Showing posts with label Lyon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lyon. Show all posts

UEFA Champions league's Quarter Finals Draws

Uefa Champions League Quarter finales are ready to go on the way to semis...The Draws are interesting this time. The fans have an eye on the cruel clashes among the rivals of soccer world.

Arsenal have been drawn against holders Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, while Manchester United face Bayern Munich in a repeat of the memorable 1999 Final.

Barcelona beat the Gunners in the Final four years ago when Arsene Wenger's team had Jens Lehmann sent off and outclassed Manchester United in last year's showpiece.

Eleven years ago United produced one of the most memorable comebacks in European football history when they scored two last-gasp goals to edge past the current Bundesliga leaders 2-1.

The German side seemed certain to claim the trophy when they led 1-0 going into injury time only for last-gasp goals by substitutes Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to hand Sir Alex Ferguson his first Champions League crown.

Elsewhere, there will be an all-French quarter-final after Lyon were paired with Bordeaux while Internazionale, who knocked Chelsea out of the competition on Tuesday, will be expected to see off outsiders CSKA Moscow, who surprisingly beat Sevilla at the last-16 stage.

If United can win through to the semi-finals they will play the winners of the Lyon v Bordeaux clash, while Arsenal will face Inter or CSKA if they can shock Pep Guardiola's team.

The full quarter and semi-final draws are:
Lyon v Bordeaux
Bayern Munich v Manchester United
Arsenal v Barcelona
Internazionale v CSKA Moscow.

Lyon Is Tough: Iker Casillas

February 16 2010 will be the craziest soccer game play of the year of Champions League. Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas is expecting a difficult test when his side face Lyon in the last 16 of this year's UEFA Champions League.

Casillas is aware of Lyon's dip in form domestically and although the Ligue 1 side have seen a number of their top players leave, including Casillas' team-mate Karim Benzema, he still feels they will cause problems for Los Merengues.

"It is true that the latest clashes with Lyon have been more bad than good, but back then only Raul, Guti, [Sergio] Ramos, and myself played. We've created a great team and I reckon with this squad we can progress to the quarter finals but that doesn't mean Lyon won't be a difficult hurdle for Real Madrid," the 28-year-old shot stopper told a press conference.

"Maybe this year they are suffering more in the league, but all teams change. Their great players, including [Mahamadou] Diarra and [Karim] Benzema have signed in recent years for other teams. But if they have the same mentality as years ago, they will be a fast team, with very good balance and very dangerous from free-kicks. Surely the climate is also a handicap for us.

"We would like to score a goal and not concede. 1-0 would be the ideal result for us."