Reasons Why All Four Champions League Teams Can Advance or Fall

The year 2009 has produced one of the best semifinals in recent memory as Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea, and Manchester United are all battling to win the ultimate prize in European football: The UEFA Champions League trophy.

In this article, I will give you the reader reasons why each of these teams could win or lose their matchup, and see if they head onto the roads to Rome, or on the roads to home.

Barcelona vs Chelsea

First Leg:Location: Camp Nou, Barcelona. Date: April 28, 2009

Second Leg: Location: Stamford Bridge, London. Date: May 6, 2009

Barcelona: 

How they could Win:

Barcelona has been the best team in La Liga this year, and currently is the hottest team in the Champions League and they also have some of the best players in the world on their team (Messi, Henry, Xavi, Eto'o).

If they play a tremendous match at the Camp Nou on April 25, and gain a huge lead, just like what they did to Bayern Munich, they will all but lock to be in Rome on May 27.

Or if they head into Stamford Bridge in a draw or a slender lead, they have a talented enough of a team that they could definitely win on away goals, or just hold off Chelsea so they could advance to the final.

How they could Lose:

Barcelona could always overlook Chelsea as a team that is not as good as them. They could allow them to score one or more away goals in the Camp Nou, which definitely will hurt them.

They could not score at home against the recently terrible Chelsea defense. And, if they don't win at the Camp Nou on April 25, they will have to either win or draw to make sure that their hopes for Rome stay alive.

Chelsea:

How they could Win:

With a shocking turnaround since Guus Hiddink has taken over as manager after Scolari's shocking firing, Chelsea seems to be working on all cylinders.

With their thrilling four all draw at Stamford Bridge against Liverpool in the final leg in last round, and a four goal performance against Bolton several days before that, Chelsea showed us that they could score goals and outscore a team if they have the opportunity to do that.

They also have John Terry back, who is the key to their defense, and they have one of the best goalies in the world in Petr Čech, who could definitely save them if they need saving.

Also, Stamford Bridge is a hostile place to play, which makes it really hard for an opposing team to come out of there with anything but a loss, so if they lose by a small margin in Barcelona, but have an away goal, they definitely could advance if they could get an extremely important win at home.

How they could Lose:

They also have been miserable on defense without John Terry, who definitely is the glue that keeps that defense together. There is a great chance that Barcelona, with their strong attack, could knock out Chelsea in one blow during their match at Camp Nou, which could pretty much end the series right there.

And, if they decide to put all of their effort into the series on offense, Barcelona could easily destroy Chelsea in one shot.

Arsenal vs Manchester United

First Leg:Location: Old Trafford, Manchester. Date: April 29, 2009.

Second Leg: Location: Emirates Stadium, London. Date: May 5, 2009

Arsenal:

How they could Win:

Despite injuries,to Adebayor, Eduardo and Fàbregas Arsenal has had a great run in the Champions League,as they have beaten Roma and Villarreal in the knockout rounds of this year's Champions League.

Now they go against arch English rival Manchester United and they know that they got to play Arsenal football. That means scoring many pretty goals, and beating teams decisively.

They need to get at least one away goal at Old Trafford, and have a complete team effort in the Emirates Stadium to get a win for them to go to Rome. They could be playing Man Utd up to four times from now to the beginning of May (twice in Champions, one in Premier League, and if both win, FA Cup final).

Arsenal must be ready for Manchester United, and make sure that they can get past their defense, as that will probably be the only way they will advance to the next round.

How they could Lose:

But, if they don't score that away goal, and allow United to run all over them in Old Trafford, Arsenal will have very little chance at winning. If they don't score and find out how to beat Ferdinand and Vidic on defense, they won't be able to establish an offense, which could be costly.

Or, if they think get overconfident that their advantage at the Emirates will help them enough to advance, because United has shown us that they can always win at home.

Finally, if United can get Ronaldo, Rooney, and the rest of their offense going at all cylinders, watch out for Man Utd, as they could stomp over their rivals from North London.

Manchester United:

How they could win:

Mancheter United, the defending UEFA Champions League champions, have been inconsistent since there win against Inter Milan, but they beat Porto, and are in the Semifinals. In order to win, they must get off the series by scoring goals, and lots of them in Old Trafford on April 29.

If Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez, etc. get it going, it will be hard to stop them. They also need their defense to play like they did in December, January, February, and the beginning of March, as it will definitely be a major factor in giving United the series.

Also, they got to be confident of their abilities in order to get a lead in the first game. In the second leg at the Emirates, they have to score at least one goal to ensure their trip to Rome.

They also need to win in the Premier League against Arsenal when they play in early May, as it can definitely play to be a major advantage in the second leg in North London. If they do this, there is a great chance that they will this series.

How they could lose:

Manchester United cannot have another slipup like they had against Porto in the last round, as they were definitely very lucky to advance. There defense cannot play like they did during late March and early April, as it could give Arsenal enough away goals to end the series before they get to the Emirates.

They also need Cristiano Ronaldo to not play like he did against Porto in the first leg, and they cannot afford to lose Rooney or Vidic to suspension, as they have been two of the best players on Man Utd this season.

And Edwin Van de Sar must not allow more than two goals at Old Trafford, because that could ensure Arsenal the trip to Rome. And finally, the defense must not be injured again, because the defense definitely cannot afford to lose either Vidic or Rio Ferdinand to injury during the series.