Champions League Quarter Final Previews 04.02.08

By: Daryl | April 2nd, 2008

CL QF 08

It’s the second installment of Champions League quarter final first legs today, with action in Istanbul and London…

Fenerbahçe vs Chelsea
Both teams recently improved their domestic league positions. Fenerbahçe claimed a 2-1 away win over Besiktas in the Istanbul derby (or rather, one of the Istanbul derbies) to take top spot in the Turkish Süper Lig, while Chelsea have finally overtaken Arsenal as Man Utd’s title challengers in the Premiership.

Chelsea will be most people’s picks to make the semi-finals, with the talents of Drogba, Anelka and all the rest to call on. But this first leg won’t be easy. Turkey is a notoriously not-fun place for away teams to visit, with the super-passionate fans giving visitors an unmistakably unfriendly welcome.

And Fenerbahçe are no mugs. It’s might be their first time in the quarters, but they’ve already beaten Inter, PSV and Sevilla on the way here. They have the Champions League experience of Roberto Carlos to guide them, and the Braziliant talents of Alex de Souza to call on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9S2dN22Pqhs

Apparently he’s got “10% luck, 20% skill, 15% concentrated power of will, 5% pleasure, 50% pain, 100% reason to remember my name.” So he must be good. He also has 70 goals and 64 assists in 116 appearances for Fenerbahçe, plus plenty of appearances for the Brazilian national team.

Arsenal vs Liverpool

And so the trilogy begins. Arsenal and Liverpool will face each other three times in the next ten days – two legs of the Champions League quarterfinal plus a Premiership match at ~~Highbury~~ (D’oh!) The Emirates on Saturday.

Liverpool’s early season hopes of challenging for the Premiership are no more, so fourth place is the domestic goal. But they’re only off the pace because of their earlier form. Right now they’re looking decent, with Fernando Torres particularly lethal in front of goal (28 in all competitions so far.)

As for Arsenal… who knows? They’ve been looking lackluster ever since Eduardo’s injury (and Adebayor’s haircut) but came to life on Saturday, fighting back with ten men from two goals down against Bolton and eventually claiming all three points. It might all depend on exactly how long it takes Robin van Persie to get sharp again.

Since this is Part One of Three the teams might just spend 90 minutes poking each other to see what gives. Or they might not. We know Liverpool know how to defend in Europe, but we also know Arsenal are much more effective going forward than shutting up shop. So we’ll have to wait and see whether this first game looks more like an end to end Premiership battle or a Champions League chess game.