Champions League Countdown: Getting Ready For The Knockout Stages

Ewan Macdonald begins a look ahead to the Champions League Knockout Stages, which start in just over a week's time...

Just eight days stand between us and the resumption of the Champions League. It's been a long, long wait since December, but it's almost over now, and we here at Goal.com are already suitably excited.

We've already kept you updated with our in-depth examinations of England's and Italy's respective CL contenders, but between now and kick-off on the 24th of February we will inform you each days of the inside scoop at each club to see who's preparing well, and who isn't.

Tuesday February 24 2009

Atletico Madrid - Porto

Atletico Madrid's new manager, Abel Resino, couldn't begin his home career with a win: Getafe fought back from a goal down to seal a 1-1 draw at the Vicente Calderon on Sunday night, thus keeping the Rojiblancos out of the Champions League places. The coach, however, defiantly insisted that his side were superior.

No such concerns for the Dragons, though: Porto followed up their 1-1 draw with Benfica last week with a 3-1 win over Rio Ave, although it took two last-gasp goals from Ernesto Farias to delight the 34,000-strong crowd with a win. Porto remain top of the league.

Lyon - Barcelona

Lyon marched on past basement boys Le Havre on Sunday, keeping them four points clear of surprise package PSG at the top of the table. But it's not all smiles at the Stade Gerland: right-back John Mensah had to endure shocking racist abuse at the weekend, apparently from a segment of the Le Havre fanbase, and was eventually sent off for two bookable offences as well. Police arrested several of those responsible but Mensah is still said to be in an understandably upset state over the incident.

Meanwhile Barcelona, having drawn 2-2 at Real Betis on Saturday night, face accusations that anything short of their strongest eleven could struggle greatly in Lyon. Nonetheless, that unbeaten league run has now stretched to an astonishing 22 games. Pep Guardiola, though, is all too aware that things are very different on the continent...

Arsenal - Roma

A weird weekend at Arsenal! The Gunners face Cardiff City tonight in the FA Cup, with the misfiring Gunners eager to put their recent poor form behind them. Nicklas Bendtner believes that he should be first choice in an attempt to solve these woes, but how coach Arsene Wenger views his request is very much open to debate.

And then there's Roma, who were utterly, utterly humiliated by a Cristiano Doni-led Atalanta side at the weekend. As club legend Bruno Conti told Romanews.eu about the game, "Before thinking about Arsenal, we now need to get the Siena performance right. Yesterday we had a terrible performance in which we never got going... in Bergamo, we didn't see the real Roma."

Inter - Manchester United

Inter took advantage of their rivals' stumbles to move nine points clear at the top of Serie A with a close-fought derby win over AC Milan. The club president, Massimo Moratti, cheekily insisted that it should have been 7-0, although he admitted that there were question marks over a strike from Adriano that could have been borne of handball. Maicon and Julio Cesar were particularly excellent and will be causing United no end of headache.

Meanwhile Manchester United were facing altogether more modest opposition in the form of Derby County, whom the Red Devils thrashed 4-1 in the FA Cup. A much-rotated lineup did the needful, but it's back to business as usual at home against Fulham on Wednesday evening - a match from the early-season backlog that came as a result of United's being involved in so many tournaments. This fixture congestion is no doubt a source of concern for manager Alex Ferguson...

Wednesday February 25 2009

Real Madrid - Liverpool

For all the talk of a crisis at the Bernabeu, that's now eight wins on the trot for the Blancos, who look a new side under recently-appointed interim coach Juande Ramos. They haven't all been classic performances by any means, but the unorthodox formation that dismantled Sporting 4-0 on Sunday afternoon was exciting to watch. But just as interesting - as always at Madrid! - are off-pitch matters. El Pais claims that Royston Drenthe has personally asked to be excluded from the last three matchday squads, suggesting that all is not well with the Dutchman...

Over on Merseyside Liverpool had the weekend off due to their being out of the FA Cup, but as with Madrid there's little shortage of backroom drama. Coach Rafael Benitez is still in a contractual limbo, and he's revealed that even if the sticking point of having major input into transfers is resolved, he's wary of the fact that "10 or 12" of his assistants are out of contract in June...

Chelsea - Juventus

And then there's Chelsea, who beat Watford 3-1 in the FA Cup at the weekend under the auspices of Ray Wilkins. New stand-in coach Guus Hiddink watched from the stands, too, and while he would have been happy with the lethal goalscoring form of Nicolas Anelka, he surely knows that more needs to be done ahead of the meeting with Juve to get this side's confidence back in earnest.

Juventus themselves will feel unlucky not to have beaten Sampdoria at the weekend, given that they hit the woodwork three times, but others will say that teams make their own luck. Claudio Ranieri, most likely enjoying a private chuckle over the management reshuffle at the Bridge, has a lot to prove in this regard.

Villarreal - Panathinaikos

Another week, another draw for Villarreal. The Yellow Submarine tied 1-1 away to Racing Santander at the weekend, rendering them still joint-fourth as they undergo a run of just two league wins in the last ten. Still, coach Manuel Pellegrini was happy enough with the showing at the Sardinero, and he's been offered a further boost by Giuseppe Rossi, who has brushed aside speculation linking him with a return to Manchester United.

A draw at Iraklis on Sunday was less than what Panathinaikos needed to keep up a title challenge that was already looking all but dead, but enough to keep them in second place ahead of PAOK. Henk Ten Cate's men, though, are convinced that something is amiss, claiming that refereeing decisions are inexplicably going against their side week in, week out. They're not the only ones making such accusations: Aris, who lost out to Olympiacos, claim that corruption is rife in the Greek game...

Sporting Lisbon - Bayern Munich

Sporting Lisbon finally got back to winning ways at the weekend with a 2-1 win in Belem, but recent stumbles see them four points off pace-setters Porto. Still, Paulo Bento has the faith of the hierarchy, and a great deal of the fanbase, heading into this CL clash.

Bayern, meanwhile, are now in an unbelievable fourth position in the table after losing out to Hertha Berlin, who have moved top. But in typical 'FC Hollywood' style, Bayern figures have played down the result, with Uli Hoeness saying that it's "just a matter of time" until the Bavarians take their rightful place at the summit. But with Luca Toni's ankle playing up, their key striker could be out of this clash.