Champions League Quarter-Finals

The quarter-finals of the Champions League are here! The first legs took place on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was Schalke – Inter and Spurs – Madrid on Tuesday, followed by Chelsea – Man. Utd. and Barcelona – Shakhtar on Wednesday. There was only one shock result, with Inter going down at home to Schalke 5-2. I can’t see Inter coming back from that; they will have to score four goals at Schalke to go through.

The other game on Tuesday wasn’t as shocking. Spurs visited Real Madrid in hopes of keeping their magical run going, but by the end of the game it was practically over – Madrid comprehensively beat Spurs 4-0 - even with the return leg in London. Peter Crouch got himself sent off just after Madrid took the lead early in the first half, and it was downhill from there. In the end it was really no surprise. I had hoped that Spurs would continue to defy the odds, but Madrid were too much.

On to Wednesday. The big game was between Manchester United and Chelsea in a rematch of the 2008 final. Chelsea started the game well, but United eased their way into it and got a priceless away goal thanks to Wayne Rooney. Chelsea came close to scoring right before the end of the first half, when Frank Lampard’s effort of a rebound was cleared off the line by United. Chelsea also should have been given a penalty right at the end of the game, but their shouts were ignored by the ref. Other than those two opportunities, Chelsea looked sluggish and did not play well. United dominated most of the game.

Finally, Barcelona beat Shakhtar 5-1. While Shakhtar did get an away goal, I can’t really see them coming back. This sets up the possibility of a Real Madrid – Barcelona semi-final to go along with their two meetings in April (once in the league, once in the league cup final). Four Clásicos in April? Pretty sure I could die happy after that.

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