Mighty Olympique Lyon

 This season's Champions League final was between the two best women's sides in the world: FC Barcelona had cruised to the final, and after last year's trashing of Chelsea, were probably slight favourites to continue their dominance in women's football. But facing them was Olympique Lyon, the most winning team in the women's CL, and one that had defeated FC Barcelona 4-1 in the 2019 final.

It was not to be a revenge for the Catalonians, who looked completely overwhelmed in the first half. It was only six minutes into the match when Amadine Henry scored a brilliant goal, and Ada Hegerberg and Catarina Macario scored as well to put the French ahead by the 33rd minute. And in particular the great Ada Hegerberg was playing a great match with vision and great technique.

Just before halftime Alexia Putellas scored for Barcelona, giving the many Barcelona fans in Turin hope for the second half. Surely FC Barcelona improved, but Lyon, whose defense is perhaps one of the best in the world, stood its ground, although they also made a lot of time-wasting which was surely frustrating to everyone (and largely unnecessary).

In the end Lyon won a well-deserved 8th title. And the final was a fantastic match with great atmosphere in Turin, continuing the growth of women's football!

Looking forward to a great final!

Olympique Lyon started the match well, and it could indeed have been a fantastic match against Bayern Munich, had it not been for the French side's inefficiency and the German side's efficiency. After Serge Gnabry had made it 0-2 for the Germans, the match was largely over, although one must commend Lyon's continued but feeble attempts at turning it around (Barcelona could learn something). But Bayern Munich were simply way too good, and in the second half appeared to even shift down a gear, even after Lewandowski made it 3-0.
Bayern Munich nevertheless has some weaknesses that Lyon saw in the initial minutes: a forward defense that can be outrun by fast strikers (very fast, as none of the Bayern defenders are particularly slow), which Paris St. Germain certainly has.
Something both Bayern Munich and Paris St. Germain showed in each of their semifinals that they will punish mistakes; this cost dearly to both Leipzig and Lyon, and shows that they both have to be fully concentrated throughout the match.
With these two teams this looks to be one of the most memorable finals of all time in a tournament that given all these COVID-19 circumstances has been and will remain, one of the most memorable Champions League seasons ever. I regret that I will have to watch the final alone, in my house, without even the possibility of finding a good pub to watch it; but I will try to make the best out of it of a final that I have huge expectations about!

Magnifique Lyon!

There was another surprise today as Olympique Lyon defeated highly-rated Manchester City 1-3 to make it to the Champions League semifinals, where they will be facing mighty Bayern Munich.
Although it is a surprise, the French side were far better than Manchester City. They were extremely organised and concentrated, in my view the best organised team of the 4 semifinalists, and their counterattacks, after Manchester City seemed on the verge of scoring where deadly, as Moussa Dembele scored the two winning goals after Raheem Sterling had missed the biggest goal in Champions League history!
There was some refreshing non-VAR controversy regarding Lyon's second goal: The Argentine commentators on ESPN were not fully in agreement as a player in clear offside jumped over the ball to let Dembele alone through to score. Did he influence the play or not? The goal was given, in my view correctly, and I am happy to say that the great Mario Kempes agrees with me!

Champions League 2019-20 Quarterfinals

I must admit that I hugely enjoyed watching the round of 16 matches the past week, and watching Europa League and Champions League quarterfinals and semifinals for the next two weeks will be great. And as they are only played as one match knock-outs, on a neutral venue, there should be extra excitement!
The quarterfinals are as follows:

