Last 4: Leg 1, Day 2

Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool

Joe Cole in his second match back from a long string of injuries secured the winning goal for Chelsea in the 30th minute of their match against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. The goal was manufactured from a beautiful clearing pass from Portugese international defender Ricardo Carvalho to Cote D’Ivorian international forward Dider Drogba who beat two men on a brilliant run to supply the streaking Cole for the only score of the match. The match was tightly contested but Liverpool seemed unable to solve the puzzle Mourinho’s Blues presented them on defense. The tie rests on a razor’s edge as it returns to Anfield where the Reds will like their chances to win it outright. However it seems fitting that the current tie advantages indicate a match-up between titans Manchester United and Chelsea in the championship in Athens - the two clubs which have dominated the Premiership and European competition this year.

Last 4: Leg 1, Day 1

Manchester United 3-2 AC Milan

Wayne Rooney had the final say in a game that showcased three of the brightest young stars of the game. Fresh off Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards from the Premiership’s Professional Football Association, Portugese International forward Christiano Ronaldo opened the scoring with a header from a Ryan Giggs’ corner. There is dispute as to whether or not it was an own goal by Milan’s Brazilian keeper Dida. You can see for yourself. And though United pressed early and looked to be continuing their form from their 7-1 thrashing of Roma, it was the Rossoneri’s young star Brazilian midfielder Kaka who was to take over the game in the 22nd minute when he scored his first goal off a perfect pass from Dutch international midfielder Clarence Seedorf. It looked as if the Red Devils injury ravaged defense had finally caught up with them when Kaka drove home his second after a defensive collision between Gabriel Heinze and Patrice Evra. With the momentum decidedly swinging to the visiting side, Kaka seemed destined to complete his hat-trick as the Italians pushed forward time and time again. But with all the accolades of Ronaldo and Kaka in recent weeks, it was young English international Wayne Rooney who would emerge as the man of the match. In the 60th minute he deftly controlled a lofted pass from Paul Scholes and buried it in the back of the net for the equalizer. Through the rest of the match United pushed forward relentlessly and were finally rewarded in the 91st minute when Rooney blasted the match winner off another pass by Scholes. Old Trafford was treated to a real cracker as Man. U. stole the advantage from Milan as the tie heads to the San Siro next week.

Round 3: Manchester United v. AC Milan

Round 3: Chelsea v. Liverpool

Messidona!

In case you missed it, Barca's 19 year old Argentinian Wunderkind Lionel Messi scored a goal for the ages on Wednesday against Getafe in the Spanish Copa Del Rey - drawing immediate comparisons to the famous goal of his idol Diego Maradona against England in the '86 World Cup in Mexico. Here's the call in Arabic, Spanish, Portugese, and a few others. Here's the extended highlights from the game - the first 5 minutes are worth a look as they include three dazzling goals, all involving Messi. Here's some analysis on the goal. And here's the original Diego Maradona goal - so you can judge for yourself.

Round 2: Pool Standings

In the quarterfinals the Premiership showcased itself as the peeminent league in Europe and thereby the world with three English clubs qualifying for the Last 4 of the Champions League tournament. Four of the pool teams broke out their brooms and swept their way to the top of the table with the full complement of 16 points available from Round 2 (4 pts for each correct pick): Eastern Influence maintained his dominance, Nutmeg strengthened his bid to repeat as pool champ, Team Auckland was perfect from halfway around the globe, and KC Barstow were the comeback kids rising through the ranks to challenge for the title. Those of us who looked for a more diverse collection of sides to advance to the semifinals paid a price for that hope. While nothing is decided there is an increasing gap between the have's and have-not's. Bear in mind that point values will continue to increase in the subsequent rounds (6 pts for the semifinals, 8 for the championship) and that there will be a second place prize. There is a week hiatus but look to be making your picks before the tournament resumes on Tuesday, April 24th. Here's the schedule.

Last 8: Leg 2, Day 2

Bayern Munchen 0-2 AC Milan (Agg: 2-4, Milan advances)

Luck finally ran out on the injury-depleted side from Munich as they lost the home leg of their tie to AC Milan 0-2. Bayern started the match strong and appeared to be building on the momentum of their 2-2 draw with Milan at the San Siro last week. But within the space of four minutes the Rossoneri scored two away goals and put the tie away for good. The first was off the foot of Dutch-Surinamese midfielder Clarence Seedorf in the 28th minute, the second from Italian international forward Filippo Inzaghi off a fick from Seedorf in the in 32nd minute. The six time winners find themselves in a familiar position headed back to the semifinals to take on two time winners Manchester United. With no chance at the Italian Serie A title in large part due to the points penalty they received in the match fixing scandal from last summer the Rossoneri have all their season’s hopes pinned on their success in the Champions League.


