| 2070 Beiträge - Forenlegende
|
|
|
LONDON -- Protecting 2-0 leads from their last-16 first legs, Barcelona and Bayern Munich are huge favourites to advance in the Champions League this week when they play return matches at home. Yet theres enough evidence to suggest Europes two heavyweight teams still have plenty of work to do. Barcelona has lost three of its last six matches in the Spanish league, giving Manchester City renewed hope the two-goal deficit may not be too much to bridge. Arsenal, meanwhile, heads to Bayern having won 2-0 at the Allianz Arena in a round-of-16 second leg last season. In this weeks other second legs, Atletico Madrid leads AC Milan 1-0 and Paris Saint-Germain is 4-0 in front against Bayer Leverkusen. ------ Here is a lookahead to the games in Europes top knockout competition on Tuesday and Wednesday: BAYERN MUNICH vs. ARSENAL Bayern is heeding the lesson learned from losing to Arsenal at home in the last 16 last season, when only away goals ensured progress before it went on to win the title. Another 2-0 loss on Tuesday would level the aggregate score. "If we let Arsenal have the ball, well have big, big problems," said Bayern coach Pep Guardiola, who otherwise has little to worry about. Guardiola had a full squad to choose from for Saturdays 6-1 rout at Wolfsburg. Defender Holger Badstuber was among the 20 players to travel after recovering from tearing the cruciate ligament in his right knee. The win was Bayerns 16th in a row, setting a new record in the Bundesliga, where the side is undefeated in 49 games. In inspiring Arsenal to a 4-1 win over Everton in the FA Cup quarterfinals on Saturday, Germany playmaker Mesut Ozil returned to the kind of form that persuaded the Gunners to break their club record to sign him from Real Madrid in the summer. ------ ATLETICO MADRID vs. AC MILAN Atletico Madrid will have two reasons to feel good about its chances to advance past AC Milan on Tuesday. First, leading scorer Diego Costa will be well rested after missing Saturdays Spanish league win at Celta Vigo due to a one-game suspension. Diego Costa scored the winner in Atleticos 1-0 first-leg victory at Milan. And second, David Villa has found his scoring touch after firing home two well-taken goals with Diego Costa unavailable over the weekend in Atleticos 2-0 victory in Vigo that kept it in the Spanish title chase. Coach Diego Simeone may opt to return to aligning both strikers as he did earlier in the season after not playing Villa in the first leg in Italy or in a recent derby against Real Madrid. Milan has lost its last two Serie A matches but has Mario Balotelli back from a shoulder injury that has sidelined him since the first leg. ------ BARCELONA vs. MANCHESTER CITY Barcelona is playing its worst football since the end of last season, when the team limped to the Spanish league title. After apparently being rejuvenated under first-year coach Gerard Martino, the side has dropped points in five of the last nine rounds to go from pacesetter to chasing Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. With its domestic title defence in question, failing to protect a 2-0 first-leg advantage over City at the Camp Nou and an early exit from Europe would be nothing less than disastrous for the Catalan club. The match comes four days after Barcelona lost 1-0 at relegation-threatened Valladolid, when only Lionel Messi appeared up to the task. Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets said his team needs to rediscover "the desire to win every game." "We have had enough after this loss," Busquets said. City, meanwhile, will be hoping to build on its winning momentum since lifting the League Cup. It will have forward Sergio Aguero back from injury to help. ------ PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN vs. BAYER LEVERKUSEN PSG is all but qualified for the quarterfinals and this gives coach Laurent Blanc the chance to give some of his key players a breather for the return leg against Leverkusen. Only a monumental collapse will see the German side through but with Zlatan Ibrahimovic in a hungry mood and PSG scoring freely, it seems another hiding is the more likely scenario for Leverkusen, which has lost five of its past six games. With a tough match to follow on Sunday against in-form Saint-Etienne, it seems Blanc is already preparing ahead. "We have an important game against Saint-Etienne coming up," he said. "Whatever team is selected, theres always the same desire to win. Its important for the big teams to have this." Although Ibrahimovic should start, he could come off in the second half, thus giving Blanc the chance to switch Edinson Cavani from the right wing and play him in his favouredcentre-forward role. Wholesale Jerseys . LOUIS -- St. Cheap NFL Jerseys . -- Aldon Smith believes he is on the path to being sober for good. http://www.cheapsoccerjerseysonline.us.com/Nba-jer...eys-aj- 94/ . -- There were so many positives from the Orlando Magics first victory of the season that it was hard for coach Jacque Vaughn to stop