UEFA Champions League Wednesday

Champions League Day Two! Yesterday’s action was full of action, controversy and joy for this Reds fan. There were one or two suprises to be had, on a cold European night. Most had written off Liverpool, in their recent poor run of form. However, Rafa orchestrated his men to a 2-0 win over Inter Milan. Inter were delt a tough blow, after Marco Materazzi was controversially given two yellow cards in a 30 minute time span. Chelsea were unable to break Olympiakos, as Avram Grant left John Terry and Frank Lampard on the bench to begin the match. Olympiakos will travel to Stamford Bridge for the second leg of their tie, after the 0-0 draw in Greece. Schalke 04 got the win over Porto, off the boot of Kevin Kuranyi, they will travel to Portugal for the second leg of that tie. Finally, Roma beat Real Madrid 2-1 in Italy, however on away goals that will put them even when they travel to the Bernabéu, for their second leg. With everything good and recapped, lets look at tonight’s match ups.

Fenerbahce v FC Sevilla
Fenerbahce will be home at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, in Turkey, as they take on Spanish side Sevilla. De Souza Alex leads the scoring for the Yellow Canaries with two goals. It’s the first time in five attempts that the Turkish side have made it to the knockout stages. They will look to fend off Sevilla’s top goal scorer Frederic Oumar Kanoute, who leads Sevilla’s scoring effort with four goals. Having lifted the UEFA Cup last year, Sevilla would like nothing more than to add the Champions League trophy to their silverware case. Sevilla, like Liverpool and AC Milan, are struggling in their domestic league and will be putting most of their eggs in the basket that is Champions League glory.

Celtic v Barcelona
Barcelona travel to Celtic Park in Glasgow to face 'The Bhoys', as they attempt to win their third Champions League. Celtic have only won the Champions Cup once and sit second in their domestic league behind Rangers, just four points off. Celtic have looked good in the new year and will look to continue their good run of form. Meanwhile, in Spain Barca also sit second domestically and are coming off a win over the weekend, at the expense of Real Zaragoza. Leo Andres Messi is Barca’s top scorer in the Champions League with four goals. He is named in the squad that also boasts the names of Samuel Eto'o, Ronaldinho, and Thierry Henry, I call that keeping good company.

Lyon v Manchester United
Man U travels to Stade Gerland in France to face Les Gones, as Ryan Giggs is set to make his 100th Champions League appearance for the Red Devils. Sir Alex Ferguson will be happy to see the return of Cristiano Ronaldo, who has recovered from a stomach virus, perhaps it was a side effect of all the hair product he uses. Lyon have never won the Champions League, and United have not lifted the Cup since 1999. Lyon are only one point clear of Bordeaux in Ligue 1. Meanwhile, in the Premier League, Manchester United are six points behind league leaders Arsenal.

Arsenal v AC Milan
Finally, last years Champions League winners AC Milan travel to the Emirates Stadium to face The Gunners. Milan have had a busy year after winning last year, and are struggling in their domestic league. But don’t count Milan out, they seem to be one of those clubs that have what I like to call “European Magic”, they can conjure up some magical wins on cold European nights. Arsenal are lead their domestic league, however, they are feeling frustrations, after falling out of the FA Cup to Manchester United, in an embarrassing 4-0 loss over the weekend. Arsene Wenger’s men will have a tough job ahead of them, and will not want to concede goals against the prolific scorers Filippo Inzaghi and Kaká, the FIFA World Player of the Year.