Champions League - Last 8

The Champions League draw was made earlier today and it was thrown up some interesting ties.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUARTER-FINAL DRAW:

1.Villarreal v Arsenal
2.Manchester United v FC Porto
3.Liverpool v Chelsea
4.Barcelona v Bayern Munich

Winners of Match 1 v Match 2
Winners of Match 3 v Match 4

So lets break these games down

VILLARREAL v ARSENAL

First leg at El Madrigal could be a tough game for an Arsenal team that isn't exactly firing on all cylinders, after 5 0-0 draws in a row, a 3-1 win against West Brom and 4-0 against Blackburn aren't gonna set fear into Spanish hearts, but it does show a little turn in form.

Arsenal need Walcott back 100% fit as his pace will keep full backs awake at night, Arsenals good form is in no doubt credited to Andrei Arshavin, he was a major part of the Blackburn victory, and he will not be available for any of the games left in the CL.

The Gunners had solidified their defence in recent weeks, and if Fabergas is able to play any part, maybe the 2nd leg then Arsenal have a good chance of progressing, however Villarreal are no mugs.

Sitting 4th in La Liga, they have a good home record only 2 defeats however the away record lets them down only 4 wins.

Giuseppe Rossi will look to build on his 12 league goals making him The Submarines top scorer, but also look out for the midfield duo of Marcos Senna and Santi Cazorla, and the attacking full backs Capdevila and Javi Venta.

Goals have not been a problem for Villarreal however the defence could be their downfall.
I predict Arsenal to win by 1 goal.


MAN UTD v FC PORTO

The only bad point for Man U in this draw is having to play the 2nd leg at the Dragao, Porto have only lost once there in the league, United will hope the game is over before it returns to Oporto.

United need to bounce back from their shocking defeat to Liverpool at Old Trafford, which could give Ferreira's team some hope that if you take the game to United they could come away with something, They may be an unknown force in Britain but do have some quality, Argentine's Lucho Gonzalez and Lisandro Lopez have an eye for goal scoring 6 in the CL already, and Lucho adding 11 goals from the midfield this season, with some of the squad playing at Euro 2008 this is no minnow team.

United will be looking to have everyone fit and ready for the Porto games, Rooney, Berbatov and Ronaldo the trio they need fit to progress.

Anderson returning to face his old team, yet to score for United, is the script written for him to be a hero.

It will be very hard for Porto to knock the World Champions out, and I expect United to progress by 2 goals.

LIVERPOOL v CHELSEA

The only all English class of the Last 8, Will it be the fitting end to the Trilogy, this time the tables have been turned and Liverpool will play the first leg at Anfield, the last 2 times, they have had the advantage of returning to Anfield to finish the tie.

This will be as always a very close encounter, Hiddink has breathed some life into the Chelsea team, and the return of Essien in the midfield is a massive boost as he's already shown his importance, with decisive goals against Juventus and Man City.

Also Drogba is coming back to form at the right time, add this to the like of Lampard, Terry, Anelka the team looks alto stronger, the loss of Deco is a blow, but his form his been shaky as of late, so maybe it could be a blessing in disguise.

The main key for Liverpool is keeping Torres fit, he has had too many injury problems this season, if he is fit and plays Liverpool are a threat to any team, the partnership between him and Gerrard is lethal, one thing Liverpool must avoid is letting this game feel like a Premiership game, the tempo they played with against Real Madrid was higher than any Premiership game they had played until the recreated it at Old Trafford for a famous 4-1 win, when they play at breakneck speed they are at their best, if Chelsea get the game down to their tempo Liverpool could struggle.

This one is too close to call, I'm gonna say Liverpool to win on penalties.

BARCELONA v BAYERN MUNICH

This is my pick of the ties, from the last 16 these are the 2 form teams, Bayerns destruction of poor Sporting, and Barcelona's crushing of Lyon has brought these 2 european superpowers together for a place in the last 4.

Bayern are capable of scoring goals home and away, but all season Klinnsmann has struggled with the defensive side.

Franck Ribery and Luca Toni are a scary partnership, however i', sure Messi, Eto'o and Henry will have something to say about that.

Eto'o has 23 league goals but only 2 in the Champions League, Messi has 6 in the CL, 18 in the league, Henry has chipped in with 14 in the league and 4 in the CL, thats 67 goals between 3 players, I hope Van Buyten and Lucio don't find this out, it could lead to some sleepless nights.
Toni and Ribery have 21 between them, and with Klose out for 6 weeks it'll be up to Podolski to step up and give the germans a chance, both teams can score and concede so it'll probably be a 0-0.

I predict that after the crushing of Sporting Bayern will fail to deliver against the Spanish Giants, Barcelona to win by 2 goals.

So my semi final line up would be

Barcelona v Liverpool
Man Utd v Arsenal

Let me know your thoughts guys