• RB Leipzig-Atletico Madrid: Both of these teams knocked out last years' finalists, Tottenham and Liverpool respectively. Atletico Madrid shocked the defending champions, and will be looking for yet another shot at the title that has always eluded them despite three finals.
• Paris Saint Germain-Atalanta: Atalanta are probably the surprise side in this years' CL, but have in my view not really been tested against one of the best sides. We should expect this to happen now as PSG has their eyes firmly set finally being able to have a shot at the title; they have only been in one semifinal (1995), and their last previous quarterfinal was in 2016. I would bet on them making it to the semifinal, at least.
• Manchester City-Olympique Lyon: Two teams who have a decent Champions League record over the last 20 years, but have never been in a final, but each have been in one semifinal each (Manchester City in 2016 and Lyon in 2010). Manchester City took out mighty Real Madrid, highly deserved, while Lyon eliminated the elderly Juventus side (and cost the Bukowski- loving banker, Maurizio Sarri, his job). Manchester City has always had ambitions to get a CL title, and will see this as a great chance. At the same time a young Lyon side will play without pressure in a surely exciting match!
• FC Barcelona-Bayern Munich: This is certainly the match most people are waiting for. FC Barcelona has not had a good season, and will look to redeem itself in the CL. Lionel Messi was again outstanding in the 3-1 victory over Napoli, and people seem to expect him to carry the side. In the meantime, Bayern Munich totally cruised to the final via Chelsea, and are perhaps slight favourites to make it to the quarterfinal. However, with Messi and in a knock-out, anything can happen!

Be sure to have some beers if you, like me, are watching these matches alone and locked down at home!

The champions from Paris

Anything can happen in football, but money often is victorious. After 19 years Paris St. Germain again won the French League title after a 1-0 victory over Olympique Lyon (a team that dominated French football with seven league titles in a row until 2008).
In 2012 the Qatar Investment Authority bought the stock majority in Paris St. Germain and made them one of the richest clubs in the world, investing heavily in creating a competitive team. Carlo Ancelotti became coach of a team and some of the players that arrived were Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Maxwell, and even the ageing but ever-present David Beckham. And there is no doubt that the team has been steadily improving, and after finishing second last season they put up a great performance in the CL against FC Barcelona.
Now the title arrived, and it was surely a deserved title. Many people will criticize that it is only a victory of money, and that is surely true. But it is also true that Paris St. Germain was always a great team in a city - one of the greatest cities in the world -, that needs a top level football side. If the French league can avoid the trappings of the Spanish league, the French league will benefit from a strong Paris St. Germain side that will also be great to have in European competitions.
Great new champions, and congratulations to all fans!

The surprises

The last round of matches of the group stages of the 2011-12 Champions League had a couple of surprises.

Firstly, Manchester United was elminated for the first time in the group stages of the tournament since the 2005-06 season. More surprising than this fact is nevertheless that it happened against the underestimated FC Basel in the last match of the tournament, where the English side needed only a tie to follow Benfica to the next round. However, the Swiss side was much more efficient, when they went ahead 1-0 early in the match they played a controlled defensive that kept United away for most of the match. Add a bit of luck and a late strike, and Basel managed to win 2-1 to complete Manchester United's sensational exit. In group A, Manchester City was also, less surprisingly, eliminated in spite of their win against Bayern Munich, so there will be no more CL football in Manchester this season.

Another surprise was that Olympique Lyon managed to follow Real Madrid to the next round in group D, after they needed to win with six goals away to Dynamo Zagreb to overtake Ajax Amsterdam (who losing to Real Madrid, could have solved it for themselves). Lyon won 1-7 in Zagreb, but the odd thing is how it happened: One man down, Zagreb nevertheless took the lead, only to see the French equalize before halftime on a gross defensive mistake. In the second half the home side fell mysteriously apart when Lyon scored six goals to take the ticket to the next round. French authorities are now looking into the match for the suspision of it being fixed, a thought that I think must have crossed many football fans' mind, including my own. Sadly, the fixing of matches at this level is not unheard of... It involving French sides is not unheard of neither.

That said, it may be wholly fair, and in that sense, one must congratulate Lyon, but the surprise simply looks too suspicious not to be looked into. I hope it was not fixed though.

The last quarterfinalists

The last seven years mighty Real Madrid has been unable to make it to the quartefinals of the Champions League, but 2011 finally saw them get through. Under José Mourinho the team is as good as it has been for years, and one of the teams that has often been a stumbling block, Olympique Lyon, was dispatched with a well-played and offensive 3-0 victory. Karim Benzema scored yet another goal, and is really in a great form at the moment. No doubt that whoever they will face in the quarterfinals, it will be hard, but Real Madrid is hungry.

