Arsenal face the champions Barcelona, United-Bayern re-run in the champions league quarter finals.

 

After some exciting action and some huge upsets the champions league now steps into the last-8 stage featuring some of the best team in Europe. The fixtures for the much awaited quarter finals were finally declared in Nyon, Switzerland. 1999 champions Manchester United have been put up against that year’s runners up Bayern Munich. Some old memories will definitely come in mind and Bayern will be hoping not to have a repeat of that night.

Another thing to note in the quarters is that the presence of two French clubs, FC Girondins de Bordeaux and Olympique Lyonnais. Although they have been scheduled to play each other but this as shown the increasing dominance of French clubs. Lyon everyone knows had pulled a cracked after getting past Real Madrid to reach here.

The other English powerhouse Arsenal will be hosting defending champions Barcelona in the match to watch. Wenger is confident to take this one away but playing in Nou Camp is a different experience altogether.

CSKA Moscow will be celebrating their first ever entry to this level and the first Russian club in 17 years to reach this stage but they are up against Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan who comfortable defeated Chelsea to enter the last-8.

 The complete quarter finals fixture list:

All matches to start at 2045 Hours GMT.

First Leg

 30^th March 2010

Olympique Lyonnais Vs FC Girondins de Bordeaux           Venue: Stade de Gerland, Lyon 

Bayern Munich Vs Manchester United             Venue: Fußball Arena München, Munich

31^st March 2010

Barcelona Vs Arsenal      Venue: Emirates Stadium, London

CSKA Moscow Vs Inter Milan  Venue: Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan

Second Leg

6^th April 2010

Barcelona Vs Arsenal      Venue:  Nou Camp, Barcelona

CSKA Moscow Vs Inter Milan      Venue: Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow

7^th April 2010

Olympique Lyonnais Vs FC Girondins de Bordeaux           Venue: Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux

Bayern Munich Vs Manchester United      Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester

Overview of other football leagues elsewhere.

Spanish La Liga 

 

Real Madrid are at the top of the table with goal difference over last year’s champions Barcelona. Both of them are at 65 points after 26 matches. After going some distance form the top two Valencia is at third position with 47 points and Seville completes the top four with 44 points. And with just a point gap between them and the fouth places Seville, Mallorca and Deportivo la Coruna follows at fifth and sixth places respectively. Real Madrid after bowing out of the chamions league will be putting all the efforts in La liga to get the silverware.

Bundesliga

 

After 26 matches, Bayern Munich with 56 points is leading with a narrow lead of two points over rivals FC Schale 04. 2002-03 champions league finalist Bayer Leverkusen is third with 53 points which enable them in the one and only champions league qualifying position. Borussia Dortmund and Hamburger SV completes the last two spots for the final entry into Europe as of now. Stefan Kiebling of Leverkusen is the top scorer with 16 goals this season. Bayer‘s coach is reliverd after their recent 4-2 victory over Hamburger SV. He states “I think the team improved a lot in the second half. They were more calm and precise and deserved to win the game. We showed the right reaction and the players deserve credit for that.”

Italian Serie A

 

 

After  28 games, Inter Milan is leading with only a point in front of AC Milan who are currently second with 58 points. AS Roma is third five points below and Palermo is fourth with a distant 7 points gap. Juventus and Sampdoria are trailing at fifth and sixth with a point seperating them. Serie A title is wide open after Inter Milan suffered a shock 1-3 defeat in the hands of Catania in the last match. More trouble for AC Milan is the injury to  David Beckham which will take around 4 months to heal making him unavailable for the rest of the season and probably the World Cup later in June.

Trouble transfers to Chelsea, Gudjohnsen heads back to London.

Chelsea have been banned from registering any new players for the next two transfer windows in a shock move by FIFA after being found guilty of inducing a French teenager to breach his contract with another club. Gael Kakuta, 18, joined Chelsea from Lens two years ago after which the French club lodged a complaint with FIFA. Now FIFA‘s dispute resolution chamber has ruled that Kakuta breached his contract with Lens and that Chelsea induced him to do so.

