© EuroFootball.com
On Tuesday and Wednesday, after the winter break, UEFA Champions League tournament battles return to European stadiums. Teams that secured their spots among the elite 16 continent clubs before the end of the year are starting the knockout matches and will enter the battle in the round of 16. EuroFootball.com briefly looks at the matchups happening on Wednesday evening. Referee - Kyros Vassaras (Greece). (Kick-off - 21:45 Lithuania time) The matches that all of Europe has been waiting for since the draw. In Barcelona, the past two years' Champions League winners - "Barcelona," victorious in 1992 and 2006, and "Liverpool," the club that has won the Champions League in 1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, and 2005, will meet. The match is also given a special touch because "Liverpool" is coached by Spaniard Rafael Benitez, and last season "Barcelona" triumphed in the Champions League final by defeating an English team - London's "Arsenal." "Barcelona" is currently leading the Spanish league, but has been dropping points more frequently recently. "Liverpool," on the other hand, is third in England and lags behind the leaders by 16 points already. Barcelona's footballers are usually unstoppable at their home "Nou Camp" stadium. This season, "Blaugrana" has only experienced one failure at their home arena. On the other hand, "Liverpool" remains the only English club that has managed to beat the "Barcelona" team at their own stadium (1976, 1-0), and in the 2000/01 season on the way to triumph in the UEFA Cup, Liverpool's team defeated the Catalans. However, Barcelona's head coach Frank Rijkaard cannot wait to face "Liverpool," as more than two decades ago, this team impressed the then still young Dutchman: "They had a great team and players like Kenny Dalglish. I have good memories from my childhood watching them and enjoying their one-touch football." Returning to the present day, the Dutch specialist praised the current "Liverpool" team and also said that he is not afraid of stumbling like in the match against "Chelsea" in the group stage: "I like their ("Liverpool's" – ed.) style. They have great players, a great coach, and play good football. The situation is different now (than in the groups – ed.), because we have to play two matches and you can be eliminated immediately, so the impact is direct. However, this does not change much because we always go to fight for victory." R. Benitez, who while coaching the "Valencia" team did not lose a single match at the "Nou Camp" stadium in three matches, downplayed such statistics: "Now they have a different team, and the situation is different. "Barca" always plays powerfully at home. I am happy that the second match will take place at Liverpool's "Anfield" stadium, and we hope to take advantage of that. The goal of the first match for us is not to let them control the ball very much. I think 95 percent of the teams that go to Barcelona do the same thing. It is not easy to stop them from scoring when they control the ball 70 percent of the time, but we will try to stop them. Everything else will depend on our counterattacks, because if we score, it will change the entire match." The Argentine Lionel Messi and the Frenchman Lilian Thuram are returning to the Barcelona lineup after recovering from a foot injury. However, the Cameroonian forward Samuel Eto'o will not be available due to knee problems, as well as the Brazilians Sylvinho and Edmilson, and the Spaniard Santiago Ezquerro. Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez will have all players available, except for the injured Luis Garcia. R. Benitez has included John Arne Riise and Craig Bellamy in the lineup, who, according to reports, were involved in a serious conflict during a training camp in Portugal a few days ago. Probable starting line-ups: "Barcelona": Valdes; Zambrotta, Thuram, Puyol, van Bronckhorst; Xavi, Marquez, Deco; Ronaldinho, Messi, Gudjohnsen. "Liverpool": Reina; Finnan, Carragher, Agger, Riise; Gerrard, Sissoko, Alonso, Zenden; Bellamy, Kuyt. Milan - Referee - Martin Hansson (Sweden). (Kick-off - 21:45 Lithuania time) Two teams in great form will meet in Milan. This is not the first Champions League clash between "Inter" and "Valencia." After their last encounter in the quarterfinals in the 2002/2003 season, "Inter" took the lead with an away goal. "Inter" has won an impressive 16 consecutive Serie A matches and is firmly leading the Italian championship, but Italian coach Roberto Mancini has already stated that his team's appetite is growing and he does not intend to limit himself to wins only in Serie A. "Perhaps we