Chelsea progressed on 0-0 in one of the most boring matches in Champions League history against a team that played in pink shirts.

The defending champions of Inter Milan were the sensation of the round. After losing 0-1 in Milan, and being 2-1 down against Bayern Munich, the Italians managed to turn the entire game around, and ended winning 2-3, and making it to the quarterfinals. No doubt a disappointment for Bayern Munich, who are having a dismal season, but who can only thank themselves for the enormous chances they missed in the first half against Inter.
Inter Milan is keeping Italy's flag high, and are still defending their title!

Finally, Manchester United made it to the quarterfinals after defeating Olympique Marseille 2-1 on two goals by "Chicharito" Hernandez. The win was not surprising, but Manchester United didn't look that superior and had to fight for the victory. It will be interesting to see them against a better opponent in the quarterfinals.

But these are the teams that will be in the pot on Friday:

• FC Barcelona
• Real Madrid
• Inter Milan
• Tottenham Hotspurs
• Manchester United
• Chelsea
  
• Shakhtar Donetsk
• Schalke 04
  

Great Bayern Munich, disappointing Olympique Lyon

With three goals the Croatian and Bayern striker Ivica Olic was crucial in giving an excellent Bayern Munich team the spot in this season's Champions League final in Madrid. Still, he was not the only star in the victory: the German side was far superior to an Olympique side that seemed nervous and overwhelmed by the importance of the match.

A lot of people are saying that the Barcelona-Inter match tomorrow is the real final, as if Bayern Munich didn't matter. However, nothing could be more dangerous than underestimating the German side that has been growing the entire tournament under the coaching of Louis Van Gaal. Surely, no matter which team they will face in the final, they will be aiming for the title, and will have a good chance to win it!

The semifinals

Yesterday FC Barcelona and Inter Milan qualified for the 2009-10 Champions League semifinals. Today the other two semifinalists were to be found.

I have for years said that one should look out for Olympique Lyon, but they have never made it beyond the quarterfinals. But today, they made history; after winning 3-1 at home, a 1-0 defeat to Girondins Bordeaux was enough to put them in the semifinal.
The other match between Manchester United and Bayern Munich was a true drama that must make the Champions League proud. After a late 2-1 victory last week in Munich, the Germans had to defend their narrow lead. But Manchester United started like lightning, and were 2-0 up after only seven minutes, and even made it 3-0 before Ivica Olic made it 3-1, the score after a first half where the English team had looked far superior to the Germans.
But as in the first match, the Germans never give up, as things also started to go against Manchester: shortly into the second half Rafael was given his second yellow card; with ten men and without an injured Wayne Rooney, United's pressure subsided. Fifteen minutes before time the Dutchman Arjen Robben scored a stunning goal that put Bayern Munich in the semifinals for the first time since 2001.
It is a pity to see Manchester United out of the tournament, since they are a great club. However, they lost to a German team that will surely be interesting to watch, and that got a slight revenge for the legendary 1999 CL final where Manchester United defeated them 2-1 on two last minute goals.

The semifinals are as follows:

• FC Barcelona-Inter Milan
• Bayern Munich-Olympique Lyon

It is to note that this is the first time since 2003 without English teams in the semifinal (but I will not be one of the people to say that this means a decline of the Premier League) and the first time since 2004 with four different countries represented. Be sure that these will be thoroughly exciting matches!

Thank you Olympique Lyon

All due respect to Real Madrid, which I have never liked. But the royal Spaniards have a tendency to blow themselves up after one good match: their incredible 3-2 victory against Sevilla last weekend, had caused them to predict another large victory over Olympique Lyon. The French had been the far better team in the first match in Lyon, although they only won 1-0. Still, a star like Sergio Ramos had before the match said that Real Madrid would win 3-0.
I think it is wisest for players to shut up before matches, because they only look like fools. Real Madrid started well, and were leading 1-0 at halftime. But they were a complete disaster in the second half in particular, and Lyon should have won the match after their equalizer.
It is always wonderful to see arrogance pounded, and arrogance was yet again defeated by Real Madrid's elimination.

