All eyes will be on Chiba for the 28th round of the J. League as JEF United welcome Urawa Reds to the Fukuda Denshi Arena. A month ago JEF United looked certainties for relegation, but Alex Miller's men have launched a late bid for salvation as the Chiba Dogs chase their fifth straight win in this match. United have seen off Tokyo Verdy, Consadole Sapporo, Nagoya Grampus and Kyoto Sanga during that run of good form, and another win here could be enough to lift them out of the relegation/promotion playoff place. They'll have a determined Urawa Reds standing in the way, and after drawing 2-2 at home to Kyoto Sanga in a rescheduled Round 26 fixture in midweek, the Reds will be looking to keep the pressure on league leaders Kashima Antlers when they travel to a sold-out 'Fukuari' for this blockbuster Sunday-afternoon encounter. Relegation worries will be thick in the air on Sunday, with second-from-bottom Jubilo Iwata also desperate to take all three points off bottom club Consadole Sapporo at what should be a packed Yamaha Stadium in Iwata. Tokyo Verdy travel to second placed Nagoya Grampus, meanwhile, fresh off a 3-1 home defeat to Gamba Osaka. Thousands of free tickets were handed out for that clash at Ajinomoto Stadium, but the quizzical newcomers amongst the 30,517 fans who turned out are unlikely to return after an insipid display from the home team saw them drop to within a point of the relegation/promotion playoff place. In the pick of the Saturday fixtures FC Tokyo host Shimizu S-Pulse in what is always a keenly-contested affair, with the capital club still harbouring ambitions of claiming a first ever J. League title. Hiroshi Jofuku's men are in sixth place in the table - just four points behind current league leaders Kashima. Fifth placed Kawasaki Frontale will look to make up ground when they welcome second placed Oita Trinita to Todoroki Stadium, with Oita coach Pericles serving a touchline ban after being sent to the stands by referee Nobutsugu Murakami in Oita's most recent 1-0 defeat to Yokohama F. Marinos. Elsewhere Gamba Osaka take on Kashima Antlers at Expo '70 Stadium in Osaka with both teams having recorded victories in rescheduled fixtures in midweek, while strugglers Omiya Ardija and Kashiwa Reysol face off at Omiya Park in a match that could also have implications on the relegation race at the foot of the table. In J2 Sanfrecce Hiroshima have already been crowned champions, with Shonan Bellmare currently occupying the other automatic relegation place on goal difference from Montedio Yamagata, while Vegalta Sendai and Sagan Tosu sit a point further back, as the J2 promotion battle looks set to go down to the wire. AFC Champions League After Kashima Antlers were knocked out of the AFC Champions League by A-League outfit Adelaide United, defending Asian champions Urawa Reds and Gamba Osaka have been left to fly the flag for Japan. The two will meet each other in one semi-final, with Adelaide United facing off with Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan in the other semi-final. Security is likely to be tight for both legs of the Urawa - Gamba final four showdown, after serious crowd disturbances marred the league fixture between the Reds and Gamba at Saitama Stadium earlier this season. The semi-final first legs will take place on October 8, with the return legs scheduled for October 22. Japan name squad for World Cup qualifier Takeshi Okada has named his squad for Japan's upcoming World Cup qualifier with Uzbekistan at Saitama Stadium on October 15. Celtic star Shunsuke Nakamura joins VfL Wolfsburg midfielder Makoto Hasebe and Eintracht Frankfurt man Junichi Inamoto as a trio of European-based players called up, while youngster Shinji Kagawa of J2 outfit Cerezo Osaka has also been named. Young strikers Shinji Okazaki of Shimizu S-Pulse, Shinzo Koroki of Kashima Antlers and Oita Trinita target man Yasuhito Morishima have also been called up, and they will be looking to take advantage of the Blue Samurai's well-documented problems in front of goal when they join fellow Beijing Olympics team-mate Masato Morishige in the squad. Japan will take on the United Arab Emirates in a friendly at Big Swan Stadium in Niigata on October 9 in preparation for their final round World Cup qualifier with the Uzbeks. Copyright © Michael Tuckerman & Soccerphile.com J.League News Tags Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

