15 March 2011
Some of Europes biggest clubs will be looking to use home advantage to seal a place in the quarterfinal of the UEFA Champions League when they play second leg knockout matches this midweek.
First up on Tuesday evening, Manchester United and Bayern Munich host Olympique Marseille and Internazionale respectively.
United come into the game after a morale-boosting win over Arsenal in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup over the weekend and their excellent home form this season makes them favourites to advance even though the tie is evenly balanced after a goalless draw in the first leg last month.
The Red Devils will be without winger Nani, as well as Rio Ferdinand and Park Ji-Sung, though Antonio Valencia made his comeback from a horrific leg injury on the weekend and bolsters the English sides options.
Marseille defender Souleymane Diawara, who helped his team keep yet another clean sheet in a 2-0 league win over Rennes on Friday night, believes OM have a decent chance of advancing.
“It’s always important to go into the big games with confidence,” he told the press.
“However, winning against Rennes does not mean our task will be any easier against Manchester United. It will be a totally different game at Old Trafford, but we will give our maximum as we do not want to leave England with any regrets.
“We must not get carried away, though, as we have had our ups and downs.”
Bayern are clear favourites in their match with Internazionale and look likely to avenge their defeat at the hands of the Italians in last seasons final.
Mario Gomezs late goal in the San Siro sees the Germans 1-0 up ahead of their return game at the Allianz Arena and Inter have a mountain to climb if they are to swing the tie in their favour, especially as they will be without influential defender (and former Bayern player) Lucio.
Moving on to Wednesday, Chelsea should comfortably overcome FC Copenhagen at Stamford Bridge and add to the 2-0 lead they enjoy from the first leg. The Blues are well rested, having not played since last week Monday.
Arguably the most intriguing match of the week sees Real Madrid face their nemesis Olympique Lyon at the Santiago Bernabeau with the aggregate score locked at 1-1. The French side knocked the Spanish giants out of the Champions League at the same stage last season and are threatening to do so again.
However, Real coach Jose Mourinho believes last seasons results will have no bearing on whether or not his team advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2004.
“My team are not afraid of recent history; statistics exist so that we can go out and contradict them,” Mourinho said of the challenge facing his side.
“Sure [Lyon] have quality, but we must eliminate them. I’ve already done that [with Porto in 2004] on my way to winning the tournament.”
UEFA Champions League Round 16 second leg fixtures:
(First leg score in parenthesis)
Tuesday, March 15
Manchester United v Marseille (0-0)
Bayern Munich v Internazionale (1-0)
Wednesday, March 16
Chelsea v Copenhagen (2-0)
Real Madrid v Lyon (1-1)
Join My MTNFootball now you can make friends, join groups, have discussions and upload your own photos! Its all there! Its a great new way to interact with fellow footie fans online. Click here to register now.
