Ozren Podnar
When Florentino Perez announced his bid for the presidency at Real Madrid last spring, he had it all worked out: he would purchase a team good enough to win Madrid's tenth Champions League in 2010 at Santiago Bernabeu. And become immortal in the minds of Madrid's fans.
It's all about numbers: ten for the number of trophies, 2010 for the year and 260 million for the amount spent on Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Benzema, Xabi Alonso, Arbeloa and Albiol during the last transfer window. And if Barcelona are the team defeated in this season's finals, even better.
So far, the things have been going Real Madrid's way. The draw for the round of 16 could not have been better, pairing the Castillians with an erratic Olympique Lyon, significantly weaker than in the previous seasons. Lyon's top player, Karem Benzema, now plays for Real Madrid, while their long-time on-pitch leader, Juninho Pernambucano, plies his trade for Qatar's Al-Gharafa.
More importantly, four of the toughest rivals were drawn against each other, clearing Real's path to the final even further. Milan, the only foreign team that have beaten Real this season, will face Manchester United; Chelsea and Inter will collide in another clash of the titans. Another stroke of luck for Madrid was the pairing of Porto and Arsenal, two other teams which could presumably, though not quite probably, challenge the Spaniards in the next round.
On the other hand, among the teams certain to reach the quarterfinals are Olympiacos or Bordeaux and CSKA Moscow or Sevilla, which would be ideal rivals for Madrid in the next round (and a lucky man like Florentino Perez is not likely to be denied the easiest opponent).
True, Barcelona were also supremely fortunate to draw Bundesliga strugglers Stuttgart, who recently sacked coach Marcus Babbel after two months of languishing in the relegation zone. Not so lucky were the other German team, Bayern, who will likely suffer against an ever improving, exuberant Fiorentina team, that finished top of their group above Lyon and Liverpool and which reportedly delighted Rafael Benitez.
While Madrid cruise to the last eight, the eyes of the continent will be on the momentuos battle between Milan vs Manchester United, the repeat of the 2007 semifinals that saw the Italian devils outsmart their English counterparts by a 5-3 aggregate score (2-3 and 3-0). Another precedent United will seek to avenge dates back to 1958, just a few months after the Munich disaster claimed the lives of eight of United's players. On that occasion, Milan also triumphed in the semifinals with a 5-2 aggregate (1-2 and 4-0).
Both teams have shown vulnerabilities this season, Milan losing to Zurich in Europe (0-1) and Parma in Serie A (0-2), both times at home. United have suffered four Premiership defeats to date plus an embarrassing 0-1 at Old Trafford to Besiktas, who were thrashed 8-0 at Anfield last season.
Inter vs Chelsea will be another duel worthy of a final match itself. Jose Mourinho will revisit the stadium that used to glorify him while the current Chelsea's coach Carlo Ancelotti will be excited by the flavour of the Milan city derby. As the former AC Milan player and coach, Ancelotti will certainly be additionally motivated to finish off his historic rivals from the black and blue side of town. Whosoever should go through will likely be more exhausted than Real Madrid when the time comes for the quarterfinals next March.
Olympique Lyon vs Real Madrid
Milan vs Manchester United
Bayern Munich vs Fiorentina
Porto vs Arsenal
Stuttgart vs Barcelona
Olympiacos vs Girondins
CSKA Moscow vs Sevilla
Inter Milan vs Chelsea
Group A
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Group B
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Group C
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Group D
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Group E
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Group F
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Group G
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Group H
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