Liverpool 1-0 PSV Eindhoven (Agg: 4-0, Liverpool advances)

Playing at home with a three goal advantage Liverpool was content to play keep away from PSV at Anfield. Peter Crouch continued where he left off last week with the lone goal of the match in the 68th minute. A rare moment of drama occurred when the Italian referee dismissed PSV’s 18 year old defender Dirk Marcellis in his Champions League debut with a red card. The Kop were in splendid voice working their way through their entire repertoire of celebration songs from the beginning of the match. They’ll need the practice for the next round as the five time winners take on Chelsea in a rematch of the semifinals from two years ago.

Last 8: Leg 2, Day 1

Valencia 1-2 Chelsea (Agg: 2-3, Chelsea advances)

Chelsea pulled off yet another last minute victory as Ghanaian international midfielder Michael Essien drove home the tie winner in the 91st minute of play against Valencia and became the first English side to win at the Mestalla in 40 years. Los Che struck first when Spanish international Fernando Morientes who returned early from a shoulder injury delivered a lighting strike off a superb cross by Valenica defender Luis Miguel in the 33rd minute. But Chelsea was poised to score in the second half as they've done so many times this year. The equaliser came in the 53rd minute when Ukrainian international forward Andriy Schevchenko made good on a rebound off a Frank Lampard free kick. Chelsea kept pressing through the remainder of the game yet the tie seemed destined for extra time as the sides were locked in a 2-2 aggregate deadlock. But Michael Essien, also back from injury, delivered the knockout blow in the first minute of penalty time thus dashing the hopes of the last Spanish side remaining and keeping Mourinho and Co.'s dreams of a quadruple crown alive and well. Nutmeg's bonus pick club looms large on the horizon much like the Deathstar of the Evil Empire. Can't you just hear the menacing soundtrack in the background?


Manchester United 7-1 Roma (Agg: 8-3, Man U advances)

AS Roma were the unfortunate recipients of a good ol' fashioned ass whuppin' at the hands of Manchester United at Old Trafford. Seemingly everyone got a piece of the action for United with Alan Smith, Wayne Rooney, and Patrice Evra each scoring a goal and Michael Carrick and Christiano Ronaldo with two each. For Ronaldo it marked the first Champions League goals of his young but illustrious career. Roma came out relatively strong and nursing their 2-1 aggregate advantage but by the time the 20th minute rolled around the Giallorossi found themselves down by 3. The rest of the match Roma looked completely flat. Star Italian international and Roma captain Francesco Totti can add one other item to his list of reasons he doesn't care for England (besides their style of soccer and the weather): it was the site of the most humiliating defeat of his professional career. Schubin must have been smiling big as his boys piled on the goals and assured themselves of a spot in the Last 4.

Last 8: Mid-Tie Power Rankings

1. Eastern Influence, Perfect Pitch
2. FC EffSee, Real Marin
3. Nutmeg
4. Team Carpenter, Team Lee
5. Team Auckland
6. KC Barstow
7. AC Emilia

In this round's Power Rankings, Perfect Pitch jumps to the top of the table on virtue of being the only team to pick all four of the current advantage holders. Though only gaining power on their Liverpool pick, Eastern Influence holds onto a share of the leadership because of their sizeable point total after the first round. Liverpool and Roma picks hold the strongest current value. But take heart at the bottom of the table, the Bayern and Valencia advantages could turn on a dime. By the end of next Wednesday the true standings will be known.

* Note: The Power Rankings are an interim projection of the pool standings based on a highly subjective analysis of the results of the first leg of the current round. In each tie one club is determined to have an edge, an advantage, or a strong advantage. One need only look at last round's Power Rankings to know that the standings can ultimately vary widely from the rankings (i.e. i got it wrong... big time). The true standing will be determined this week as the second leg of the ties are played on Tuesday and Wednesday. Here's the schedule.

Last 8: Leg 1, Day 2

Chelsea 1-1 Valencia

Valencia positioned themselves well with a hard fought away draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The play opened at break-neck pace with both sides passing well, but it was Valencia who had more chances on net through the first half. In the 30th minute it was one of the Spanish side's three David's - David Silva - who broke the stalemate on a stunning blast at an improbable angle from well outside the penalty area delivering an all-important away goal for Los Che. But Chelsea have been the comeback kings throughout the tournament collecting scores of goals in the final 10 minutes of play, and this night they would not be denied. In the 53rd minute Ivory Coast international striker Didier Drogba salvaged the match for the Blues with a nifty header off a fortuitously served ball from a clearance by English international defender Ashley Cole. Valencia's positive result is slightly tempered by the injury to key midfielder Vicente Rodriguez suffered in the 55th minute of play. With Vicente out the organization of the Valencia midfield diminished noticeably with Chelsea pressing forward trhoughout the rest of the game. Los Che will need to overcome their many injuries if they are to take the return leg from the Blues in the Mestalla next week.