How about Olympique Lyon and Wayne Rooney?

I have always liked Olympique Lyon, and over the last years I have always thought that they would get closer to glory in the Champions League, but so far wrongly. Now the team is surely not what they used to be: the did not win last season's French championship, and are currently only 4th in the French league. So it would seem that their chances against mighty Real Madrid in the first round of the CL play-offs was meager. However, last night Lyon outplayed the Spaniards, and if anything, the 1-0 victory is only too fragile before they go on to play in Madrid. Also, the victory is surely a merit to Lyon's skills and fight, but on the other hand, the Spaniards were poor to say the least, and in particular Kaká is running the danger of being a total flop.

In the other play-off match last night, mighty Manchester United played mighty AC Milan in San Siro, where they had never scored a goal. But things were to change, as United scored three, two of them by super Wayne Rooney who is surely emerging as perhaps the best striker in the world at the moment.
Manchester United won 3-2, thanks to Rooney, but also somewhat thanks to a well-playing Van der Saar and to good ole' luck. AC Milan, and in particular Ronaldinho as well as David Beckham (playing against his old club) played a great and offensive match, but the team missed way too many chances, and it now looks like the Milanese are heading out of the tournament.

Champions League 2009-2010 4th round group stages

Liverpool had to defeat Olympique Lyon away after losing 1-2 at home in the previous round. But last night the English team only managed a 1-1 draw, and with 4 points it is now almost impossible that Liverpool progresses to the next round: Livepool must win their remaining two matches and Fiorentina must not win any of their remaining two matches (of which the last one is between Liverpool and Fiorentina, and could prove crucial!). Watching Liverpool play, this is not surprising: although managing to dominate at moments, and getting ahead on a beautiful strike by Marcus Babbel, Lyon was the better team, and it will in fact be interesting to see whether this season may be the one for the French side.
In fact, French sides seem on top this season: Bordeaux defeated Bayern Munich 0-2 in Germany to surprisingly take the top spot in group A ahead of Juventus, while Olympique Marseille is only one point behind AC Milan and Real Madrid in group C, and will have to face both in their last two matches. Real Madrid only managed to tie against AC Milan, and while they retain the second spot, they are not looking as strong as expected.
The defending champions of Barcelona are not looking as awesome as last season either, and are struggling in group D, which is certainly the most exciting group: Inter is leading with 6 points, just ahead of Rubin Kazan and Barcelona with 5 points, while Dynamo Kiev has 4 points on last place, but can still win the group! The next round where Spanish and Italians face each other will be nail-biting!
While Atlético Madrid has been hugely disappointing and is already out after only managing to tie Chelsea 2-2 and trailing FC Porto, Sevilla has been the most awesome Spanish team, and is sure to progress from Group D where Unirea Urziceni and VfB Stuttgart are to fight for the second spot.
Finally, Manchester United and Arsenal seem set to win groups B and H respectively, with Wolfburg (by the way, cool intro-music on their web-site!), CSKA Moscow, Olympiakos and Standard Liege all having chances of progressing with them.

Outstanding Fiorentina

Anyone who may read this blog may know that I don't often have anything nice to say about Italian teams. However, as strange as it may sound, now I do: in the Champions League I watched Fiorentina play Liverpool last night, and was very impressed by the Italians, who in the first half of the match in particular were far superior to the great English side. In a non-typical Italian way, Fiorentina attacked all over the pitch, and had some outstanding players, most notably the only 19-year old Montenrgrin Stevan Jovetic who scored both Fiorentina goals in their 2-0 victory. If he can be free of inuries and continue developing, he is surely a player to watch. With two games coming up against a rather weak-looking Debrecen side (that was destroyed 0-4 at home by Olympique Lyon, who is again looking strong enough to be an outsider for the semifinals at least) , Fiorentina has good chances at continuing to the next round.
On the other hand, Liverpool is not looking too strong. The midfield without Mascherano looks very weak, and the two coming matches against Olympique Lyon will be an important test to the English side.
In the meantime, I hope to see more of the outstanding Fiorentina side.

