Champions League Draw Preview

The draw for the quarterfinals and semifinals of the Champions League will be made tomorrow at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

The eight winners of the Champions League first knockout round ties will go into the quarterfinals, with the pairings determined by an open draw.

At this stage of the tournament, no teams are seeded and clubs from the same national association can be drawn against each other.

The quarterfinals are played on a home-and–away basis, with the first legs scheduled for March 30-31 and the return matches the following week on April 6-7.

The four victorious teams will, at this point, know their semifinal opponent, as these pairings will also be decided during the March 19 draw ceremony.

The first legs of the semifinals will be contested two weeks after the quarterfinals, on April 20-21, with the second legs staged on April 27-28.

I rank the eight teams left in the tournament this way:

1. Barcelona
2. Manchester United
3. Inter Milan
4. Arsenal
5. Bayern Munich
6. CSKA Moscow
7. Lyon
8. Bordeaux

The two best teams left in the draw are Barcelona and Manchester United, and if they are kept apart in tomorrow’s draw, I would expect them to meet in the final on May 22 at Madrid ’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

This, of course, would be a repeat of last season’s final which Barca won 2-0.

Inter were really impressive in their win against Chelsea, and a Jose Mourinho side is always hard to beat. Inter’s form has been up and down this season, but based on the Chelsea performance, I have them ranked as the third best team left in the tournament.

Behind Inter comes Arsenal, Bayern, and CSKA Moscow. Arsenal were really impressive in beating Porto and their success in the tournament depends on whom they play.

I can see them beating Bordeaux and Lyon, while Bayern and CSKA would be really tough games for them.

Bayern’s never-say-die attitude against Fiorentina in the last round was impressive. Several times Bayern fell behind, but they were able to pull out a victory with some magic from Robben and Ribery.

I don’t think their defence is strong enough to beat the top teams, but they will not be an easy team to overcome.

CSKA Moscow was impressive in their win over Seville. They are undefeated in their last five Champions League games and a dark horse team, that neither Barca, Man United , or Inter will want to play.

The two French sides are the weakest teams in the draw and whoever gets them will be looking at a semifinal place.

Do you agree or disagree with my rankings?