It's been an emotional couple of weeks of Adelaide's Robbie Cornthwaite. The club's foundation defender has not only found himself unwittingly dragged into a spitting storm but he's also been the target of abuse from his own supporters for scoring a horror own goal in the away leg of the AFC Champions League quarter-final against Kashima Antlers But on Wednesday night in Adelaide, Cornthwaite banished all those demons with a tie-winning headed goal which secured a 2-1 aggregate win over the 5-time Japanese champions and a passage into the final four. The relieved 22-year-old Australia defender dived to nod home Cassio's precision centre for the only goal of a pulsating ACL encounter at Hindmarsh, afterwards revealing the anguish he'd suffered after putting through his own net a week before to jeopardise Adelaide's chances of making history. No Australian club has previously reached the semi-final stage of Asia's premier club competition. “I did try to put the own goal out of my mind as much as possible but the thing is other people do not let you forget it," Cornthwaite told local football website The World Game. “Even before kick-off while I was warming up I heard one of our supporters urge me 'to score for us and not for them this time'. It's always there at the back of your mind." The player affectionately known around Adelaide as Cornflake debuted for the Reds as an 18-year-old and has steadily developed into a reliable first-teamer under coach Aurelio Vidmar. He suffered heartbreak earlier in the year when overlooked for a berth in Graham Arnold's Olympic squad for Beijing after breaking into the under-23s during May and June. But the significance of being handed the No.2 shirt last worn by retired Reds legend Richie Alagich has not been lost of the lanky defender and he described his well-taken winner against Kashima as an "amazing feeling". "It’s something I’ll remember for a long time. It was like scripted for me after what happened in the first leg," he said. The goal will have also erased the tension of a fortnight which has seen Cornthwaite embroiled in a spitting controversy involving Melbourne's Ney Fabiano. The Victory's Brazilian import was earlier this month banned for nine matches - reduced to six games on appeal - for expectorating on Cornthwaite in the sides' heated round four clash. Melbourne have since relentlessly proclaimed Fabiano's innocence, pointing to his previously clean disciplinary record and even going all CSI by enlisting a biomechanist and a speech pathologist to support their argument that spittle had been projected because Fabiano was shouting in his native Portuguese. Cornthwaite has remained tight-lipped on the latest incident in a simmering feud between two clubs which invoke a degree of hostility whenever they meet. His supporters believe Melbourne's passion to overturn their star signing's ban ignores Cornthwaite's unblemished A-League reputation and the fact that, although occasionally naïve in his defending, he remains a reliable professional. Few consider Cornthwaite a player who would, or even probably could, fake his reaction to Fabiano's discharge in his direction, whether accidental or otherwise. The challenge most likely stems from Melbourne's desire to reinforce their encouraging opening to the fourth A-League season. Top-of-the-table and unbeaten after five rounds despite twice finishing with 10 men, Ernie Merrick's former champions are clearly serious on putting a chequered 2007/08 behind them. Sydney are level with Melbourne on 11 points with Adelaide four points adrift in third. The Central Coast Mariners and reigning champions Newcastle Jets are tied for fourth place. Copyright © Marc Fox and Soccerphile.com Australian Soccer News Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

Champions League Minimal score brings luck: 1-0 in semifinals decided once again Ozren Podnar reports... Do you plan to win the Champions League or the UEFA Cup? We suggest that you win by 1-0 on aggregate in the semifinals. This score was lucky for Manchester United (so lucky themselves in the finals against Chelsea), but also to Barcelona, Liverpool, Sevilla, Porto and Valencia. In the past seasons many clubs fulfilled their dream of lifting a European trophy after minimum wins in the semis. It worked for Liverpool no less than twice: after the aggregate 1-0 against Barcelona they beat Alaves in the 2001 UEFA Cup finals and four years later the story repeated itself against against Chelsea in the Champions League semifinals and Milan in the finals. The magical 1-0 against Deportivo did the trick for Porto in 2004 Champions League as they went on to defeat Monaco in the finals. In the same season, Valencia took the UEFA Cup after nailing Villarreal by a mere 1-0. That was not the end, because a 1-0 against Milan