Tuesday, March 3, 2009

3-3-09: UEFA Champions League

It's March, so it's sports bracket prediction season. To warm up for March Madness, I'll start with my predictions for the UEFA Champions League. If you're at all interested in seeing good international soccer, tune in to the tournament on ESPN or ESPN2. The next round of matches are set for next week, so set your DVR to record ESPN next Tuesday (3/10) from 3:30PM to 6:00PM. I don't know what teams are set to play in that time slot, but it's going to be good.

Here are the current matchups in the Round of 16 with the second legs coming up. My picks for the winners are in bold.

Atletico vs. Porto
Lyon vs. Barcelona
Arsenal vs. Roma
Inter vs. Man UTD
Real Madrid vs. Liverpool
Chelsea vs. Juventus
Villarreal vs. Panathinaikos
Sporting vs. Bayern


I don't know how the Round of Eight is selected, so I'm going to just run down the line in the order from the Round of 16:

Porto vs. Barcelona
Arsenal vs. Man UTD
Real Madrid vs. Chelsea
Villarreal vs. Bayern


And for the semi-finals:

Barcelona vs. Man UTD - A dream match-up: Messi > Ronaldo.
Real Madrid vs. Bayern


And the champion: Barcelona.

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