Champions League Review: Let The Bands Do The Talking

Instead of my own commentary on the results of this week's Champions League matches, I'll let some fine bands do it instead.

Bayern Munich 5 - Sporting Lisbon 0:




Chelsea 1 - Juventus 0


*Everyone knows the Gallaghers are huge City fans but this one just seemed to fit.



Arsenal 1 - AS Roma 0



Inter Milan 0 - Manchester United 0




Olympique Lyon 1 - Barcelona 1



*Yep Barca, you were Outshined.


Real Madrid 0 - Liverpool 1




Porto 2 - Atletico Madrid 2



Porto had something to prove and their comeback proved it well

Villarreal 1 - Panathanaikos 1



Perfect if you're Panathanaikos

Last Minute Champions League Predictions

If you're like me and could care less about the Oscars (and are already tired of hearing about it), tonight's Champion's League matches are arriving just in time. Here are my predictions:

Arsenal 2 - Roma 1. Roma's road form is weak in Italy and even worse when they travel to England. But, Roma are on a roll and won't go down easily.

Inter Milan 2 - Manchester United 1. This game is pretty evenly matched in terms of quality but The Special One has Sir Alex's number tonight

Atlético 1 - Porto 1. Atlético barely survives a Porto attacking flurry that nearly pulls off an upset.

Lyon 1 - Barcelona 3. Lyon will put up a good fight in the freezing cold Stade Gerland but Barca's quality will overwhelm the home side starting in the 65th minute.

Tonight's Champion's League Predictions

My record on predictions last night only confirms that I'm not much of a prognosticator on Champion's League matches but here goes. You won't see American Jozy Altidore in action tonight because he was not listed on Villarreal's Champion's League roster of 25 turned in back in September. Given recent injury problems, coach Manuel Pelligrini probably wishes he had Altidore as an option tonight.

AaB 1 Villarreal 3

Celtic 1 Man. United 2

Fiorentina 1 Bayern 1

Lyon 2 Steaua 1

Arsenal 2 Fenerbahçe 1

Dynamo Kyiv 1 Porto 1

BATE 0 Zenit 1

Real Madrid 2 Juventus 1

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Champion's League: Night of The Greeks

Two Greek teams surprised everyone last night scoring a combined six goals and picking up four points from stiff competition. Werder Bremen fell to Panathinaikos 3-0 while Inter Milan, down 3-2 to Anorthosis well into the match, managed to salvage a point and finish 3-3.

OK, so I blew the call on the Inter-Anonthosis match but I think keepers Julio Cesar (Inter) and Arian Begaj (Anorthosis) combined for one of the most noteworthy goalkeeping displays we've seen this year.

Check out a few of their great saves here:





As for Roma putting three past Chelsea, that too was a real surprise, especially given the giallorossi's league form lately. Roma looked more confident than normal while Chelsea looked tired from the early going (the muggy weather in Rome pobably didn;t help). Now if Roma could just play consistently on the road (a problem the past few years), they could make a run for the Scudetto (and perhaps more). I'm not holding my breath.

And the rest of the scores:

CFR Cluj 1-2 Bordeaux
Roma 3-1 Chelsea
Anorthosis 3-3 Internazionale
Bremen 0-3 Panathinaikos
Sporting 1-0 Shakhtar
Barcelona 1-1 Basel
Liverpool 1-1 Atlético
Marseille 3-0 PSV

Full highlights on the night here:

Champion's League Predictions For Tonight

Its been quite awhile since I've done match predictions so here goes:

Inter 2 Anaorthosis 0
Roma 1 Chelsea 1
Bordeaux 2 Cluj 0
Werder Bremen 2 Panthanakos 1
Barcelona 3 Basel 1
Sporting Lisbon 1 Shakhtar 1
Liverpool 2 Atletico Madrid 1
Marseilles 2 PSV Eindhoven 2

Europa League To Replace UEFA Cup

UEFA announced yesterday that next years it will rename its venerable UEFA Cup tournament the Europa Cup in an effort to boost is prestige and appeal. It will also feature a 48 team field with home and away matches plus a more concerted marketing effort, new sponsorship, and will be more widely broadcast in Europe.

UEFA boss Michael Platini stated that “These changes will improve this historic competition which is very important for UEFA and for European football, as it gives more fans, players and clubs the thrill of European club football” and added that “I am convinced the new format will give the UEFA Europa League a successful new impetus.”

Since the advent of the UEFA Champion's League, the UEFA Cup has been seen as something akin to the NIT tournament when compared to the NCAA basketball tournament. Fans know that the best of the best play in the Champion's League while the rest play in the UEFA Cup so this may be a tough sell. That said, there may be some hope.

Where a new Europa League could find its niche is in selling itself as featuring the best clubs from the less wealthy leagues where the level of play is good but the passion is equal to or exceeds that of the Champion's League. In the same way some Americans prefer college football to the NFL, there are millions of Ukrainians, Danes, Germans, Belgians, Swedes, and others who take great interest in watching their own local teams during European competitions. Capitalizing on that dynamic is what the Europa League should be all about.