© EuroFootball.com
On Wednesday, the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals first leg matches will take place. "Roma" will host "Man Utd" at home, while in London "Chelsea" will meet "Valencia".
Stadium – Rome Olympic Stadium Time – 21:45 Referee – Herbert Fandel (Germany)
The English Premier League leaders "Man Utd" will try to challenge "Roma" despite the injuries in their squad.
Included back into the English lineup after more than a month due to Achilles and shin injuries are Louis Saha and Darren Fletcher, but "United" has a longer list of absences. Injured defenders Gary Neville, Patrice Evra, Nemanja Vidic, and Mikael Silvestre, so the central defense duo with Rio Ferdinand will likely consist of Wes Brown. In Italy, midfielder Park Ji Sung, who suffered a knee injury, will also not appear.
"Roma" also has absences - left-back Max Tonetto will miss the match due to a thigh injury, and he will most likely be replaced by Christian Panucci. Defender David Pizarro is suspended, and Swedish Christian Wilhelmsson is expected to play in his place.
The opponents of this evening's match eliminated French teams in the round of 16 - "Roma" beat "Lyon" 2-0 after a 0-0 draw, while "Man Utd" defeated "Lille" with the same scoreline.
Both teams have never met in European competitions before.
In European tournaments, "Roma" has played 12 times at home against English teams, winning 6, drawing 4 times, and losing twice. "Man Utd" played in Italy 11 times, losing 8 times and winning only 2 (both in Turin against "Juventus" - 3-2 in 1999 and 3-0 in 2003).
Roma's team has not yet reached the heights in the prestigious European club tournament. They played in the final in 1984 but lost to "Liverpool". Meanwhile, Manchester players have already won the Champions League in 1968 and 1999.
In their respective national leagues, both clubs have been performing differently. "Roma" played a 1-1 draw with "Milan" on the weekend and remains in second place in Serie A, while "Man Utd" after a 4-1 win against "Blackburn" continues to lead in England.
The match tonight was further spiced up by controversial statements from the captain of the Italian capital club Francesco Totti, expressing his dislike for English football and promising that coach Alex Ferguson will remember his name long after these matches.
While "Roma" coach Luciano Spalletti talks cautiously about the match and opponents: "For me, this is a big challenge and an extraordinary feeling, but I will try to remain calm and enjoy the match. The difference between me and the opponent's coach Sir Alex Ferguson is that I have only won Serie C, while he already has 29 trophies. We will fight and try to attack more than we did against Lyon."
In turn, Ferguson stressed the importance of scoring an away goal: "We must score. A 0-0 draw before the return leg at home is a dangerous result - remember the matches between "Roma" and "Lyon".
It is worth noting that the leaders of "Man Utd" have not been able to score in the Champions League - Wayne Rooney has not scored in this tournament for more than 2 years, and Cristiano Ronaldo has not stood out in the main matches of the Champions League at all.
"I don't know why they haven't scored in this tournament. Perhaps their young age is to blame, and they need time to adapt to European football. Still, Wayne's contribution to the team is enormous, and Cristiano is probably the best player in the world right now," analyzed Ferguson.
Although "Man Utd" has won the last three Champions League matches, achieving a positive result at the Rome Olympic Stadium will be twice as difficult for them as "Roma" has not lost at home in 9 consecutive matches and has not conceded a goal in the last 3 matches in this tournament.
Possible lineups for the teams:
"Roma": Doni; Marco Cassetti, Cristian Chivu, Philippe Mexes, Christian Panucci; Simone Perrotta, Daniele De Rossi; Rodrigo Taddei, Christian Wilhelmsson, Alessandro Mancini; Francesco Totti.
"Man Utd": Edwin van der Sar; Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand, John O'Shea, Gabriel Heinze; Cristiano Ronaldo, Michael Carrick, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs; Alan Smith, Wayne Rooney.
Stadium – Stamford Bridge, London Time – 21:45 Referee – Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)
In London, teams with several absences will meet.
Although Joe Cole, who had been recovering from a broken foot since November, and Wayne Bridge, who had recovered from a knee operation, are included back in the "Chelsea" squad, the main defenders Arjen Robben and Michael Essien, suffering from knee injuries, will not be able to play.
"Valencia" has even more absences. Injured are Ruben Baraja and Edu, shoulder injury kept striker Fernando Morientes in Spain, while David Navarro and Carlos Marchena cannot play due to disqualifications for the fights in the match against "Inter".
These teams have also never met in European tournaments. "Chelsea" has played 9 times in their own stadium against Spanish clubs, winning 7 and suffering only 1 defeat - last year they lost 1-2 to "Barcelona".
"Valencia" played 13 times in England with local teams, won 2 times, drew 8 times, and suffered 3 defeats.
The Valencia team played in the Champions League final in 2000 and 2001 but unsuccessfully. The highest achievement of the London club is reaching the semifinals in 2004 and 2005.
In their national leagues, both clubs had tough matches on the weekend - "Chelsea" defeated the outsider "Watford" 1-0, while "Valencia" beat "Espanyol" 3-2.
"Valencia" plays well, demonstrates good South American-style football. The opponents have a lot of experience, excellent attacking players, and their defenders are good," praised "Chelsea" coach Jose Mourinho.
Valencia coach Quique Sanchez Flores talked about the upcoming match: "The result will depend a lot on the play in the midfield, and both teams like to control the situation in the midfield. If we manage to score a goal, we will be satisfied because it will be a step forward."
Interestingly, "Chelsea" has already won 4 consecutive Champions League matches at home, while "Valencia" cannot win for the third match in a row.
Possible lineups for the teams:
"Chelsea": Petr Cech; Lassana Diarra, Ricardo Carvalho, John Terry, Ashley Cole; Claude Makelele, Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack, Shaun Wright-Phillips; Didier Drogba, Andriy Shevchenko.
"Valencia": Santiago Canizares; Luis Miguel, Roberto Ayala, Emiliano Moretti, Asier del Horno; Miguel Angel Angulo, Raul Albiol, David Albelda, David Silva; Vicente Rodriguez; David Villa.
