Owatalk

• Home
• Contact
• About

Mourinho to face Fergie test

Italian giants Inter Milan were drawn against Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League round of 16.

Once again it will be Jose Mourinho against Alex Ferguson and the last time around the two managers clashed in a Champions League encounter Mourinho won with Porto and went on to win the coveted trophy.

This time the second leg once again will be at Old Trafford in March and its going to be interesting to see what will happen in that match because one thing is certain and it is the fact that one of them will not reach the quarters.

In a draw which pitted all Italian teams against English ones, Chelsea were paired against Juventus whilst Arsenal will battle it out against Roma.

Because the Gunners and the Blues finished second in their groups, both second legs will be in Italy.

I think it will be a tough test for Chelsea who I think began the season well but have become inconsistent of late.

Claudio Ranieri now with the Turin giants will be playing against his former team for the first time since he left the Bridge and so both legs will be played in familiar surroundings for him.

As for the Gunners its hard to tell with them and I think you basically see how they play on the day. These fixtures are so far away as well and its very hard to predict what may happen because in between there is also the January transfer window.

Liverpool were drawn against Real Madrid and this is going to be a tricky fixture. Juande Ramos is now in charge at the Bernabeau and surely he will be trying to make sure he shows the English fans he is a good coach after a bad spell at Spurs and if he strengthens his team in January it could be a very tight encounter.

Villareal were drawn against Panathinaikos and I think it was fair these two teams were drawn together. It means that one of them will be in the quarter finals which I think is good for the fans of these two teams which I wouldn't classify as one of the biggest left in the draw.

If Barcelona continue playing the way they are doing at the moment then I think Lyon are as good as out after being drawn against the Spanish giants.

Bayern Munich will battle it out against Sporting Lisbon and I fancy Bayern to go through especially as they play the last leg in Munich.

Lastly but not least former champions FC Porto have been drawn against Atletico Madrid and I this is an even tie which can easily go either way. I was impressed with Atletico in the group phase and they should have won at Anfield but in Porto they are facing a very experienced team in this competition.

I think I will do a review sometime in February because at the moment the fixtures are so far away and a lot can happen in between. Key players can be injured, clubs could bring new talent in January and so on but by mid-February it should be clear who is likely to advance to the quarters.

All in all this draw produced some appetising encounters and I am keen to see who will remain standing in March and into the quarter-finals.

Post a comment:

Name

(required)

E-Mail

(required, but not published)

Website

(optional)

Comment
Enter Code


Notify me of follow-up comments via e-mail