Manchester vs Barcelona, second leg

Today is the second leg of the Champions League semi finals: Manchester vs. Barcelona.

What can I say? Real Madrid is not champion yet of the Spanish League by pure coincidence. In downtown Madrid they already had prepared everything for the celebrations last weekend. Which means fans of Barcelona are deeply disappointed by two reasons: Barcelona won't be the champion this year again, and Real Madrid will be the champion again.

What Barcelona has left is the Champions League. But after last week's game, I am not optimistic.

But that does not mean that Manchester does not have any pressure. The English Premier League is not decided yet, Chelsea can still make it to the top, with only 3 points behind Manchester.

But the whole Barcelona team must be under tremendous pressure. The fans might forgive them if they win the Champions League. Maybe. I am not sure about the future of Rijkaard of Ronaldinho though.

Barcelona fiasco before Champions League game

I said in my previous post that Barcelona vs. Espanyol was going to be a crucial game for Barcelona to show her strength and the so called "jogo bonito", but what a fiasco. Barca is one week away of losing the season to Real Madrid. What promised to be a great game against Manchester the day after tomorrow can be just another disappointment.

But Rijkaard has no option but to win next Wednesday and to win the Champions League, if he wants to keep the Barcelona fans more or less happy, Joan Laporta, not to mention his job. To make it worse, Eto'o threatens to leave Barcelona if they don't win any trophy this season. Not that he is more important than Messi, Henry or Ronaldinho, but it does show how difficult the things are inside the team. Ironically, they are in second place of the Spanish league, which is not bad at all.

Can I venture to say that Barcelona vs Manchester might not be as interesting as watching Liverpool vs Chelsea? After this weekend Barcelona's game, I think I can. However, Rijkard will give everything to assure at least 2 goals in the first leg of the semi finals next Wednesday against Manchester.

On the other hand, the English teams are nervous. They have one eye on the Champions League and the other eye on the English Premier League. With Chelsea just 3 points behind, Manchester does not want to disappoint their fans loosing both tournaments. Liverpool, on the other hand, is thinking on securing a place for next year's Champions.

The leagues in Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria are over. How long until we have a champion in England? in Spain? in the Champions League?

Manchester against Barcelona at the champions league

Liverpool, Manchester and Chelsea. 3 English teams are in the finals of the Champions League. Coincidentally (or not), these teams are, along with Arsenal, at the top of the English Premier League. And let's say that we have a 75% probability that the Champions League cup will end in English hands this year. Perhaps that can compensate the fact that England is not in the UEFA Euro Cup 2008.

Manchester, with 80 points is at the top of the English Premier League. With stars as Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, is no doubt a team to fear, as the team demonstrated already in 2007 at the top of the league. Next week's game against Barcelona in Barcelona will be a fight to dead game. The champions of the English premier league in 2007 will be playing against the champions of the premier league in 2006, Barcelona.

Manchester United has won the Champions League twice, the last time was in 1999. It pales in comparison of how many times they have won the English Premier League: 16 times. This year can be different though, as Cristiano Ronaldo is the top scorer of the Champions League with 7 goals.

In the qualifying round, Manchester defeated Sporting de Lisboa, A.S. Roma and Lyon. Barcelona had a more difficult round, playing against Celtic and Schalke 04. On the other hand, Roma managed to defeat Real Madrid, currently at the top of the Spanish league, La Liga.

Barcelona vs Espanyol

Before the Champions League game against Manchester United, Barcelona faces a crucial game this weekend against Espanyol. Coach Frank Rijkaard wants to be sure to deliver a good interesting game and, above all, defeat the Catalan team, in this weekend's derby. Could it be that the photo above can repeat itself again this year? Can Barcelona win the Champions League again?

Good news: Deco, Henry and Iniesta are back, and will probably be playing against Espanyol. Even Messi can be playing, not the whole 90 mins, with Barcelona, and who knows, perhaps against Manchester United next week.

Barcelona and Rijkaard face tough times. Defeating Espanyol this weekend. Hoping that Real Madrid does not win again, to narrow the distance to only six points. Preparing themselves for the first leg of the semifinals against Manchester United next week. And, very important, satisfying the need of goals and good game of the Barcelona fans.

Barcelona Champions League semi finals

Barcelona is definitely not doing well in the Spanish "La Liga" tournament. Barza is in second place 9 points behind Real Madrid with 60, and just one point ahead of Villareal. Normally, this will be good enough for an average football team, been in second place, but not for Barcelona, and most important of all, not for her fans.

Since the beginning of the League, Ronaldinho has been booed several times, just as Barcelona's coach Rijkaard and recently the president of the Futbol Club Barcelona, Joan Laporta. He recently addressed the fans saying: "We are not doing so bad!", which is true. They are in the semi finals of the Champions League and they are second in La Liga, but their players look tired and their football style as well. The rumors that player Ronaldinho might move to the Italian league, is contributing to the instability of the Catalan football team.

Currently, and surprisingly, Barcelona's best player is not Henry, nor Eto'o, nor Messi (injured), not Ronaldinho, but Bojan krkic. The Catalonia born player has recently pulled the team several times and saved it from disastrous performances. No doubt that Joan Laporta wants to be sure that Bojan krkic stays with them longer.

In spite of all of this problems and/or misfortunes, in one week Barcelona will be playing against Manchester United, the first leg of the semi finals of the Champions League. Let's see what surprises the 18 year old Bojan krkic brings along.

Semi finals Champions League UEFA 2008

The semi finals of the Champions League 2008 are here. Barcelona, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United are going to give their best to get to the final in Moscow in some weeks.

Liverpool will be playing against Chelsea on April the 22th in Liverpool, and the second game on April the 30th in London. Barcelona against Manchester United will play on April the 23 in Barcelona, and the second game on April the 29th in Manchester.