Champions League Preview

Vein of Form does not hide its love for Liverpool Football Club. In fact, the writers here are positively frothing at the mouth for tomorrow's match up against defending champion Barcelona. Why frothing, you ask? We've witnessed the Reds play Barca off the pitch of the Nou Camp, handle a pesky Sheffield United and end up on the losing end to Man Utd. despite putting on a fantastic display of suffocating skill. All of this in the span of a couple weeks - and with nothing else to play for Liverpool will come out fierce. Anfield was built for nights like this. And while we are huge fans of Deco and Ineista, we have no use for Ronaldinho, Messi or Xavi. Those three wouldn't last a season in the EPL. That being said, expect Barca to come out looking for an early goal - meaning in the first 10-15 minutes - and expect the Reds to weather the storm. This will be a defensive clinic from Liverpool with not much scoring to be had. Vein of Form is predicting a 1-1 draw and a quarterfinals birth!

As for the rest of the matches...

Chelsea v. Porto
Without JT in the lineup we are not as comfortable calling this an obvious Chelsea victory. But one Didier Drogba is unstoppable at the moment. 1-0 to Chelsea.

Inter Milan v. Valencia
Valencia are at home and in fine form. Inter are runaway leaders in a league that is on par right now with the Swedish league. Okay, that is harsh. It is on par with the Dutch league.

PSV v. Arsenal
Speaking of the Dutch...PSV takes a 1 goal lead to the Emirates, and if they are as smart a side as we believe them to be, look for the Dutch leaders to grind out a 0-0 draw.

Celtic v. AC Milan
Our hearts are with Celtic going in to the San Siro with no fear of the should be in Serie B Italian side. But Milan are closing in on a CL birth for next year in the Italian league and should put away the Scots 2-0.

Lyon v. Roma
This is a tough one. Lyon play in the French league which means they have zero competition. Roma are drawing as many matches as they possibly can in the boring boring Serie A. 0-0 in this one and it will go to penalty kicks. We like Roma just because.

Real Madrid v. Bayern Munich
Beckham is out. Which means Real are without their best player. Who would have thought that would be the case just a month ago? Shame Becks hurt his knee attempting one of his beautiful crosses this past weekend. Real will sorely miss him in Germany. The 2 away goals will come back to hurt the Spanish side as they will fall 1-0 in Munich.

Manchester United v. Lille
The Lille fans were a disgrace. The French police were out of control. The French league doesn't deserve 2 quarterfinalists (assuming Lyon prove Vein of Form wrong). So, all we can say is "Go Lille go!!!"