will win Serie A in the remaining few matches until the end of the championship, but it is not important, what matters is the victory itself. The same goes for the Champions League. It is probably the most impressive tournament, but even if you have a very good team, you can be eliminated quickly. We are doing well in Serie A, but the Champions League is another matter. The most important thing is to advance to the next stage, and this can be done in various ways. In our opinion, we need to do everything possible to achieve our goal," said the coach. "Valencia," which had a poor start in the La Liga championship, currently lags behind the leaders "Sevilla" and "Barcelona" clubs by just 4 points. Last weekend, Valencia defeated Barcelona 2-1. The team's coach Quique Sanchez Flores regretted the absence of some key players and assured that everything would be decided in the second leg. "They will be without Vieira, but we will be missing six national team players. They have enough good players in all positions, but we hope that our footballers will recover by the second leg, and that is where the winner of the match will be decided. We started this adventure with a lot of hope, and this tournament is still very important to us. "Inter" has a powerful team, but we will try to defend well and beat their physical strength with our technical abilities. The winner will not be decided in the first match - the most important thing is not to lose and try to win in the second leg," said the Spanish coach. In addition to the injured Tiago, the "Lyon" lineup is expected to include the Swedish player Kim Kallstrom. "Roma" will have Philippe Mexes back in the lineup after an injury, but his defensive partner Cristian Chivu will miss the match. Probable starting line-ups: "Inter": Cesar; Maicon, Materazzi, Cordoba, Burdisso; Zanetti, Dacourt, Cambiasso, Stankovic; Ibrahimovic, Adriano. "Valencia": Canizares; Miguel, Albiol, Ayala, Moretti; Angulo, Marchena, Albelda, Silva; Villa, Morientes. London - Referee - Massimo Busacca (Switzerland). (Kick-off 21:45 Lithuania time) Jose Mourinho, Ricardo Carvalho, and Paulo Ferreira return to their homeland to play against the team that they raised the Champions League trophy with just three years ago. However, Mourinho led "Chelsea" players already played at "Dragao" stadium two years ago and celebrated victory with a score of 2-1. Portuguese champions and current league leaders "Porto" are determined to punish their former darlings led by Mourinho. Porto's coach Jesualdo Ferreira has already announced that he is ready to seek victory with his players and will allow three forwards on the field. "We will play just as we have in the last six months – for victory. We have never lost our identity, and we are preparing for Wednesday's match with that in mind. Despite everything, my players want to win this match. We will not change much except for a few minor details that we adjust before each match. Chelsea is a very strong team, and I do not know what the composition will be on Wednesday evening, but I certainly know that they will be powerful as always," said J. Ferreira. Although "Chelsea" stumbled frequently in the first part of the season, the London team's footballers have been playing more solidly recently and have not conceded a single goal in their last six matches. Jose Mourinho, last year's defeated in the quarterfinals, did not forget to compliment his former club: "It's always good to come back; I spent two wonderful years here. "Porto" is a good team with good players who play with confidence in their abilities. This is very important because no one expected three years ago that they could win the Champions League, so now they have the right to believe. We play powerfully at home, and the winner of the match will definitely not be decided in the first leg - no one will win by four or three goals. It's hard to say who the favorites are in the Champions League, but we emerged from a very strong group. We are a strong team and have good chances." Due to injuries, "Chelsea" will be without defenders Ashley Cole and Khalid Boulahrouz, as well as midfielder Joe Cole, while Michael Ballack is expected to return to the starting line-up. Anderson and Pedro Emanuel, who are recovering from a leg injury, and Jorginho, are absent. In addition, center-back Ricardo Costa and winger Ricardo Quaresma are returning to the team lineup. Probable starting line-ups: "Porto": Helton; Bosingwa, Pepe, Alves, Fucile; Assuncao, Meireles, Lucho; Quaresma, Lopez, Postiga. "Chelsea": Cech; Geremi, Terry, Carvalho, Bridge; Makelele, Essien, Lampard, Ballack; Drogba, Shevchenko.
