Here we are, by request, England's finest
Posted on 27th February 2009 at 10:01
The Premier League is widely regarded as the best division in European, if not world, football - and this week the cream of England justified that reputation.
A tricky last-16 draw meant Europe's heavyweights met each other far too early in the Champions League, with many hoping the likes of Inter v Man Utd, Chelsea v Juventus, Arsenal v Roma and Real Madrid v Liverpool would be mouthwatering semi-final showdowns.
That was not to be, however, meaning four of these European giants will have their CL dreams shattered early doors, and after the first-leg battles it's the English big guns who have the upper hand over their Italian and Spanish rivals.
United were the only team not to establish a 1-0 lead, yet arguably produced the best performance as they totally outplayed Jose's Inter troops at the San Siro.
As usual Mourinho was all mouth ahead of the showdown, but it was United who walked the walk on the pitch and looked faster, fitter, more inventive and more incisive than their hosts, who should be easily overcome in the return leg at Old Trafford as their strikers Ibrahimovic and Adriano looked totally out of their depth against a makeshift United defence missing the impressive Vidic.
The Gunners, meanwhile, outclassed Roma at The Emirates but somehow only scored one goal after fluffing a host of chances on home soil.
Some might feel a 1-0 lead is not enough to take the Eternal City, but Arsenal's superior fitness levels and passing game should ensure they conquer in Rome.
Chelsea seem to have rediscovered their 'mojo' under Hiddink's guidance, and once again Ranieri's Juve simply seemed unable to compete with the Blues' imposing physicality, as well as making Chelsea's line-up look like spring chickens as they still rely heavily on veteran stars Del Piero and Nedved.
Finally to the Bernabeu, where the build-up to the match was dominated by talk of Rafa leaving the Reds over his ongoing contract wrangle.
Gerrard failed to make the starting XI and Torres only lasted a matter a minutes, so things were looking good for Madrid who had banged in 10 goals in their 2 previous games.
They could still be playing now, though, and still wouldn't have scored, such was the visitors' defensive dominance in the game before Benayoun put the icing on the cake.
I think we'll have our Fantastic Four continuing to fly the flag for England in Europe after the second legs, and it's only really Barca who seem to be standing in the way of another all-English final.
Of the four of them, though, it's Arsenal who need to go all the way as they are in real danger of missing out on a top-four spot in the Prem, where Aston Villa are trying to gatecrash the best and most lucrative party in Europe.
A tricky last-16 draw meant Europe's heavyweights met each other far too early in the Champions League, with many hoping the likes of Inter v Man Utd, Chelsea v Juventus, Arsenal v Roma and Real Madrid v Liverpool would be mouthwatering semi-final showdowns.
That was not to be, however, meaning four of these European giants will have their CL dreams shattered early doors, and after the first-leg battles it's the English big guns who have the upper hand over their Italian and Spanish rivals.
United were the only team not to establish a 1-0 lead, yet arguably produced the best performance as they totally outplayed Jose's Inter troops at the San Siro.
As usual Mourinho was all mouth ahead of the showdown, but it was United who walked the walk on the pitch and looked faster, fitter, more inventive and more incisive than their hosts, who should be easily overcome in the return leg at Old Trafford as their strikers Ibrahimovic and Adriano looked totally out of their depth against a makeshift United defence missing the impressive Vidic.
The Gunners, meanwhile, outclassed Roma at The Emirates but somehow only scored one goal after fluffing a host of chances on home soil.
Some might feel a 1-0 lead is not enough to take the Eternal City, but Arsenal's superior fitness levels and passing game should ensure they conquer in Rome.
Chelsea seem to have rediscovered their 'mojo' under Hiddink's guidance, and once again Ranieri's Juve simply seemed unable to compete with the Blues' imposing physicality, as well as making Chelsea's line-up look like spring chickens as they still rely heavily on veteran stars Del Piero and Nedved.
Finally to the Bernabeu, where the build-up to the match was dominated by talk of Rafa leaving the Reds over his ongoing contract wrangle.
Gerrard failed to make the starting XI and Torres only lasted a matter a minutes, so things were looking good for Madrid who had banged in 10 goals in their 2 previous games.
They could still be playing now, though, and still wouldn't have scored, such was the visitors' defensive dominance in the game before Benayoun put the icing on the cake.
I think we'll have our Fantastic Four continuing to fly the flag for England in Europe after the second legs, and it's only really Barca who seem to be standing in the way of another all-English final.
Of the four of them, though, it's Arsenal who need to go all the way as they are in real danger of missing out on a top-four spot in the Prem, where Aston Villa are trying to gatecrash the best and most lucrative party in Europe.
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