Obsessedsportsnut's Blog

The Champions League Quarterfinals draw was released today, with the draw all the way to the Finals. (My predictions in bold)

Q1: Lyon vs Bordeaux
Q2: Bayern Munich vs Manchester United
Q3: Arsenal vs Barcelona
Q4: Internazionale vs CSKA Moscow

Semifinals
S1: Winner of Q1 (Bordeaux) vs Winner of Q2 (Manchester United)
S2: Winner of Q3 (Barcelona) vs Winner of Q4 (Internazionale)

Finals
Winner of S1 (Manchester United) vs Winner of S2 (Barcelona).

2010 Champions League Winner: Barcelona.

Thoughts…

1. Manchester United vs Bayern Munich!!! The first (?) time they’ve played since the 1999 Champions League Finals!

There have been very few instances in sports that give me chills when I watch replays of the game. My favorite clip to watch is Al Michael’s “Do you believe in miracles” call at the 1980 Olympics.

The 1999 Champions League Finals is another game that I love watching over and over again. That year, Manchester United had won the FA Cup and the English Premier League already, and they needed to win the Champions League to win the “treble”. The “treble” consists of winning your country’s top league title and major domestic cup competition as well as the continental championship. It’s very rare in Europe…only 5 times in history.

In the Champions League Finals, Manchester was down 1-0 to Bayern Munich at the end of the game. 3 minutes were added in stoppage time. Manchester United miraculously scores 2 goals in the final 3 minutes to win the title and win the treble. LOVE IT.

2. Manchester United got the easiest draw imaginable. There are three teams I dread playing: Barcelona, Arsenal, and Internazionale. The way the draw the set is up, we wouldn’t have to play any of these teams until the final. Such good “luck” for the Red Devils!

3. Every team, with the exception of CSKA Moscow, is also in their respective league’s title race as well.

French Ligue 1: #1 Bordeaux (53), #2 Montpellier (53), #3 AJ Auxerre (52), #4 Lyon (51)
Spain La Liga: #1 Real Madrid (65), #1 Barcelona (65)
Italy Series A: #1 Internazionale (59), #2 AC Milan (58)
Germany Bundesliga: #1 Bayern Munich (56), #2 Schalke 04 (54), #3 Bayern Leverkusen (53)
England Premier League: #1 Manchester United (66), #2 Chelsea (64), #3 Arsenal (64)

It’ll be very interesting to see how the club managers balance both the European campaign and their domestic campaign. Manchester United and Barcelona have a great starting 11 team, but they also have the benefit of having a very deep roster. Ive always said that a lot of the bench players on Manchester United probably could get first team playing time on a majority of other teams.

I think Manchester United is in great position to make a run for both the Champions League title, as well as the Premier League title. Our defense is starting to stabilize with Vidic and Ferdinand starting to get back to fitness, and all a lot of our players are starting to get back to playing levels. Soon, Sir Alex Ferguson will have Ryan Giggs and Michael Owen available, and reports say that Owen Hargreaves is almost back to full fitness!