Chelsea scheduled to meet Manchester United in the last eight of Champions League
The draws for the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals are out and there are some mouth watering encounters to look forward to. One of the most anticipated ties is between Manchester United and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786. The two legged match-up will take place next month.
It will be a repeat of the 2008 Champions League final that took place at Moscow. The only other English side left in the competition, Tottenham Hotspurs, will face Spanish giants, Real Madrid. Barcelona the current Spanish champions have a relatively easier
tie against Shakhtar Donetsk. The defending European champions http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Inter-c39567 Milan also do not have a stiff task ahead of them as they will be up against Schalke.
The winner of the Manchester United and Chelsea match will go on to face the winner of the Inter and Schalke tie. The first leg of the quarter-finals will be played on 5 and 6 April and the second leg will take place on the 12 and 13 of April.
Chelsea is one of the top clubs in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/England-c749, as well as the defending Champions of the Premier League. However they have not yet won a champions League crown, and for a club claiming to be one of the best in Europe, that is a big jewel missing in their crown.
Apart from finally winning their first European title, Chelsea will have revenge on their mind. The loss to Manchester United in 2008 was not easy to take for anyone connected to the club, be it players or the fans. More so because the Blues were just a kick
away from winning the title, and it was their captain http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/John-Terry-c18895 who had the opportunity to send in a spot kick and win the title. However the centre back slipped on the wet surface on a rainy night in Moscow. He kicked it away from goal, and Manchester United
keeper Edwin van der Saar was able to save the next penalty from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Nicolas-Anelka-c27786 to give United the Champions League.
John Terry had his face buried in the ground and his team mates tried their best to console him at the time. Avram Grant later admitted that the defeat had left a bad taste in the mouth of Chelsea. When the London club was bought by Russian billionaire Roman
Abramovich back in 2003, Chelsea have spent millions in order to make themselves one of the best in Europe. They did manage to win back to back league titles under Jose Mourinho in 2005 and 2006, but even the special one could not get them to European glory.
There is no doubt that winning the champions League remains on the to-do list of the English Premier League’s defending champions.
It becomes even more important for Chelsea than Manchester United, because Chelsea is no longer in the running for the Premier League crown and this is all they have to play for. That is one fact that will benefit the Blues more than Manchester United. When
the two legged tie approaches next month, Manchester United will have their hands full with the Premier League title race, while Chelsea can sit back and focus solely on Europe.
Manchester United will like the fact that at least the quarter-finals will not be played until next month and that will give Sir Alex enough time to have some of his injured players back in the team. At the moment, the current United squad is the weakest
one to take the field all year. Come next month, things can be a lot different for both camps. Regardless of what happens, there are two fabulous European nights in offering at Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford next month.
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