praising his players. Cheap Detroit Pistons Jerseys . MORITZ, Switzerland -- Fog prevented downhill racers from getting their Olympic dress rehearsal. Cheap Dallas Mavericks Jerseys . The return match will take place next Wednesday. Udinese leads Fiorentina 2-1 in the other semifinal. Napoli staged a second-half comeback from two goals down after Gervinhos opener and a stunning strike from Kevin Strootman.GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The second Jeff Driskel started waving for help, Florida coach Will Muschamp knew it was bad. It turned out to be the worst-case scenario. Driskel broke his lower right leg Saturday in the first quarter of the 19th-ranked Gators 31-17 victory over Tennessee, a season-ending injury that thrust seldom-used backup Tyler Murphy onto the field for the most significant action of his four-year career. Murphy responded better than anyone could have realistically expected. He had a 52-yard touchdown throw to Solomon Patton, a swing pass that went the distance, and made several huge plays with his legs as Florida (2-1, 1-0 SEC) won its ninth consecutive game in the series. Driskel, who was playing with a brace on his sprained left knee, broke his right leg while throwing an interception in the first quarter. Devaun Swafford picked off the pass and returned it 62 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead. Marlon Walls pulled Driskel to the ground and landed on his leg as he released the ball. Driskel tried to get up, but then dropped back to the turf and called for trainers. He limped off the field a few minutes later, got checked on the sideline and then used crutches to get to the locker room. "I hurt for him and I hurt for us right now," Muschamp said. "Its going to hurt us. Hes a guy thats won a lot of ballgames here, and its disappointing for him right now." It was a solid debut for Murphy, a junior whose only pass attempt came on a 2-point attempt two weeks ago. "It was always in the back of my mind that I might never play," Murphy said. "I just kept working hard and kept fighting and kept faith in myself and kept praying for an opportunity. It wasnt the way I wanted it, but an opportunity is an opportunity." Murphys 7-yard TD scamper in the fourth quarter made it 31-10 and sent fans scrambling for the exits. The Volunteers (2-2, 0-1) had hoped to rebound from an embarrassing, 59-14 loss at No. 2 Oregon a week ago. Instead, Tennessee and first-year coach Butch Jones left Gainesville with another double-digit setback. Jones strangest decision might have been to bench Justin Worley and give redshirt freshman Nathan Peterman his first career start on the road and in front of 90,000. Peterman, who grew up in nearby Jacksonville, had three turnovers in a 17-minute span in the first half and was benched at the break.ddddddddddddHe completed 4 of 11 passes for 5 yards, with two interceptions and a fumble. "To beat a team at home, you cant turn the football over," Jones said. "Way too many turnovers." Worley wasnt a whole lot better against a Florida defence which has been mostly dominant through three games. Worley, who started the first three games, finished 10 of 23 for 149 yards, with a touchdown and two interceptions. "Losing is never accepted or tolerated at Tennessee," Jones said. "But Im proud of our team. They showed resiliency. They didnt quit. They gave us an opportunity to be in the game at the end of the game. We have to keep getting better. We have to keep things in perspective as we continue to build this football program. We took some small steps, but we have a long way to go." Where Florida goes from here will largely depend on Murphy. He completed 8 of 14 passes for 134 yards. He ran 10 times for 84 yards. "He didnt just manage our team," Muschamp said. "He produced in critical situations." Murphy made a few mistakes, but only one costly one. He wasnt looking and took a snap off his facemask, a botched play that resulted in a fumble. That was one of nine turnovers on the day. The Volunteers had six -- four in the first half. Peterman had three, and Raijon Neal fumbled on the teams second play. Dante Fowler Jr. wrecked the exchange, his first of several big plays. Florida had three turnovers in the first half, including running back Matt Jones second in two games. Jones was benched in favour of Mack Brown, who ran 24 times for 86 yards and a touchdown. Muschamp said hes going to go with the "hot hand" at running back beginning next week at Kentucky. This much is certain: Murphy will be under centre. Murphy has been buried on the depth chart, watching from the sideline as Driskel, Jacoby Brissett, John Brantley, Jordan Reed and Trey Burton all took snaps ahead of him the last three years. He considered transferring, but refused to listen to all the people urging him to change positions. "I just didnt want to give up," Murphy said. "I felt like if I changed positions, I would have gave up on myself and I probably wouldnt be able to live with myself." Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
|