Champions League 2009-10 Qualifiers

Panathinaikos and Atlético Madrid played a marvelous 1st leg qualifying match for the Champions League, which was a great preview for the CL. In Athens, Atlético Madrid showed its attacking force and with goals by Maxi Rodriguez, Diego Forlán and Sergio "Kun"Agüero, won a very useful 3-2 against a Panathinaikos side that will surely be a qualitative asset in the Europa League (or of course, in the CL if the manage to get a highly improbable two-goal victory in Madrid!).

After watching such quality from these two teams, any football fan would have to wonder why in the world either Atlético Madrid or Panathinaikos have to be out, when either FC Copenhagen or Apoel Nicosia will be there... In their dead-boring 1st leg match FC Copenhagen won 1-0 at home, and I think anyone should only watch the 2nd leg match if they have sleeping problems.

Not many people have been noticing that after Real Madrid and Manchester City, Olympique Lyon have been the team most investing in new players this summer, after losing some of their former stars, Juninho and Benzema. And some of these new players showed that Olympique Lyon is again a team to count on this season: Lisandro Lopez, Miralem Pjanic and Bafe Gomis all scored in Lyon's 5-1 victory against Anderlecht. It will surely be interesting to watch the French team this season!

Arsenal won an important 0-2 away victory against Celtic in Glasgow, and the youngsters will again be facing a season in the CL, where they can surely defeat anyone on a good day.

Sporting Lissabon and Fiorentina tied 2-2 in Lissabon, in a match where the Portuguese were left with ten men after Simon Vukcevic was red carded because he took his shirt off when celebrating his equalizing goal to 1-1. Still, Sporting managed to go ahead, before Gilardino equalized to 2-2 for Fiorentina, giving them a good result before the 2nd leg in Italy.

Otherwise, a number of other teams seem well on their way to the Champions League after important away victories in their 1st leg qualifiers: VFB Stuttgart (defeated Poli AEK Timisoara 0-2), FC Zurich (defeated Ventspils 0-3), Debrecen (defeated Levski Sofia 1-2) and Maccabi Haifa (defeated Red Bull Salzburg 1-2).

The Champions League is underway, and after a summer without football and watching a great match tonight, I cannot wait for it to start!

Olympique Lyon trashing Rangers

With all due respect to the many great fans of Glasgow Rangers, I must admit that I much prefer to see Olypique Lyon in the last-16 of the Champions League. I have for long admired the French champions, and in particular their deadly attacking weapon in the form of Juninho.
Nevertheless, I was expecting an all-exciting match tonight in Glasgow, where a tie would be enough to send Rangers through, after their (surprising) trashing of the French in Lyon earlier this year.
Although the early goal somewhat changed the game, and Rangers managed to put a steady pressure, besides one huge chance, it never really felt like Rangers would pull the trick. Instead, their defence was looking more and more shaky amid Lyon's deadly conterattacks, led by a marvelous young Benzema (I had never actually before seen him play, but I was overly impressed).
It is a pity for Rangers and their great fans, as they will be missed in the last-16. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to see the marvelous Lyon side, which surely will be a difficult adversary for any team.
Until next years Rangers!

Champions League 2007-08: First round tips

I have not been following the leagues, and have little knowledge of transfers and changes. However, I still feel I need to give my tips for the first round of the Champions League, however meager those tips may be due to my poor level of information…

The tips are in any case based on what happened after first matchday, so they may be a bit better and I may not look totally pathetic…

Group A:

• Olympique Marseille
• Liverpool
• FC Porto
• Besiktas

Liverpool was not looking too strong against FC Porto, but still managed a tie, and under Benitez’ wise tutelage, they remain a strong cup side, so I predict that they will succeed in continuing from the group. Olympique Marseille is far from old times’ greatness, and may have confidence after starting with 3 points against Turkish Besiktas. Nevertheless, I think FC Porto will prevail: with a bit more luck they could have taken out Liverpool, and have a strong attacking force.

