Round of 8: Roma v. Manchester United

April 1, April 9

Round of 8: Schalke 04 v. Barcelona

April 1, April 9

Round of 8: Fenerbahçe v. Chelsea

April 2, April 8

Round of 8: Arsenal v. Liverpool

April 2, April 8

Which goal scoring star is going to march their team to Champions League promised land. Will it be step-over impressario Cristiano Ronaldo, who many consider the best in the Premiership, with a league leading 25 goals, plus 6 in CL play? Will this be the season he adds European gold to his growing trophy case? How about his partners in crime Wayne Rooney or Carlos Tevez who each have 3 CL goals to to their credit and could break out at any moment. Or will it be cagey veteran Steven Gerrard, currently sitting at 5, the heart and soul of a Liverpool club revitalized by the goal scoring prowess of Fernando Torres, with 4 in CL play (and 20 in the Premiership). Then there is Didier Drogba also sitting at 4, who marched his team past Arsensal in the Premiership table last week in their purusit of Man. U.
Speaking of Arsenal, how about their 20 year old wunderkind Cesc Fabregas, currently tied for the CL lead with 6, Eduardo da Sivla with 3, or their teamate Emmanuel Adebayor whose success in the Premiership (19 goals) has failed to translate to CL play (1). Honorable mention goes to Lionel Messi, who sits at the top of CL goal scorers with 6, but to Real Marin's dismay, will not in the rest of the tournament due to his injury, we'll see if last year's pick-up of Thierry Henry (3 in CL play) will pay off for Barca. What about the goal scorers for Roma you say - well Eastern Influence can tell you about the Montenegran Mirko Vucinic, whose scored 4 for Roma in CL play. Rounding out the contenders for top goal scorer are Deivid de Souza for Fenerbahce (4) and Kevin Kuranyi for Schalke 04.

Brackets: Round of 8

Click image to enlarge

The Draw

Quarterfinals:
1st leg: 01/02 April
2nd leg: 08/09 April

1. Arsenal FC v. Liverpool FC
2. AS Roma v. Manchester United FC
3. FC Shalke 04 v. FC Barcelona
4. Fenerbahçe SK v. Chelsea FC

Semifinals:
1st leg: 22/23 April
2nd leg: 29/30 April

1. Winner 1 v. Winner 4
2. Winner 3 v. Winner 2

Pool Standings: Round 1

Team EC and Team Jerusalem deserve a nod as they run neck-and-neck for the Runners-Up position, but without question the blaring front page headline of Round 1 is The Terrible Twos perfect 8-0 record. To give this outlandish feat the proper perspective let me give you some numbers. World Soccer Daily asked their listeners to email their picks for the CL Final 8. Out of 2867 responses only 1 got all 8 right. That's .035% of a community of live-and-breathe die-hard soccer geeks. Just take a minute to soak in history, folks, because in all likelihood we'll never see this Round 1 record broken. BigMaggie To-Do List: 1) buy SuperLotto ticket, 2) book room at Bellagio, 3) play ponies at Santa Anita. i Tu estas muy caliente, mamacita! As for the rest of us, well... we can take some solace in the fact that Round 2 picks are worth 4 points each.

Round of 16: Leg 2, Day 3 Results

Liverpool's Fernando Torres celebrates his tie clincher with his new best mate Steven Gerrard in Milan.

Inter Milan 0-1 Liverpool {Agg:0-3, Liverpool advances}

The task was always going to be difficult for Inter as they started the night down 2-0 on aggregate to visiting Liverpool. But with this week's celebration of the club's centennary and the raucous San Siro in full voice the tremendous atmosphere seemed to buoy the Nerazzuri as they launced wave after wave of attack at the Reds. Captain Javier "the Tractor" Zanetti worked like a demon in midfield but clear chances by Argentine striker Julio Cruz and the ever dangerous Swede Zlatan Ibrahimović were to no avail. The tie tide turned when Inter's Nicolás Burdisso was dismissed after his second yellow card for a foolish challenge at the halfway line leaving the Nerazzuri down a man just as they were in the first leg. In the 64th minute Liverpool put the final nail in the Italians coffin when Spanish starlet Fernando Torres, in a sick display of athletic brilliance, received the ball from Fabio Aurelio at the edge of the box, turned it, and fired it into the inside edge of the left post. In his press conference after the loss, Inter boss Roberto Mancini announced that this would be his final season at the helm of the Milanese. Mancini has been highly successful in Serie A, leading the Nerazzuri to Italian titles the last two seasons and has them positioned for their third this year, but has failed to replicate their domestic form on the European stage. With their win, Liverpool continue their European dominance under master tactician Rafa Benitez and become the 4th English club to make it through to the CL Final 8 -- the first time a single country has ever had that many representatives in the quarterfinals.


