Champions League Quarter Final Previews 04.01.08

By: Daryl | April 1st, 2008

CL QF 08

The big show is back on today, with Champions League quarterfinal first legs kicking off in Rome and Gelsenkirchen…

Roma vs Man Utd
This is why the Champions League was invented. Two teams in great form, playing attractive attacking football. Man Utd have Ronaldo doing things like this, and with a grand total of 35 goals so far. But there are still some question marks about whether he’s a big game player, with his very quiet appearance in last year’s semi-final defeat to AC Milan used as evidence. We’ll see what he’s made of today, but United fans will be pleased to see he’s looking very relaxed.

For Roma, the bad bad bad news is that Francesco Totti will almost definitely be missing through injury. No arguing with Totti’s importance to Roma, but it’s also foolish to suggest they’re a one man team. For example, Daniele De Rossi is in great form in midfield, while Montenegrin striker Mirko Vucinic is Roma’s Champions League top scorer, and always seems to step up when needed.

The big concern for both teams is Man Utd’s big 7-1 win that knocked Roma clean out of last season’s Champions League. As noted on Champions League Offside, Roma have to make sure that painful memory doesn’t affect their confidence – especially if Man Utd take an early lead – while Man Utd have to beware of complacency and any temptation to underestimate Roma.

How both sets of fans behave is important too. We all know what happened last season, and I’m sure no one wants to see that again.

Chris will be LiveBlogging the game on Roma Offside.

Schalke 04 vs Barcelona
At first glance you might peg Barca as easy favourites for this game. But football matches aren’t decided by which team is the most famous. The reality is that both teams currently sit third in their respective league, and Schalke are in much much better form. The German team are unbeaten in four games, while Barcelona have won just once in the last seven and somehow turned a 2-0 lead into a 2-3 defeat against Real Betis this weekend.

Barca are also missing Leo Messi, Deco and Ronaldinho through injury, which is a lot of talent to go without. Samuel Eto’o will also face a late fitness test. The good news for Barca is that they welcome back defenders Gabriel Milito and Rafael Marquez, who both missed the Betis game.

Schalke have their own injuries to worry about – Brazilian Ze Roberto and exciting 20 year old Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitić to name just two. Coach Mirko Slomka seems well aware that Barcelona are still plenty dangerous, but is convinced that this home tie is Schalke’s big chance, given Barca’s form. “They are having a few problems at the moment. Furthermore, their away form has not been so good in the league and so we do have a chance here at home with our excellent fans behind us.”

Schalke Offside preview – Barcelona Offside preview