Madsear's Guide to the Champions League

(Our crack correspondent from across the pond, the one and only Madsear, previews today's big matches.)

Chelsea v. Porto
This game seems to be the most predictable of all. There was a draw in the first leg of this game (1-1 @Lisbon) and that appeared to be an excellent operation for the Blues, who followed up their performance in the "Stadio do Dragao" by winning the League Cup against an Henry-less Arsenal. During that same game, they lost England skipper John Terry for a month and he won't be there tomorrow. Still, it seems quasi-impossible for Porto to pull an upset at Stamford Bridge if you count on freshly named "African Footballer of the year" Didier Drogba and his second runner-up Michael Essien who will be filling Terry's absence in central defense next to Ricardo Carvalho.

Liverpool v. Barcelona


Liverpool is on the verge of creating the biggest surprise this year in a European competition. Nobody expected Barcelona to be in any kind of trouble before the quarterfinals. Now it seems very possible for the Catalans to leave the tournament before ever having a chance of starting a lineup similar to last year's. Liverpool won in Barcelona (2-1) thanks to Bellamy and Riise who were both implicated in an incident involving golf clubs and ungodly amounts of booze. All that turmoil didn't seem to bother them much, but the drama on Barcelona's side did - people actually saying that Samuel Eto'o refused to enter five minutes before the end of a game and his response that the cause of it was his still somewhat injured knee. Frank Rijkaard, who doesn't seem to like him much, said off the record that his knee was not healing due to the fact that he didn't train enough. Eto'o promptly burst out of an interview saying that whoever had the balls to say that he didn't go to practice should grow some balls (juegos). This was one of those "You talkin about practice??" moments. Add those declarations to rampant rumors that some Cataluñans would like to see Ronaldinho and his ways leave the club before he self destructs. This game will definitely be the most interesting tomorrow out of the four, Barcelona having to score at least twice to go through.

Lyon v. AS Roma
The first leg was a draw. Lyon is the best team in France right now and they seem to be back on track. They've also proven to be world-class choke artists when it comes to playing Italian teams (they lost to Milan in the 2006 quarterfinals and in 2004). They're a superior team than Rome and should win, but they've lost to weaker opponents in the past so who knows.

Valencia CF v. Internazionale Milan
Valencia did something special by scoring twice (2-2 @ San Siro) on the road and putting themselves in the driver's seat against a Milan squad that just saw their 17-game win streak stopped by a draw this weekend. All the Valencians need is a 0-0 result, and knowing them, they'll play for it. So it may be the last time we see legend Luis Figò in a European competition before he moves to Saudi Arabia this summer. Milan has been the best team in Italy this season but can they handle one of the toughest crowds in Spain? Seems unlikely.