This Friday is the draw for the Round of 8 matchups. Stay tuned...

Where do you stand?

If you can decipher the Jerver's handwritten notes, you can see where you stand headed into today's match between Inter Milan and Liverpool -- the match that will determine the last of the Final 8. Click on the image to enlarge it.

Round of 16: Leg 2, Day 2 Results

Roma's Rodrigo Taddei crashes Spanish giants Real Madrid out of the CL.


Real Madrid 1-2 Roma {Agg: 2-4, Roma advances}

The biggest heavyweight clash of the night opened with 15 tense and tentative minutes at the Bernabéu but soon developed into the intense flurry of chances for both sides that many expected. It was the dismissal of Pepe in the 71st minute for what appeared to be an unnecessary push at the endline that swung the momentum to the visiting Giallorossi. Exploiting their man advantage the Italians surged forward and claimed the match's first goal with a textbook Taddei header off a beautifully centered ball from Max Tonetto. Although clearly stunned Los Merengues picked up the pace and responded 2 mintues later with the match equaliser when Raúl slipped through the defense and fired the ball past keeper Doni. Replays showed that Raúl was clearly offside but the referees seemed to lack the temerity to cancel the goal in the face of a raucous Madridista crowd. But the hope for the homeside proved to be shorlived when substitute Montenegin international Mirko Vučinić sealed their fate with another brilliant header off a set piece 2 minutes into penalty time. The defeat marks the fourth consecutive year that the Spanish giants have crashed out in the Round of 16. Though they still lead rivals Barcelona in La Liga, their failure to advance in the CL has put first year manager Bernd Shuster on the hotseat. Rumors are flying that the Special One is destined to lead Los Blancos back to their European glory days in next year's campaign. Conversely, Luciano Spalletti guides the Eternal City's Magica boys to their second consecutive apperance in the CL Final 8.

Porto 1-0 Schalke (4-1p) {Agg: 1-1, Schalke advances on penalties}

The Schalke defense started meekly in Wednesday night's return leg at the Dragão as home side Porto barraged the Germans with strong chances by Ricardo Quaresma, Lisandro López, Lucho González, and two point blank headers by Moroccan forward Tarik Sektioui. Schalke's 21 yr old goal keeper Manuel Neuer seemed to be the only Royal Blue who showed up as he single handedly resisted the onslaught with miraculous save after miraculous save. The score remained 0-0 when the tie appeared to tip dramatically in favor of the visitors when Porto's Fucile was harshly sent off with a red card in the 82nd minute. Though reduced to ten men, the Dragões continued to frantically press and finally found the tie equaliser 4 minutes from time when Argentine striker Lisandro López received the ball from Lucho with his back to goal, turned, and fired high into the net to the frenzied delight of the delirious Dragão. A nervy 30 minutes of extra time resulted in no score and the evenly matched sides headed to a shoot-out to decide who would advance. It was here that young Manuel Neuer cemented his man-of-the-match status with two huge penalty saves to propel Schalke 04 to their first ever appearance in the CL quarterfinals. The stunned Portugese were left to wonder what might have been had they converted just one of their many golden chances. But what can they say? That's football.


Chelsea 3-0 Olympiacos {Agg: 3-0, Chelsea advances}

Chelsea cruised into the CL quarterfinals with a definitive 3-0 whuppin of Olympiacos at Stamford Bridge. The Blues' much maligned manager Avram Grant continued to sow controversy with his side selection, but his critics would be left with no fodder after this night's performance. Chelsea's star midfielder and German international captain Michael Ballack started the scoring in just the 5th minute with a neat header off a Frank Lampard cross. The duo combined again for the second goal in the 25th minute as a Ballack shot was blocked but not held by Greek keeper Nikopolidis and the English international Lampard was there to finish. Just after half the tie was placed out of reach when Ivory Coast international Salomon Kalou converted a Lampard corner which had already found its way through Blues Ballack and Ricardo Carvalho. With the victory, Chelski makes their fourth appearance in the Final 8 in five seasons and Avram Grant gets a momentery reprieve from the incessant calls for his head. One gets the feeling that only a European Championship could save his job for next season.

Round of 16: Leg 2, Day 1 Results

Arsenal's 20 yr old Cesc Fabregas celebrates 'the best moment of [his] career'.


