CL Preview: Arsenal Seeking Revenge

Arsenal vs Barcelona

Arsenal will be hosting Barcelona at the Emirates Stadium and nothing except revenge will be on their minds. It is the same Barcelona side that convincingly beat Arsene Wenger's men 6-3 on aggregate.

The extra motivation could certainly count in favour of the English team, although Barcelona's record in the last few weeks has been nothing short of impeccable.

Even though they might have lost their 16 match consecutive winning streak during last weekend against Sporting Gijon, they will prove to be a tough hurdle to cross in order to get into the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Arsenal, likewise, have been irresistible this season and have defied the odds to stay in the title race till February.

Many predicted them to be casualties of the season, but Arsene Wenger's men have proved that they have finally come of age.

However, there is still an ugly side to Arsenal and it will mostly be cropping up against the bigger sides.

Arsenal will be missing Samir Nasri and Abou Diaby for the match, although Robin van Persie has been in excellent form for the Gunners. Barcelona are still missing the services of their captain Carlos Puyol.

Roma vs Shakhtar Donetsk

Roma will be hosting Shakhtar Donetsk with a view to getting into the quarter-finals of the Champions League this season.

It is a match that will likely be tough for both sides given that one team has been in terrible form the last few weeks and the other has not been playing since November

Roma are without a win in their last three matches and Shakhtar Donetsk have not played a competitive game since autumn last year.

However, prior to the winter break, Shakhtar Donetsk were in splendid form and they even managed to beat Arsenal to finish at the top of the group.

Roma have been struggling in the past few weeks in the Italian Serie A and they will be hoping that they can catch Shakhtar Donetsk cold in the middle of their hibernation period.

The one thing that will be sounding positive for Claudio Ranieri at the moment will be the fact that they have been highly inconsistent this season.

Hence, there is every chance that he could turn their poor form into a good one against Shakhtar Donetsk.

Also, their form at the Stadio Olimpico has been excellent this season and Ranieri will be hoping that it comes to the rescue of his side.

Joe - livescoredaily.com - live scores