Roma 2-1 Manchester United

Manchester United was fortunate to come away with only a 2-1 loss to Roma at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome after playing the majority of the match a man down. The Giallorossi started the contest with an offensive flurry orchestrated by the intricately free-flowing tactics of coach Luciano Spalletti. Man U.'s injury depleted defense looked jittery under the pressure and did not settle into any semblance of rhythm until 20 minutes into the match. After several ill-judged tackles throughout the first half, veteran Red Devil midfielder Paul Scholes finally pushed his luck one too many times and picked up his second yellow card in the 35th minute of play which banished him to the dressing room and left his side with only 10 men for the remainder of play. This proved to be a devestating blow as Roma were able to break through the deadlock in the 44th mintute on a quickly taken corner by Roma captain and Italian international Francesco Totti whose pass found Brazilian midfielder and last round dazzler Alessandro Mancini who threaded it to the young Italian midfielder Rodrigo Taddei for a lighting strike deflected off United defender Wes Brown and into the net. Despite the man deficit Manchester United were able to string together many fast-paced counter attacks in the second half led by the speed and prowess of Portugese international forward Christiano Ronaldo. Indeed it was a beautiful break by Ronlado in the 60th minute that initiated the Red Devils' equaliser and crucial away goal when English international forward Wayne Rooney deftly controlled Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's cross with his chest and cooly delivered a shot past Roma keeper Doni. But Man U let the draw slip away when Serbia-Montenegrin international striker Mirko Vucinic scored off a rebound from a Mancini shot in the 66th minute. The match was marred by a violent clash in the crowd during the halftime break. This was the culmination of a week-long war of words where Manchester United has warned their fans to avoid certain sections of the city and Rome's mayor had accused the English club of escalating the tensions by issuing the warning. UEFA is looking into the incident which at first blush seems to be the result of over aggressive Italian police tactics in beating down the English fans. Look for much finger-pointing in assessing blame for the bloodshed, but with the rash of violence in Italian football one might conclude that the Romans bear a significant portion of the responsibility.

Last 8: Leg 1, Day 1

AC Milan 2-2 Bayern Munchen

Bayern Munchen snagged a critical 2-2 away draw in injury time from AC Milan at the San Siro in Italy. Milan dominated the first half of play and deserved the 1-0 lead Italian international midfielder Andrea Pirlo gave them on a looping header just over the reach of second-string goalkeeper Michael Rensing and just under the crossbar. But the young Rensing filled in admirably for the suspended German great Oliver Kahn - who missed the game for throwing his urine sample at a doctor during a doping test – keeping his side in the match at halftime with two fantastic saves. Bayern boss Ottmar Hitzfeld knew he needed to change it up with 20 minutes remaining and found the spark he was looking for by sending in Peruvian international forward Claudio Pizarro. In the 78th minute the re-energized Bavarians found the equalizer on a goal from an unlikely source - Belgian international defender Daniel Van Buyten. The Rossoneri regained the lead on a Kaka penalty kick from a dodgy foul called by the Russian referee. Replays seemed to show Brazilian defender Lucio cleanly tackling Kaka in the penalty area. Kaka’s successful conversion gave Milan the lead and seemingly the win, but on the last kick in the last minute of the match Van Buyten amazingly put the ball in the back of the net for his second goal of the night. The draw puts Bayern in the driver’s seat as the tie heads to Munich next week.


PSV 0-3 Liverpool

Revenge was sweet for Liverpool in Holland as they throttled the Dutch side led by Ronald Koeman - the man whose Benfica side eliminated the Reds from the tournament last year. Without injured star Brazilian defender Alex, PSV could do little to thwart Rafa Benitez’s masterful tactics. Liverpool captain and English international midfielder Steven Gerrard initiated the scoring with a header in the 27th minute. Norwegian international defender John Arne Riise drilled the second in the 49th, and too-tall English international striker Peter Crouch followed up his weekend hat-trick with a header of his own in the 63rd. Koeman’s side now faces a Herculean task needing at least 3 goals next week at Anfield to advance to the semifinals.

Round 2: AC Milan v. Bayern Munchen

Round 2: PSV Eindhoven v. Liverpool

Round 2: Roma v. Manchester United

Round 2: Chelsea v. Valencia