Milan 0-2 Arsenal {Agg: 0-2, Arsenal advances}

In perhaps the biggest match of the night the high powered young Gunners of Arsenal travelled to the San Siro determined to snag the tie from the cagey current cup holders, AC Milan, and in the process become the first English side to ever beat the Rossoneri on their own turf. For much of the first half the hosts seemed more than up to the task as Kaká and young Brazilian starlet Alexandre Pato adventured through the Arsenal back line for chances on net. But as the match wore on the Gunners regained the form which has brought them to the top of EPL. The Frenchman Mathieu Flamini effectively took Kaká out of the match to feed Cesc Fabregas and Alex Hleb in their tightening press on the Milanese defense. With the tie hanging in a tense 0-0 balance and 6 minutes left on the clock Spanish international Fabregas scored the goal of his young career when he made a run from midfield and hammered a low 25-yard shot into the bottom corner of the net. Togolese international striker Emmanuel Adebayor placed the cherry on top of the gelato in the 2nd minute of injury time with a goal off a cross delivered at the end of a Theo Walcott right-side dash. With Milan effectively out of the Serie A title race, out of the Coppa Italia, and now out of the CL, the Rossoneri will have a lot of time on their hands to determine how to regroup next season.

Sevilla 3-2 Fenerbahçe (3-2p) {Aggregate: 5-5, Fenerbahçe advances on penalties}

Fenerbahçe goalkeeper Volkan Demiral was transformed from mangy goat to sweet-singing canary over the course of the rollercoaster ride return leg of the Turk's tie with Sevilla in Spain Tuesday night. After flubbing two long range shots for goals in the first 10 minutes of the match -- one a Dani Alves free-kick the keeper punched into his own goal, the other a Seydou Keita blast from distance into the top left corner -- Demiral appeared to have single-handedly tripped-up Fenerbahçe's improbable run at this year's European title. But the fired-up Turks refused to go down without a fight and the Brazilian Deivid landed the first blow in the 20th minute by one-timing a Mehmut Aurelio corner through a crowd and into the bottom left corner of the net. 4 minutes before half Sevilla's Malian hero Federic Kanoute sent the crowd back into ecstasy when he deftly controlled a Dani Alves cross with his chest and struck it off Gokhan Gonul past Demiral to restore the Andalusian's advantage. For the ensuing 40 minutes, Sevilla dropped into a defensive posture, clearly hoping to milk their lead to the final whistle. But with 11 minutes left to play Deivid again struck gold when he rifled in the rebound of an Alex free-kick off the post for the tie equaliser. After 30 minutes of extra time this ridiculously high-scoring tie remained a 5-5 aggregate draw and headed to penalty kicks. It was in the shoot-out that keeper Demiral more than made up for his earlier gaffes with two huge saves to book the jubilant Yellow Canaries their first ever appearance in the CL Final 8.


Manchester United 1-0 Lyon {Agg: 2-1, Manchester United advances}

Home side Manchester United, buoyed by their vocal fans, came out of the gates flying at Old Trafford as they looked to quickly break open the tie's 1-1 stalemate with French champions Lyon. United star Cristiano Ronaldo delivered the breakthrough four minutes from half when he skillfully collected a blocked Anderson shot and turned the ball inside the near post past Lyon keeper Gregory Coupet. The tie now rested on a single goal razor's edge and the second half provided plenty of nervy moments for the United faithful as Lyon were forced to attack to salvage their European campaign. The French side came within inches of equalising in the 74th minute when substitue Kader Keita drilled a pass from the ever dangerous Karim Benzema off the near post. But with Lyon's forward forays came space in the back for Red Devil counter attacks, and Wayne Rooney twice missed opportunities to put the visitors away with a second goal. Still Man U held on to their lead and thus recorded their 10th straight home victory in the CL equaling Juventus' record set 11 years ago as they advance for the second consecutive year to the CL quarter-finals.

Barcelona 1-0 Celtic {Agg: 4-2, Barcelona advances}

Barcelona picked up where they left off by dominating a clearly over-matched Celtic on Tuesday night's return leg at the Camp Nou. Already up 3-2 on aggregate, Barça delivered the knockout blow in just the third minute when Ronaldinho made one of his trademark no-look passes to link up telepathically with his countryman Sylvinho on the overlapping run who then crossed it to Xavi for a beautiful one-time volley over Celtic keeper Boruc for the most attractive goal of the night. With the tie virtually decided Barça proceeded to play a 90 minute game of keep away from their Scottish visitors creating plenty of chances along the way. Although happy to advance to the Round of 8, the win was greatly overshadowed by the injury to their young Argentine star Leo Messi who pulled up lame in 35th minute having re-torn his left femoral bicep -- an injury that kept him out for five weeks earlier this season. Messi left the pitch surrounded by his teammates with tears of frustration streaming down his face as the extent of the injury was all too evident for the saddened Catalan onlookers who chanted his name. The loss could not come at a more inopportune time as the Blaugrana are currently competing in three tournaments. If Barça are to advance to the semi-finals they will need to do it without the services of their young superstar as Messi is slated to miss the next 6 weeks of play which includes both matches of their quarterfinal tie in the CL.