 

It will be sort of home coming for the former Bolton, Chelsea and Barcelona star EidurGudjohnsen’s return to English football as he was recently signed by Tottenham Hotspursfor the rest of the season. The Icelander was earlier reported to have undergone a medical at Upton Park for a possible move to West Ham but the Hammers were less than impressed with him. The would boost some confidence at the White Hart Lane where captain Robbie Keane is out of form and has been restricted to the bench for now while Roman Pavlyuchenko is expected to leave soon. Much will be expected from him when he moves from Monaco to London. He had his spell at Chelsea but was victim of the spending spree at Stamford Bridge but now he can well prove to him neighbours that some moves needs to be halted.

 

Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp has recommended Ajax starlet Christian Eriksen to his former manager Arsene Wenger. The 18-year-old has only a year left on his contract and has managed to break into the Eredivisie giant’s first team this season. The Daily Mirror saysBergkamp has handed a glowing report about Eriksen to Wenger. Ajax boss Martin Jol is determined for the youngster to sign a new long-term deal with the club. Jol said: “We are eager to offer him a new contract in the upcoming weeks. We want Christian to stay in Amsterdam for several more years. It all depends on what the player himself wants though.”

Hey check out whats happening in Spain, Italy & Germany.

A cursory look on what is happening in major football leagues in Europe.

Spanish La Liga
As the teams went into the winter break, Barcelona is leading the table with 40 points followed by Real Madrid which is 2 points behind the leaders. It looks like there is nothing stopping Barca, first their perfect six for 2009 season and they are still the team to beat this season. Third in the table is Valencia and fourth Mallorca which are a distant 8 and 10 points respectively adrift of the leaders and are unlikely to take the La Liga title. A big boost to Barcelonaand La Liga with Messi becoming the club player of the year Cristaino Ronaldo also one of the nominies.

Bundesliga
After 17 matches just a point separate the leaders Bayer Leverkusen, (35 points) from second place FC Schalke 04and currently the Bundesliga clubs are on a winter break which will be end this weekend. Just a points below are traditional powerhouse Bayern Munich on third place at 33 points who are hanging here for a long time now. This seems to be crucial for them as it is one and only resort for the champions league berth. Hamburger and Borussia Dortmund complete the top five and the final entry for Europe next season.

Italian Serie A
Inter Milan is leading the table with 39 point, a big lead of 8 points over their nearest rivals AC Milan who are currently at 31 points. Juventus and AS Roma complete the top four with 30 and 28 points resp. With David Beckhamback for AC Milan and Pato already in full throttle much will be expected from them to win the title. Jose is taking good care of Inter which is really going in its own league.
The best part will be when all the Giants will clash each other with the English giants. David beware you will be heading to your Alma Mater but not in the United reds.

Update on some other major leagues in Europe.

Spanish La Liga.

After 10 games, the fight for the top spot is going neck to neck with the Catalunyan giants Barcelona leading the table with 26 points while the high spenders Real Madrid in the second place with 25 points. Barcelona has won 8 games, drawing 2 and loosing none till date which is an achievement in itself. Seville and port club Valencia completes the top four in the league while Deportivo la Coruna & Mallorca, currently in 5th and 6th position, are also giving some tough times to the top four with only 2 points behind. As one-fourth of the league is over anyone can win the title if it remains like this.

German Bundesliga

2002-03 champions league semi finalists Bayer Leverkusen are leading the points tally in the top German league, with 26 points in 12 games, with a clear 3 point lead over their nearest rivals Werder Bremen who are at 23 points. Coincidently like Barcelona in the Spanish league, Bayer Leverkusen also haven’t lost any of their game till today. Hamburger SV completes the top three and this is known to be an important position in the Bundesliga as this is the only spot for the champions league qualifying stage while the top two directly goes in the main draw of the UEFA champions league.

Italian Serie A.

Inter Milan is clearly leading the Italian League table with a lead of 5 points over their nearest rivals Juventus after 12 games. There closest neighbours AC Milan (closest means they share the same stadium i.e. San Siro) are 7 points behind them. Fiorentina completes the top four in the league. AC Milan has to play like champions in order to give real challenges and much will be expected from the likes of Ronaldino and Kaka. The Milan management will be keen to get back David Beckham for this year also. So lets see what will happen in the coming month as of now.