Group B:

• Valencia
• Rosenborg
• Chelsea
• Schalke 04

Chelsea and Valencia are the obvious choices in this group where I think anyone will reduce Schalke 04 and Rosenborg to fight for the UEFA spot on third place. The two giants clashed in the quarterfinal last season, with Chelsea coming out victorious. This season, I think (and hope) Valencia will prevail to get the first spot: they started well with an away victory to Schalke 04, while a Chelsea team that has also looked shaky in the Premier League, only managed a tie in Trondheim. The Norwegians may be on their way into the UEFA Cup.

Group C:

• Real Madrid
• Lazio
• Olympiakos
• Werder Bremen

The Spanish champions will win this group. After selling the galacticos, I think real football will prevail in the club instead of fashion and design. They started by defeating a Werder Bremen side that has before given them trouble, and should be ready to defeat the others. Lazio and Werder Bremen will be having a tense fight for second spot in the group, with the defensive Italians being upset by a fighting Bremen side.

Group D:

• Shaktar Donetsk
• AC Milan
• Benfica
• Celtic

In this group AC Milan and Benfica are my obvious choices, and with AC Milan starting the whole thing with a victory against the Portuguese, I think they are in for a first spot. Shakhtar Donetsk started another good Champions League with a victory against the Glasgow Celtic, and it is likely these teams will be fighting for the third spot. Benfica, the Lisbon club with such great tradition and history, should get into the next round on second spot.

Group E:

• Barcelona
• Rangers
• Olympique Lyon
• VFB Stuttgart

Barcelona seems set for another good season, in spite of them not winning anything last season. They are still putting priority on entertaining attacking football, and young Lionel Messi is starting to shine brightly on the otherwise dark sky of great footballers today… They started with a sure 3-0 victory over Lyon and I think they will cruise through this group. The rest of the teams will be in a harsh fight for the second spot, which may be a true nail-biter. Lyon are still a strong team of talented youngsters and excellent foreigners, VFB Stuttgart are German champions, and Rangers should have confidence after defeating them. Hard to predict, but I go for Lyon, whom I have always felt sympathy for.

Group F:

• AS Roma
• Sporting Lisbon
• Manchester United
• Dynamo Kiev

Manchester United, defending English champions and with one of the most awesome young teams in Europe is likely in for the first spot, more so after starting with an away victory against Sporting in Lisbon. The only possible threat may be AS Roma: the often unpredictable Romans seems to be looking more stable, and started with a good 2-0 victory against Dynamo Kiev in Rome. They could upset Manchester, but I doubt they will, but should nevertheless take second spot.

Group G:

• Fenerbahce
• Inter Milan
• PSV Eindhoven
• CSKA Moscow

While many would have predicted Inter Milan, I think this group could be in for an upset. Fenerbahce, who apparently has bought some excellent new players, managed to defeat Inter in the first match, and PSV, full of young motivated players, also managed to defeat CSKA, and may also manage to upset the Italians. I only predict CSKA to be out of the race. Inter Milan should continue to next round, but I am not sure it will be on first spot. This will be one of the most interesting groups.

Group H:

• Arsenal
• Sevilla
• Slavia Prague
• Steua Bucharest

Arsenal for sure. They started out destroying the twice UEFA cup champions from Sevilla, who seemed surprised to see the different level in the highest European competition. However, as they are now in, I predict they will prevail against the other two sides. Admittedly, I know little of either Steua or Slavia (more of the formers good historical results), but I feel they should not be a threat to Sevilla.

Let us see how I do!

Champions League start

I was in a small village on the Northern coast of Mozambique, when a colleague told me that the Champions League was starting again. I felt a tickle of embarrassment, since as I have mentioned before, my football passion has gone, and I have not followed anything as of late. I wasn’t even aware that the Spanish league had started, or any of the groups in the Champions League. I haven’t even made a UEFA Fantasy team, and considering that I am a leading expert on football on the internet, it is all an embarrassment. I am indeed, that my football site has been gone for so long.

