The matchups of the UEFA Champions League quarters

Some people love to watch the English Premier League, some people may prefer Liga BBVA. But one tournament brings every league together, what I like to call it is the tournament of cahmpions. The best of the best have won this tournament, teams like Barcalona, Manchester United, and Chelsea. This article is showing the four matchups of the quarterfinals and also I will share in the final slide what the matchups will be in the semis in my opinion.

Manchester United vs. Bayern Munich

The first matchup is the english powerhouse Manchester United and the German champions Bayern Munich. Last year Man U came very close to the title, being the favorites but losing a heartbreaker at the hands of Barcalona and Lionel Messi. This year again looked promising for United, even though there star player Christiano Ronaldo departed. At first glance you see that Manchester United has the upper hand, with two of the top three scorers for the tournament being members of the squad (Rooney 5 and Owen 4) while Bayern Munich only has one player with three goals (Olic). Even with this scoring advantage, Manchester lost a heartbreaker 2-1 with Munich scoring two late goals. To had injury, Rooney went down hard and is doubtfull for the next leg.

Lyon vs. Bordeaux

The second matchup is the French powerhouses Lyon and Bordeaux. Bordeaux is on top of Ligue 1 with 56 points and 7 wins, Lyon sits in the 5 spot, but only 2 points down with 54 and 15 wins. Now these French teams are not the kind of teams that like to hog the ball. Each team has a player with 4 assists in the tournament, Bordeaux has Wendel and Lyon has Miralem Pjanic. Pjanic is also the leading scorer on the team with four and Chamakh also has 4 for Bordeaux. Although Bordeaux won their only game vs. Lyon 1-0, Lyon easily ran past in the first leg, winning 3-1.

Arsenal vs. Barcelona

The third match is English Premier League Arsenal against Liga BBVA (spain) league champs Barcelona. Barcelona stunned the world last year as they knocked down the heavily favorited Manchester United team to win the UEFA Champions league. Although Barca is the favorite this year, these clubs are actually about even. In this tournament, Barcelona has two players with 4 goals, Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi while Arsenal has Bendtner and Fabregas. The big problem for Arsenal is that their Spanish star Fabregas is out for the next 3-6 weeks after suffering an injury in the last game. However Puyol was also red carded in the 2-2 draw with Arsenal, balancing it out a little bit.

Inter Milan vs. CSKA Moskva

The final matchup left in the tournament is the on fire Italian team Inter Milan and the Russians CSKA Moskva. Inter has been on a tear after getting their new foreword Eto'o, beating anyone in their way of a championship. But CSKA looks to stop the Italians and get one step closer to bringing a trophy back to Russia. Balotelli was red carded in Inters 1-0 win, which will give CSKA a slight advantage next leg. Krasic leads CSKA with 4 goals while Milito leads Inter with 3 goals. Eto'o has been quiet but with Balotelli out, expect a good game from the fast player.

Predictions

I believe that Munich will win the series 3-2 over Man U, Lyon will beat Bordeaux 4-3, Barcelona will defeat Arsenal 4-2, and Inter will defeat CSKA 3-1. From there Bayern Munich will defeat Lyon 5-2, and Inter will defeat Barca 2-1. Then Inter will win in the finals 4-1, capturing the championship.