Man United were drawn against German side Bayern Munich for the quarter-finals. This will see the repeat of the famous 1999 Champions League final between the two sides. Where we saw two injury time goals from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer win the game for Man United after Mario Basler had scored for Bayern in the sixth minute.
Bayern Munich knocked out Fiorentina in the previous round, it won’t be easy for United but we are perfectly capable of going to the Allianz Arena and scoring at least one away goal. We are also capable of scoring a couple of goals at Old Trafford and keeping a clean sheet in the second leg, so I think that we will go through.
The first leg is on Tuesday 30th March; second leg is Wednesday 7th April.
Other quarter-final ties are- Arsenal v Barcelona, Lyon v Bordeaux and Inter Milan v CSKA Moscow.
If Man United can get past Bayern then they will face the winners of the Lyon/Bordeaux tie.
Lyon have already knocked Real Madrid out of the competition this season, so if we play them then they will be no pushovers. Bordeaux knocked out a slightly easier side in Olympiacos.
I would expect out of both French teams, Lyon to progress.
So that would leave us with Man United v Lyon in the semi-finals.
Lyon are a good side, but like against Bayern, I can see United scoring in both leg’s. The French side would prove to be tough opponents but over two matches, I can only see there being one winner and that would be Man United.
Ok, so Lyon did beat Real Madrid, which will be pointed out but Madrid have come crashing out at that stage in the last six season’s. They may have spent £240 million during the summer, but buying the World’s best players and sticking them in a team doesn’t work, which has been proven.
If Bordeaux do beat Lyon then I would also expect United to score in both legs and go through. As long as we can keep our players fit, then I am confident that we can progress past Bayern Munich and Bordeaux or Lyon and get to the final.
The first leg of the tie will be played on Wednesday 21st April, the second on Wednesday 28th April.
The other semi-final tie is the winners of Arsenal/Barcelona to play the winners of Inter Milan/CSKA Moscow.
Many are expecting a repeat of last season’s final- Manchester United v FC Barcelona. What a game that would be but if Arsenal do make it past the Spanish side, Manchester United v Arsenal doesn’t sound too bad either.
The final of the Champion’s League will be played on Saturday (yes you did read it right) 22nd May 2010 at El Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.
My predicted final would be- Manchester United vs Barcelona.
This would see two of the most in-form players right now go head-to-head. Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney.
