A Tale of 4 Match-ups

The Champion's League quarterfinal draw:

(A) Liverpool vs Juve
(B) AC Milan vs Inter Milan
(C) Lyon vs PSV
(D) Chelsea vs Bayern Munich

Winner of (A) to play winner of (D) in semis. Winner of (B) to play winner of (C).

I think I jinxed it when I made my wish list. Not a single one of my desired match-ups came to be!

The Fan's Perspective:
Oh no! Liverpool got drawn against mighty Juve, the team that slayed mighty Real Madrid. I think this may be if for Liverpool's Champs League journey. Hope springs eternal and all that, but even the most optimistic fan cannot deny that Juventus will deservingly be hot favourites to win this one. They are defensively solid, as most top Italian teams are, they know how to pass and how to keep possession, and they are doing well in the Serie A. I think they are just more dependable than mercurial Liverpool whose flashes of brilliance are few and far between. Winning against Leverkusen was great, but they have followed up by drawing against Blackburn. Perhaps after this weekend's derby against Everton (aka as the do and die match if they want to have any realistic hopes of snatching 4th place in the Premiership), Liverpool will have only avenue left for Champions' League action next year - winning it this year. They might have that added incentive come April 5th.

The Anti-fan's Perspective:
Chelsea will play Bayern Munich. I don't know how I feel about this. I wanted Chelsea to draw an Italian team, one that would defend like a brick wall, nullify their passing game, and test their temperament. I also rather looked forward to the Chelsea lot playing in a stadium filled to the reefers with riotously passionate Italian fans (perhaps Mourinho would get riled up enough to earn himself another sin-binning). Bayern Munich is defensively sound and has impeccable Champions' League pedigree. I thought they played excellently at home against Arsenal in the last round, and defended especially well when they played at Highbury. I think they will be worthy opponents but I don't know if they have the flair to break down Chelsea's defence. Of course, for all Barca's flair, that flurry of 3 conceded goals in the 2nd leg did them in. Perhaps the key to unlocking Chelsea might be defensive discipline, such as shown by Manchester City recently when they stubbornly played to a 0-0 draw. If so, Bayern may be well positioned to push Chelsea.

The Neutral's Perspective:
Wow, a Milan derby in the quarterfinals! You could not have scripted it better. I think this might be the match most likely to produce at least one sending off.

The After-thought:
PSV vs Lyon is perhaps the lowest profile of these matches. It will probably receive the least media coverage outside of Holland and France and end up yielding the most goals. Whoever wins this match up will go into the semis as the underdog against either Milan team.