Anyway, as I got to my friend’s house to see the first match between FC Porto and Liverpool, I had the sudden feeling that I had been missing this a lot! That in spite of my reservations about the international capitalist football machinery having taken the magic out of the sport, I need the “fix”. I am addicted again I think, and greatly enjoyed the match: FC Porto was on to an amazing start against a really lame Liverpool side. However, Liverpool is known for getting back into matches, and completely underserved, managed to get an equalizer by Dirk Kuyt. After that Liverpool settled better into the match, and FC Porto was unable to be a major threat. It ended up a boring game…

On the more positive note, my old darling Valencia started with a good 0-1 away victory against Schalke 04 and Chelsea managed only a meager tie with Rosenborg in the same group.

Lionel Messi was magical in Barcelona’s 3-0 victory over Olympique Lyon, with Thierry Henry scoring for Barcelona as well. UEFA champions from Seville were shown how to play with the big boys, when Arsenal destroyed them 3-0, and Real Madrid defeated Werder Bremen.

Machester United’s Ronaldo scored the winning goal against his old Sporting Lisbon, and the defending champions of AC Milan started defeating the other Lisbon club Benfica. The other Milan team, Inter, defending Italian champions, were surprised by a good Fenerbahce side, who won a deserved victory.

All in all, Champions League is back, and I have a lot to learn about the new season!

Historic Villarreal

Villarreal is in the semifinal of the Champions League! This is a historic event for the Valencian team, since it is the first time this small town outside of Castellon has made it to the tournament. And this time they did it by getting the scalp of Inter Milan, whom they defeated 1-0 to progress on aggregate.

Here, I must mention my team in the UEFA CL Fantasy Football ("Football Fanatics"), where I have last night's lone scorer, Arruabarrena, on the defense: the Villarreal captain has proven one of the strongest defenders of the league and is giving me a lot of points.

It will be interesting to see Villarreal in the next round. Everything can happen from now on, so could we end seeing Villarreal go all the way....?

The other Milanese team, AC Milan, had serious difficulties defeating a well-playing Olympique Lyon. However, with 2 goals in the dying minutes of the match, the Italians managed to progress to the semifinal. A pity for Olympique Lyon, whose exit is yet again in the quarterfinals.

Olympique Lyon- AC Milan

Olympique Lyon and AC Milan tied 0-0 in the first leg match of the Champions League Quarterfinal in Lyon. I had the pleasure to watch the game in a good old bar in Copenhagen with a good friend. In spite of this, the game was a bore. Lyon is not the same without Juninho, although they did play a fine game. In spite of Juninho being back for the next match, Lyon will have a really difficult time in Milan.

UEFA Champions League Quarterfinals

On a goal by the Serbian player Dejan Stankovic, Inter won 1-0 against Ajax Amsterdam, to make it to the quarterfinals of the 2005-2006 Champions League. The draw for the quarterfinal fixtures was made last week, and we will see the following matches:

• Inter-Villarreal

The Spaniards, who are in their first Champions League ever, will have a hard time facing the Italians. While it is excellent that they have reached so far as they have, Villarreal has not been overly convincing, and will have to do their best to stop Adriano & co.

• Barcelona-Benfica

This will surely be an entertaining match, as both teams like to attack and dominate. Benfica is dangerous, having taken out the defending champions, but they are probably not happy to be facing the best team in the world at the moment. I expect Barcelona will prevail in this match.

• Arsenal-Juventus

A difficult match for both teams. Juventus is surely among the best teams in the world, and is in the quarterfinal after two dramatic matches against Werder Bremen. Arsenal is full of confidence after defeating Real Madrid, and is set for finally making it in the Champions League after so many disappointments.

• Olympique Lyon-AC Milan

I have a soft spot for the French team. They play beautifully and as last year, they have the potential of making it all the way. However, they will have to play well against an AC Milan side that has some of the most awesome striking power in the world, as well as a brilliant defence. AC Milan will want to win the title that seemed theirs last year in Istambul.