Goal! Weekly Article 5: European Champions League

UNITED FAVOURITES TO PROGRESS

Manchester odds on for semis, whilst other ties still tightly poised

By Julius Ross

The first legs of the European Champions League quarter finals produced exhibitions of class, entertainment, controversy and passion, illustrating the tournament’s credentials as football’s highest quality club competition.

English Premier League leaders Manchester United battled out a superb encounter with AS Roma, securing a 2-0 victory at the Stadio Olimpico, which sees them in the box seat to progress to the semi-finals for the second season running.

An outstanding header from United’s Christiano Ronaldo, his 36th goal in all competitions, and a tap in by Wayne Rooney prevented the Romans from exacting revenge against the Red Devils for last year’s horror 7-1 loss at Old Trafford.

In a match that displayed an exceptional level of footballing ability, both teams paraded terrific technical skill and spells of top-class possession and one-touch passing.

Roma had several chances throughout the match, but failed to capitalise; guilt edged opportunities falling to Alberto Aquilani, Mirko Vucinic, and Christian Panucci, all of whom should have put the Serie A side back in the contest.

The absence of Roma’s influential Italian midfielder Francesco Totti may have been the difference between the two sides, with the 2006 World Cup winner’s nonattendance causing an obvious lack of penetration for the home side.

Totti is on track to recover from a knee injury in time for the second leg clash in Manchester, and his presence may provide an important and much needed morale boost if Roma are to overturn the 2-0 deficit away from home.

United boss Alex Ferguson’s only issue of concern will be replacing solid Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic who will be out for three weeks after twisting his leg awkwardly in Rome.

Luciano Spalletti’s Roma will need a miracle to advance past United, with the Giallorossi needing to win by a margin of three goals or more at the Theatre of Dreams to reach the semi-finals.

Whilst United are firm favourites to progress to the semis, elsewhere in Champions league first-leg action the other three ties appear more evenly poised.

English rivals Arsenal and Liverpool remain deadlocked after their match at the Emirates Stadium finished 1-1, however, the club from Merseyside did grab a vital away goal to take back to Anfield, which may prove crucial in the overall outcome of the two-legged tie.

Liverpool will be extremely pleased with the result, after absorbing large amounts of pressure from the Gunners who dominated 65% of possession, and the majority of the contest.

In stark contrast, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was fuming post-match, after his side experienced a combination of bad luck and a controversial refereeing decision.

An Emmanuel Adebayor header saw Arsenal one up after 23 minutes, but Liverpool equalised through a Dirk Kuyt goal three minutes later, after excellent lead-up work from Steven Gerrard, who rounded three players before placing a perfect cross to Kuyt’s feet.

Liverpool played the remainder of the match with ten men behind the ball, and the wall of black shirts defended sufficiently to prevent the Gunners from claiming victory.

Tactically astute Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez’ knowledge for European competition may have seen his side play extremely negatively, but his pre-match plans would have been to sit back, absorb pressure and play for a score-draw – and he achieved just that.

Arsenal will claim they were robbed by the referee, with an extremely controversial penalty decision going against them in the 65th minute, Kuyt dragging down Aleksandr Hleb in the box, and penalties have been given for less.

The two sides fought out another entertaining 1-1 draw at the Emirates on Saturday in the English Premier League, and although both teams rested important personnel for the second leg match in the Champions League, Liverpool may have won a slight psychological advantage heading into Wednesday’s match, by severely denting Arsenal’s league title hopes.

Arsenal are capable of scoring at Anfield, illustrated by Cesc Fabregas’ goal in a Premier League clash earlier in the season, but Liverpool have the ability in Europe to utilise their fans as a 12th man which invariably boosts their side and simultaneously prevents opposition from rising to the occasion.

2006 Champions Barcelona escaped a tight contest with German side Schalke, grabbing a vital away goal in a 1-0 victory in Gelsenkirchen.

Bojan Krkic became the second youngest ever scorer in the Champions League, at the age of 17, when he finished the only goal of the match for the ‘Blaugranes’ in the 12th minute.

Schalke boss Mirko Slomka had urged his side to take advantage of home support provided by a 53,000 strong crowd at the Arena AufSchalke and placed Gerald Asamoah, Kevin Kuranyi and Halil Alintop up front to provide some firepower.

Stars Ronaldinho, Deco and Lionel Messi were absent for the Spanish side, but the Catalan giants were more efficient than their opposition, Schalke failing to capitalise on dominating chances created, hitting 24 shots compared to Barcelona’s five, with no end product.

The result leaves Barcelona in a superior position to qualify, and presents Schalke with an uphill battle to progress; the Germans needing nothing less than a win at the Nou Camp, and even in the event of a victory, Barca’s away goal may prove a dividing factor in the Spanish side’s favour.

Chelsea’s inconsistent form under Avram Grant’s management continued in their match away to Turkish side Fenerbahce, the Blues squandering a 1-0 lead to eventually lose 2-1.

In an intimidating Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, the Londoners succumbed to goals from Colin Kazim-Richards and Deivid – who cancelled out his first-half own goal – to hand Zico’s side a slim advantage to take to Stamford Bridge.

It was the first time in six Champions League games that Chelsea had conceded, and they, like Schalke, will be ruing missed opportunities heading into the second leg.

Chelsea should be much stronger at the Bridge, however, and a 1-0 home victory will be suffice to proceed to a potential all English semi-final.