Who Will Win the Champions League This Season?

[Davyjones]

Any thoughts? I, of course, pick Liverpool, even though I am also a Real Madrid supporter.

C'mon, you Reds!!!

[The Reservoir Dog]

Would rather answer this question after the games this week but the obvious money will be on Man U or Barcelona. Of course you can't write off Chelsea and Benitez seems to know the secret of getting his Liverpool team to play in Europe.

We shall see the results of the second leg ties this week and then see the draw for the quarter finals.

At this particular moment in time I back Man U to retain the trophy.

[RAIDER]

You have to favour Man Utd now after Liverpool having to play Chelsea and Barca having to play Werner .

After the qtr finals are sorted we will get a better idea

[Davyjones]

I was slightly annoyed that we had to play Chelsea AGAIN this year. That's 5 years in a row! I also was annoyed that Man U drew Porto! Why couldn't we do that? No, we Chelsea...again!

Sorry. These 2 clubs have to be sick of seeing each other all the time in the CL.

[The Reservoir Dog]

Yes. Can't believe they've drawn each other again. Could be a very cagey tie with both teams not committing too much. Man U get the favoured draw along with Arsenal. Barcelona v Bayern to me is the tie of the round.

[RAIDER]

Some shock results last night
Liverpool look dead and buried and Man Utd had a shocking night .... Barca are thru to the semis against Chelsea by the looks of it

[Davyjones]

I hate to say it, but I think we are dead and buried. Scoring 3 goals while not allowing Chelsea to score at the Bridge will require heavenly intervention. I was surprised that Man U drew Porto. We'll see if they get through, I guess.

If Chelsea and Barca meet in the semis, I have Barca winning that one.

[The Reservoir Dog]

Yes, many would agree that Liverpool are out but they will still believe that this tie is not over. They will look at that famous night in Istanbul when they won the trophy having been 3-0 down at half time.

Man U will need to be the first British club to win at Porto if they are to progress. I believe they will do just that.

Barcelona did play a poor Bayern side who will face a much sterner test in the semis.

However and I hate to say but Arsenal look a really good bet to get to the final.

[Davyjones]

Yes, I remember Istanbul. What a match that was! I don't doubt that LFC could pull it off, but it will truly require something special. I wonder if Rafa will turn his attention fully to pressuring Man U in the league now.

By the way, I have a question for any football followers in England: Do supporters in England like to wear the old/retro shirts of their clubs (like here in the States), or do they prefer to wear the shirts of the current season?

[The Reservoir Dog]

I would say the majority will spend the money on the new shirt. They are now different every season and also the sponsor may change too.

You still see some of the old shirts at games and most clubs will sell a retro version of their shirts on their websites, however though it will not be made by the original manufacturers.

[The Reservoir Dog]

Chelsea 4 Liverpool 4.

What a game Davy!!! At half time it was Liverpool all the way and the impossible was going to happen again. But the inevitable happened and Chelsea then took the game only for Liverpool to almost pull it out of the fire io the final 10 minutes.

An absolutely fantastic game and a great advert for Football.

[RAIDER]

I have to agree .A great game .I was rooting for Liverpool .
Barca v Chelsea however will be in interesting game and i favor Barca to make the final

Tonights games can go either way

[RAIDER]

Well its Man Utd v Arsenal ( I am so rooting for Man Utd )

Barca v Chelsea ( i think Barca will win it )

If thats the final i go for Barca

[Davyjones]

Sorry gang! Been away from a computer for a while.

It was a great match, RD! I thought we were going to pull of a feat of Istanbulish proportions! But, it was not to be. My cousin, who is a Chelsea supporter, let me hear about it via text messages the next few days. Oh well. I am proud of the team for the fight they put up! And you're right: A truly great advert for football worldwide!

I believe that Barca has the quality to win it all no matter who the play. They are my pick, but, this is football, so you never know. This will get very interesting!!

[RAIDER]

Well Arsenal got a good hiding last night
oh dear what a shame

I cant wait for the Chelsea game tonight

[The Reservoir Dog]

Hope Barcelona win tonight, It would be nice to have a different final to last year. However, I can see Chelsea frustrating Barcelona tonight and then sneaking a goal.

We shall see.

[Davyjones]

Wow. What a poorly officiated match. Don't get me wrong, since I'm a Liverpool supporter, I'm happy Chelsea lost, but the ref was horrible. Hiddink and the club have a right to be upset. Oh well. It's Man U- Barca then! I, of course, will be hoping Barca wins that, but Man U will be hard to top.

Heck, I'm still praying Man U slips up in the league and LFC can catch them somehow.

[RAIDER]

I agree with you there Davyjones ...The referee was awful .... Mind you Chelsea had their chances but didnt put them away . It will be interesting to see what they do with Drogba after his outburst .

However deep down as a neutral its the final we all wanted instead of an all English affair

[The Reservoir Dog]

Yes the refereeing wasn't the best and if it was your team you would feel agrieved. However it was typical of Chelsea to appear to make the suggestion that UEFA didn't want an all English final and that the ref was biased towards Barcelona. If that was the case then Abidal would not have been sent off. End of conspiricy Theory there.

This isn't the first occasion that the refereeing is the main taking point and certainly won't be the last. In my point of view the Pique handball was the only stonewall decision that should have gone Chelsea's way. Yes Drogba's shirt was pulled for one decision but he fell like a sack of spuds as usual making a meal of it and it was there that his reputaion went before him. Malouda made too much of his penalty shout where the initial foul was outside the area and the other handball certainly wasn't deliberate.

When it all comes down to it, if Drogba had put his chance away like the world class player he claims to be we wouldn't be going through all this now.

Thankfully we have got the final we all want and one that will be difficult to call.

Sorry Chelsea but money doesn't buy you everything.

[Davyjones]

I have to ask: What do you all think of Abidal's red card and the play that he got it in? To me it looked like Anelka tripped himself.