Tuesday, April 5, 2011

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06.04. (Wed) 20:45 Chelsea - Manchester Utd.

DID YOU KNOW?

* Chelsea and Manchester United have stamped their authority on the Premier League in recent years, with either one of them having won the title in each of the last six seasons. Both clubs have won it three times in that period.

* The two sides also met in the final of the Champions League in 2008, where the Red Devils prevailed after a penalty shootout - after a 1-1 draw - at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

* The Blues have lost only once to the Old Trafford outfit since Carlo Ancelotti took charge of the west London club in 2009. That defeat came in the 2010 Community Shield, with United winning 3-1.

* Chelsea have a fine record against these opponents on the domestic circuit in their own backyard in recent times, as they are undefeated in their last nine Premier League games against Sir Alex’s charges. Six of them have been victories.

* Nicolas Anelka has scored seven goals in the Champions League so far, with Lionel Messi, Mario Gomez and Samuel Eto’o sharing the top spot after scoring eight each.

* Manchester United have had the best defence in Europe this season, as they have conceded only two goals during the course of the tournament. They have, however, scored only nine goals during this time.

* Both Ferguson and Ancelotti have won the Champions League twice as managers, but the Italian has also had two triumphs as a player whereas the 69-year-old has not.

* United are currently at the top of the fair play table, having been shown only four yellow cards throughout the tournament. Ancelotti’s men are in joint second with Barcelona, with their players having received eight yellows to date.

* The Red Devils have been to the quarter-final stage on 16 occasions, winning 11 and losing five. Their most recent double-header in the quarters was against Bayern Munich last season, and the German club went through to the last four on the away goals rule.

* Manchester United may not have had much success at Stamford Bridge in recent seasons, but they have a better record than Chelsea in the opposition’s ground. United have won 29 league games while the Blues have 22 victories to their name. Eighteen matches have ended in a draw.

LAST MEETING

March 1, 2011: Chelsea 2-1 Manchester United
The Blues came back from a goal down to seal a victory against the Premier League leaders. Wayne Rooney had given his side the lead in the first half, but a goal from David Luiz and a Frank Lampard penalty saw the home side winning the game.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Chelsea: Cech; Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole; Ramires, Essien, Lampard, Malouda; Anelka, Torres.

Manchester United: Van der Sar; Fabio, Smalling, Vidic, Evra; Valencia, Carrick, Scholes, Nani; Rooney; Hernandez.

Prediction
Manchester United have not had the best of times in Stamford Bridge of late, but Chelsea have been stuttering in their league campaign despite having bettered these opponents earlier in the season.

The game should present itself as a hard fought tactical battle with both teams looking to keep a clean sheet in the first leg. But the Blues could nick this one with a narrow win.

Chelsea 1-0 Man Utd.

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06.04. (Wed) 20:45 Barcelona - Shakhtar

DID YOU KNOW?

* Barcelona defeated Arsenal 4-3 on aggregate in the round of 16 in the Champions League to progress to the quarter-finals.

* However, the team that has knocked the Gunners out of Europe’s premier club competition in the last seven seasons has lost its next knock-out game.

* Pep Guardiola’s side have faced the fewest shots on target in the Champions League this campaign.

* The Blaugrana have reached the semi-finals of the competition in each of the last three seasons.

* Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has scored 25 goals in his last 30 matches in the Champions League and 14 in his last 11 starts. The Argentine also has taken 20 shots on target, more than any player in the competition this campaign.

* Shakhtar Donetsk are in the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time in their history. In the last 16 stage, the Ukrainians defeated Italian side Roma 6-2 on aggregate, scoring three goals in both matches.

* The Miners defeated Barcelona 3-2 at the Camp Nou the last time they played there. They have won two and lost three of their six European matches against the reigning Spanish champions.

* Shakhtar forward Eduardo has scored four goals from just six shots on target in the competition this season.

* Mircea Lucescu’s side have scored the most number of goals from outside the opposition’s penalty box in Europe’s elite club competition.

* Shakhtar have emerged victorious in nine of their last ten Champions League encounters and have scored a staggering 26 goals.

LAST MEETING

August 28, 2009: Barcelona 1-0 Shakhtar Donestsk

Barcelona and Shakhtar confronted each other in the UEFA Super Cup in 2009 at Stade Louis II in Monaco. The Spanish giants had won the Champions League the previous season while the Ukrainians had bagged the UEFA Cup. The encounter finished goalless after 90 minutes, meaning that it went into extra-time. With five minutes left of the 30-minute period, Pedro found the target for the Blaugrana.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Barcelona: Valdes; Alves, Pique, Busquets, Adriano; Iniesta, Mascherano, Xavi; Pedro, Villa, Messi

Shakhtar Donetsk: Pyatov; Srna, Chygrynskiy, Rakitskiy, Rat; Hubschman, Mkhitaryan; Costa, Jadson, Willian; Luiz Adriano
Prediction
Barcelona need to register a comprehensive victory at Camp Nou in order to be completely certain of progressing through to the semi-finals from this tie as Shakhtar have a formidable home record. One suspects that the Blaugrana will win on Wednesday night but given the Ukrainian side’s propensity to score loads of goals, they should get one.
Barcelona 3-1 Shakhtar Donetsk