Madsear's Guide to the Champions League.

Manchester United played like they were the Italian side yesterday, not dominating the game but being realistic to a fault, and scoring two away goals that may be two too many for Roma to come back at Old Trafford next week. The Romans should be mad at themselves - they could have, and should have, scored. We'll see if Totti's returning or not next week. If not, Manchester can send in their B team. As for Barcelona, how the mighty have fallen! Sure they won at Schalke but without Jermaine Jones and with the many missed chances by Kuranyi, Schalke could very well create a surprise at Camp Nou. I haven't seen Barcelona look so mortal in a long while. Now for tonight's games. ARSENAL-LIVERPOOL These two Premiership sides will face each other three times in the next week in a series of matches that will decide if their seasons are successes or failures. For Rafaël Benitez, it goes even deeper - the Reds boss could lose his job if he doesn't bring back a trophy to Anfield. As for arsenal, they seem to have gotten some of their values back after this weekend's game against Bolton. They were one man down but still managed to make up a two goal difference and win the game. The two English teams had to go and take their tickets in the same stadium, Giuzzeppe Meazza/San Siro against Inter and AC Milan. Their destines seem to be tied this season.

So in the first of the three bouts in the days to come, the only questions will be weather or not Mascherano will be fit enough to play and if Emmanuel Eboué will be playing. These two teams know each other too well. Which may just mean that it will be boring as fuck. There's a slight edge for Liverpool who have impressive statistics in this competition and a striker on fire in Fernando Torres. El Nino is showing any doubters that this summer could be belong to him and Spain. FENERBAHCE - CHELSEA Fenerbahçe are in the same position as Schalke. This is their first time at this stage of the competition and they seem to be very serious outsiders. Realistically, I don't see how Chelsea could lose this one. The Blues may start with Nicolas Anelka, an ex-Fenerbahçe player himself and still a fan favourite over there. As for Fenerbahçe, their striker, Mateja Kezman was popular at Stamford Bridge, despite abysmal numbers. Chelsea has an edge and in their second trip to the Bosphore (the first was when they faced Olympiacos), they should come out and try to qualify there. They have the means and Fenerbahçe is having some problems in defense. Granted their force lays up top with forwards fast enough to score against anybody. Let's hope that Petr Cech's replacement Carlo Cudicini is focused enough and Avram Grant's players are able to play in serenity in London next week.