Chelsea and Manchester United battle for a place in the semi-finals of the Champions League, while England's third hopes Tottenham Hotspur attempt to overcome Real Madrid when the quarter-finals get underway Tuesday and Wednesday.Meanwhile holders Inter Milan face Schalke 04 attempting to dismiss German opponents again following their elimination of Bayern Munich, and
favourites Barcelona come up against Ukrainian outsiders Shakhtar Donetsk in first-leg matches.
Spanish giants Real and Barcelona will be hoping to set up an all-Spanish semi-final showdown by getting past Tottenham and Shakhtar respectively.
Real coach Jose Mourinho on Saturday lost his nine-year record of not losing a home league match, in different European countries, when his side slid to a 1-0 defeat against lowly Sporting Gijon.
After the defeat, he wondered aloud whether he should "ignore the doctors" and field injury victims Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Marcelo, who were sorely missed on Saturday.
In addition, Gonzalo Higuain has only just returned after five months out with a back injury, and looked distinctly rusty when he come off the bench late on against Gijon.
"Against Tottenham we will have to see who we have on the field," Mourinho said. "0-0 at home would be a good result, 1-1 would not be dramatic, it would leave the tie open. I will talk to the injured players and we will decide whether to risk them or not."
Tottenham have something of a defensive injury crisis for Tuesday's visit to Madrid.
Ledley King, Jonathan Woodgate and Younes Kaboul are all out, while manager Harry Redknapp has doubts over William Gallas and Alan Hutton is out for the rest of the season.
Michael Dawson and Sebastien Bassong are the only two fit centre backs but though Steven Pienaar is out in midfield, Redknapp expects Gareth Bale to be fit to play.
"He did some work with the fitness coach and trained to about 80 per cent on Friday," Redknapp said. "If he had played against Wigan (on Saturday) he could have stiffened up and then not played against Real."
Inter take on visiting Schalke Tuesday needing to bounce back from a 3-0 defeat to city rivals AC Milan on Saturday in a major setback to their hopes of defending their Serie A title.
Schalke, who defeated Inter Milan in the 1997 UEFA Cup final, will be making their first appearance in the competition under new coach Ralf Rangnick.
The winner of the tie will come up against either Chelsea or Mancheter United who renew rivalries at Stamford Bridge Wednesday.
United, who beat Chelsea on penalties in the 2008 final in Moscow, are in confident mood after a 4-2 win at West Ham Saturday which included a Wayne Rooney hat-trick.
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson will be without Rafael, John O'Shea and Wes Brown but could yet have Rio Ferdinand back from injury for the first leg.
The London side is focused on a trophy that could offer them their best chance of silverware this season.
Manager Carlo Ancelotti must decide whether to start the match with Fernando Torres, who has yet to score for the club, or with Didier Drogba, who looked back to his best at the weekend.
But Ancelotti said his side were determined to give everything they have to reach the last four.
"Everyone is waiting for this game," he said. "We want to do our best and want to show our best ability and we know there are 180 minutes to play and we hope to win.
"In the title race we have to close the gap, in the Champions League we are at the same level of the other teams so we have more chance to win."
Barcelona defeated Shakhtar 1-0 in extra-time for the UEFA Super Cup in 2009 but know they will need a good performance in the Camp Nou Wednesday before what could be a difficult second-leg trip next week to Shakhtar's Donbass Arena.
favourites Barcelona come up against Ukrainian outsiders Shakhtar Donetsk in first-leg matches.
Spanish giants Real and Barcelona will be hoping to set up an all-Spanish semi-final showdown by getting past Tottenham and Shakhtar respectively.
Real coach Jose Mourinho on Saturday lost his nine-year record of not losing a home league match, in different European countries, when his side slid to a 1-0 defeat against lowly Sporting Gijon.
After the defeat, he wondered aloud whether he should "ignore the doctors" and field injury victims Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Marcelo, who were sorely missed on Saturday.
In addition, Gonzalo Higuain has only just returned after five months out with a back injury, and looked distinctly rusty when he come off the bench late on against Gijon.
"Against Tottenham we will have to see who we have on the field," Mourinho said. "0-0 at home would be a good result, 1-1 would not be dramatic, it would leave the tie open. I will talk to the injured players and we will decide whether to risk them or not."
Tottenham have something of a defensive injury crisis for Tuesday's visit to Madrid.
Ledley King, Jonathan Woodgate and Younes Kaboul are all out, while manager Harry Redknapp has doubts over William Gallas and Alan Hutton is out for the rest of the season.
Michael Dawson and Sebastien Bassong are the only two fit centre backs but though Steven Pienaar is out in midfield, Redknapp expects Gareth Bale to be fit to play.
"He did some work with the fitness coach and trained to about 80 per cent on Friday," Redknapp said. "If he had played against Wigan (on Saturday) he could have stiffened up and then not played against Real."
Inter take on visiting Schalke Tuesday needing to bounce back from a 3-0 defeat to city rivals AC Milan on Saturday in a major setback to their hopes of defending their Serie A title.
Schalke, who defeated Inter Milan in the 1997 UEFA Cup final, will be making their first appearance in the competition under new coach Ralf Rangnick.
The winner of the tie will come up against either Chelsea or Mancheter United who renew rivalries at Stamford Bridge Wednesday.
United, who beat Chelsea on penalties in the 2008 final in Moscow, are in confident mood after a 4-2 win at West Ham Saturday which included a Wayne Rooney hat-trick.
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson will be without Rafael, John O'Shea and Wes Brown but could yet have Rio Ferdinand back from injury for the first leg.
The London side is focused on a trophy that could offer them their best chance of silverware this season.
Manager Carlo Ancelotti must decide whether to start the match with Fernando Torres, who has yet to score for the club, or with Didier Drogba, who looked back to his best at the weekend.
But Ancelotti said his side were determined to give everything they have to reach the last four.
"Everyone is waiting for this game," he said. "We want to do our best and want to show our best ability and we know there are 180 minutes to play and we hope to win.
"In the title race we have to close the gap, in the Champions League we are at the same level of the other teams so we have more chance to win."
Barcelona defeated Shakhtar 1-0 in extra-time for the UEFA Super Cup in 2009 but know they will need a good performance in the Camp Nou Wednesday before what could be a difficult second-leg trip next week to Shakhtar's Donbass Arena.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire