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Champions League has already revealed the participants of the first semi-final - "Chelsea" and "Monaco". Today, after the other two quarter-final matches, the other pair of the semi-final will be clear. And although it seems that there are clear favorites, it might be better not to rush to conclusions after the first sensational quarter-final day. Eurofootball.com presents you match reviews.
La Coruna - (First match 1-4) Start at 21:45 Lithuanian time
The leader of the Italian league "Milan" travels to Spain in a relaxed state, knowing that they have a three-goal advantage. For their opponents, this should be too big of a deficit, but let's remember history. Three years ago, "Deportivo" played against and was losing 3-0 after 55 minutes. However, they played very successfully and won 4-3, thus advancing to the first eight. Forward Walter Pandiani scored a hat-trick in that match and would really like to repeat it: "It would be fantastic if I could score a hat-trick again. I know I can do it, but our main goal will be to score in the first 15 minutes." - said the Uruguayan to a Spanish newspaper.
"Milan" A month ago this team seemed unbeatable when they swept aside "Sparta", "Parma", and the same "Deportivo". But key members of the team Alessandro Nesta, Andriy Shevchenko got injured, and the Milan club had to settle for two draws in a row against not the strongest teams. Now Nesta is back and Ukrainian Shevchenko, who scored a great goal in the first game against "Deportivo", should play. However, the star of that evening was not him, but the young Brazilian Kaka, who scored twice. Coach Carlo Ancelotti has almost a full squad to choose from, only missing Massimo Ambrosini and the injured Filippo Inzaghi will not be available today.
"Deportivo" The "Super Depor" in their previous matches showed inconsistent play: a win in the return leg of the eighth-final against "Juve", a loss in the league against , a victory against the outsider "", a loss to "Milan", and then a win against . Last weekend the La Coruna team practically buried their hopes for the Spanish champion title when they played a draw 2-2, failing to hold on to their two-goal lead. The team will be without Lionel Scaloni, and there are doubts whether the player with an ankle injury Victor will be able to play. "Deportivo" Coach Javier Irureta said that he will try to get his players to do their best.
Predicted lineups: "Deportivo" (4-4-2): Goalkeeper - Molina; Defenders - Manuel Pablo, Andrade, Naybet, Capdevila; Midfielders - Sergio, Duscher, Mauro Silva, Valeron; Forwards - Luque, Pandiani. "Milan" (4-4-2): Goalkeeper - Dida; Defenders - Cafu, Nesta, Maldini, Pancaro; Midfielders - Pirlo, Seedorf, Gattuso, Kaka; Forwards - Shevchenko, Tomasson.
"” - "” (First match 0-2) Start at 21:45 Lithuanian time
The Lyon club will try to restore balance and beat "Porto" by at least 2-0, but it will not be easy. Both teams should feel somewhat crushed. "Porto" suffered their first defeat in the Portuguese championship, recognizing Gil Vicente's advantage 2-0, and the Lyon club in the French championship lost to Marseille's "Olympique" players 1-2 and lost their first place. However, it should be noted that "FC Porto" has a great head-to-head record against Lyon. The Portuguese champions played against Lyon 3 times and won all three matches. Another interesting fact is that Porto players have not lost in their last seven matches played in European stadiums as visitors. However, their last defeat was against the French football club "Lens" in the UEFA Cup last season. Be that as it may, Lyon will have to forget all past meetings and try to defeat the Portuguese.
"Lyon" The forward of the French national team will not play in these matches as he suffered an injury while playing against Marseille last weekend. Due to medical check-ups, the attacking creator of Lyon will also miss the game. There will also be no Brazilian defender in the French ranks, who is still recovering from a season-starting injury.
"Porto" Experienced team captain returns to the team and defender Pedro Mendes. The South African, one of the team leaders, may not play today due to an elbow injury, so there is a good chance that Lithuanian (author’s note: we hope the match will unfold successfully for him) will play in the main lineup.
Predicted lineups: "Lyon" (4-3-3): Goalkeeper - Coupet; Defenders - Deflandre, Edmilson, Mueller, Berthod; Midfielders - Mahammadou Diarra, Juninho Pernambucano, Essien; Forwards - Luyindula, Malouda, and Elber. "FC Porto" (4-4-2): Goalkeeper - Vitor Baia; Defenders - Paulo Ferreira, Jorge Costa, Carvalho, Nuno Valente; Midfielders - Costinha, Alenitchev, Maniche, Deco; Forwards - Carlos Alberto and Jankauskas.
These matches will be broadcasted live on TangoTV (21.35), the video recording (23.05) on TV3.
