spoken of as though they were meant to happen. People say that’s what all these people do because they’ve made their money. So, not everyone is waiting to watch Sania Mirza play the Australian women, because there’s a variety of eye candy. She exits the Australian Open quests, and the event is expected. Whatever happened to hope? A few channels make it sound worse than it is. I’m really wondering if some of these bogus reporters can ever get over their cheap suits, ugly makeup, and loud pitch. Just one word for them, losers. Don’t waste time listening to anything they say.

Now, it appears her engagement to Mohammed Sohrab Mirza is called off. Oh wow, something to talk about. Just give her a break. As of now, anyone who’s reading this or anything related to Sania Mirza must realize she’s done something that no one else has done in our damned living decades. Respect sportsmanship.

The group stage of Champions League 2009-10 is over and now its time for the knockout stages. The teams for the knockout stage are finalized by a draw. This is done by dividing the 16 qualified teams in two pots. The first pot will consist the top team from each of the eight groups and the second pot will consist the runners up teams from each group. All the teams will be place in an alphabetical order in their pots as follows;

Pot 1

Arsenal
Chelsea
Man Utd
Bordeaux
Fiorentina
Barcelona
Real Madrid
Sevilla

Pot 2

Lyon
Olympiacos
Bayern Munich
VfB Stuttgart
Milan
Inter
Porto
CSKA Moscow

A random team from pot 1 will be pitted against a random team from pot 2 which will be finalized by a draw. The draw is scheduled on 18th Dec 2009. All the big teams are looking in great shape to qualify for the quarter finals as there were not many upsets in this year’s group stage apart from Liverpool. So all teams are hoping for a weaker team to play against in the knock out stage.

I am sure United fans would remember Villa’s last visit to Old Trafford In April this year, Villa came the closest of beating United at Old Trafford since 1983. Trailing by 2 goals to 1, Villa were looking at their first victory at Old Trafford after a long time. But Cristiano Ronaldo’s famous 81st minute equalizer and star kid Fredrico Macheda’s injury time winner gave United the much needed 3 points.

But that is history and today’s game will be different altogether. Ronaldo gone and Macheda not even on the bench United will hope to show the same spark with Owen’s killer instinct which was visible in the last match against Wolfsburg. Owen has a good chance to impress England boss Fabio Capello and book his ticket to the world’s biggest sporting event next year.

Good news for Ferguson is that his center back Vidic is declared fit and will be available for the Villa game though the other center back position will be filled in by Michal Carrick, which he’s been doing in the past 3 games as United defenders are all out due to injury.

Giggs is back from rest and will be playing alongside Obertan, Fletcher, Anderson and Scholes. Owen will be the lone striker as Rooney and Berbatov are not match fit due to injuries. Kusczak will be holding the goalie’s position in the absence of Van Der Saar. Villa boss Martin O’Neill will be hoping to break the deadlock and win for the first time at Old Trafford in 26 years.

This Carling Cup quarter final isn’t just another game. They’re confident teams having cemented a strong position in the premier league already. Manchester United sits 2nd on the table, and Tottenham Hotspurs is placed 3rd. Their onslaught on Wigan last week sees them coming in with a very strong frame of mind because a 9-1 victory isn’t easy pull off. This is 1 year that the Spurs look intent, and a win again Manchester United will ensure a better frame of mind because it’s always good t go back home believing that the Red Devils can be defeated.

Sir Alex Fergusson is likely to play a young side once again just like last week’s meet against Besiktas. Of course, that didn’t even yield a draw, leave alone a win. The young team idea has been drawing some flak Sir Alex believes he team can do a lot.

Carlo Cudicini, Ledley King, and Luka Modric aren’t playing and all eyes will be on Jermain Defoe after his 5 goal haul last week. As far as the reds are concerned, we certainly won’t be seeing Owen, Ferdinand, Evans, and O’Shea. A much awaited games, all the best to Man Utd.

United’s 23 game unbeaten record run ended tonight when Besiktas became the first team to defeat the English Champion after AC Milan in April 2007. The defeat was difficult to digest for Sir Alex Ferguson who probably took the tie too easily. Only 3 players from the weekend league game featured in tonight’s game. Ferguson opted to give his young guns much needed experience and his decision backfired as United lost the record to the Turkish champions. Tello’s 25 yard strike was deflected by Rafael’s head towards the far post resulting in the only goal of tonight’s fixture.

Current champions Barcelona could bid an early good bye to this year’s contest if they are defeated at Camp Nou by Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan, alongside Rubin Kazan needs to win over Dynamo Kiev in Russia. Samuel Eto’o will return to his old club and would want to make sure that he helps Inter in all possible ways to defeat Barcelona.

Bayern Munich see themselves in a similar situation as Liverpool. A win over Israeli club Maccabi Haifa in Munich tonight would be pointless if Juventus manage to defeat Bordeaux in France tonight.

Five time European champions, Liverpool are on the verge of exiting the competition even before qualifying for the next round. Even if Liverpool manages to defeat Debreceen in Hungary tonight, they will still be disqualified if Fiorentina manage to win over visitors Lyon in Italy tonight, who have already qualified to the next round.

Liverpool coach Rafa would surely hope for divine intervention in tonight’s game. Debrecen who is yet to score a point in this competition has allowed 14 goals in 4 games and a Liverpool win is a certain prediction. But seeing Liverpool’s form against smaller clubs of late, a Debrecen win can’t be ruled out.

The qualifications are over and we have the 32 finalists for 2010 FIFA World Cup in order of their qualification; South Africa, Japan, Australia, South Korea, Netherlands, North Korea, Brazil, Ghana, England, Spain, Paraguay, Ivory Coast, Germany, Denmark, Serbia, Italy, Chile, Mexico, USA, Switzerland, Slovakia, Argentina, Honduras, New Zealand, Nigeria, Cameroon, Algeria, Greece, Slovenia, Portugal, France and Uruguay.

After facing defeat on home soil, the Irish players were motivated to a win tonight against football powerhouse France. The match was too intense as a place in the 2010 World Cup Finals was at stake. As disclosed by Giovanni Trapattoni, the Italian coach for Ireland’s national team, Irish players were once again successful in scoring an away goal. A beautiful strike from Tottenham Hotspur star Robbie Keane in the 32nd minute made sure that the match was going to the wire.

France was attacking with full strength with every second passing. Anelka and Henry from Chelsea and Barcelona respectively, tried very hard to score but in vain. Manchester United left back, Patrice Evra was also disappointing tonight as he missed some important chances and so did Arsenal’s Gallas and Real Madrid’s Diarra. Gallas’s Arsenal team mate Sagna was impressive throughout the 90 minutes.

Ireland too had a set of good and bad players for the night. Manchester United regular John O’Shea was unfortunate as he was injured and was visibly limping because of which he was substituted in the 66th minute. Manchester City goalie Shay Given made some good saves tonight and kept the score at 0-1 for 90 minutes.

The match entered extra time as the score over two legs remained 1-1. In the 103rd minute, France was awarded a free kick near midfield by Swedish referee Martin Hansson. Malouda lobbed the ball into the penalty box which was clearly controlled by Henry using his left hand near the left post before volleying it towards Gallas who easily headed the ball into the net. The referee allowed the goal and the Irish players pleas fell to deaf ears.

After the goal, France was in control of the game as they had an upper hand now. Ireland tried attacking but their efforts didn’t seem to trouble the French defense. The match ended in a draw after extra time. France goes through to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup Finals and Ireland goes back home as if all their efforts were for nothing.