-Bayern Munich should advance easily after a 5-0 thumping of Sporting Lisbon on the road. You have to wonder how Klinsmann will use his players. Will Franck Ribery, Miroslav Klose, Luca Toni, Bastian Schweinsteiger, and Phillip Laam all feature?
-While Liverpool has the vital road goal heading to Anfield, they cannot be happy with their fitness. Steven Gerrard has been a big question mark all season, and Fernando Torres was declared fit just today. However, Yossi Benayoun, the man that scored that road goal, is out with a hamstring injury. Meanwhile, despite losing the first leg of the contest, Real Madrid is one of the hottest clubs in all of European football right now.
-Not really impressed with either squad when they played at Stamford Bridge, but I don't see how Juventus can advance. Chelsea has been playing better under Guus Hiddink, and at the very least should draw this fixture. Juventus is really going to have to press to win this match. It just looks like it's going to be a dull match.
-The Panathinaikos-Villareal fixture is one of the most interesting matches that isn't getting attention. I've taken a liking to Villareal given them being a smaller club and featuring players like Robert Pires, Marco Senna, and Joan Capdevila. It also helped that they played United tough in the group stage.
-Arsenal should take care of Roma after winning 1-0 at home. Having Eduardo and Walcott back, Arsenal should have no problems scoring. They should also have their normal defense with Kolo Toure returning from injury. I'm not sure what line up they would include, but it would be interesting if we saw Walcott, Nasri, Van Persie, Bendtner, and Eduardo all at once.
-Atletico Madrid have their hands full considering they had a 2-2 draw at home. They have to go for the win because of the away goals rule. It should be a very interesting match.
-Barcelona heads home to the Nou Camp having drawn 1-1 at Lyon. While I totally expect Lyon to be a worthy challenge, I doubt with the return of Andre Iniesta, that Barcelona has any troubles advancing to the next round.
-Lastly, in perhaps the most talked about fixture, Manchester United and Internazionale go back to Old Trafford. There are so many stories that have been talked to death. If either team loses, it will be a big loss to the competition. My hope is that Inter wins so that the talk of a quintuple gets put to bed. However, everything tells me that United will advance.
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