sufficed to Barcelona to reach the 2006 League finals and subsequently the trophy at the expense of Arsenal. The Gunners, incidentally, also reached the finals thanks to a 1-0 over Villarreal. Amazingly, even Sevilla collected their first UEFA Cup after a 1-0 aggregate against Schalke, and the only goal was scored by now late Antonio Puerta. The mystique of the minimal win continued this season, as Manchester United defeated Barcelona by 1-0 in the semis. It is no doubt curious that every final saw many more goals after the single goal in the 180 or 210 minutes, ranging from two in Valencia vs Marseille (2004) and Manchester vs Chelsea (2008) to nine in Liverpool vs Alavés (2001). Imagine that: Liverpool reached their last two winning finals with a total of two goals in 360 minutes only to score eight goals (plus penalties) in the finals themselves. Lucky, lucky 1-0 2001. UEFA Cup: Liverpool vs Barcelona 0-0 1-0 2004. Champions League: Porto - Deportivo 0-0 1-0 2004. UEFA Cup: Valencia - Villarreal 0-0 1-0 2005. Champions League: Liverpool – Chelsea 0-0 1-0 2006. Champions League: Barcelona - Milan 1-0 0-0 2006. UEFA Cup: Sevilla - Schalke 0-0 1-0 2008. Champions League: Man. Utd. - Barcelona 0-0 1-0 Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

And so it came to pass that South Korean team Chunnam Dragons were playing Melbourne Victory of Australia to preserve their faint hopes of reaching the last eight of the Asian Champions League. Melbourne had been even worse than the Dragons in the competition but the A-League outfit at least had the excuse that it was their first time. Chunnam's centred on injuries to their best players. As excuses go, it was reasonable. The club was without three or four of its best players for every match. It doesn't however, explain why with all but one of those stars recovered, coach Park Hang-seo chose to leave out four first-team regulars. They watched the action from the stands accompanied by dried squid and ricecakes - snacks that keep mouths busy for hours. There was some football to keep eyes occupied but neither team seemed especially interested playing in front of a tiny crowd in the unusual setting of Gwangyang stadium. In the crowded country that is South Korea,few places are really remote but Gwangyang, located around the middle of the south coast, is a trek to get to -though a very pleasant one at that. The place itself is small. Basically Gwangyang is a huge steel works and container port with a small town attached. The stadium is on the edge of POSCO's steelworks. With the huge complex to the right behind the stadium and lush mountains to the left, the compact arena makes for a great place to watch football. It wasn't so great last Wednesday but it was entertaining enough. Perhaps coach Park was right to field a weak team. Runaway leaders Gamba Osaka later won in Thailand to confirm their place as Group G's representative in the quarter-finals. Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

Champions League Triumph of the Premiership as English clubs take it all Manchester United and Chelsea will meet on May 21st in Moscow in only the third single-nation Champions League finals. The first ever such event dates back to 1999/00, when Real Madrid defeated Valencia 3-0 in Paris. Three years later, Milan edged Juventus by 3-2 on penalties in Manchester. This is the epilogue of the Champions League semifinals, in which the winners overcame their opposition by just one goal. Paul Scholes put Manchester United through at Barcelona's expense with a sensational strike from 18 meters early in the game, while in the other semifinals Chelsea finally overcame Liverpool after two narrow defeats in previous encounters. Didier Drogba was the hero with two goals in what may prove one of his last games for the Blues before a reported transfer to Milan. The finals in Moscow will be the second act of the season's drama which witnesses a gigantic duel between United and Chelsea in the Premier league and in Europe. On the other hand, Liverpool's loss at Stamford Bridge meant the end of an unique tradition which saw them win nine successive semifinals in all European club competitions. Last time they were stopped at this stage was back in 1970/71 against Leeds in the old Inter Cities Fairs Cup (now incorporated in the UEFA Cup). Champions League semifinals Liverpool vs Chelsea 1-1 2-3 Barcelona vs Manchester Utd. 0-0 0-1 Finals Chelsea vs Manchester May 21st Path to finals Manchester Utd. Group stage Sporting 1-0 2-1, Roma 1-0 1-1, Dinamo Kiev 4-2 4-0 Round of 16 Lyon 1-1 1-0 Quarterfinals Roma 2-0 1-0 Semifinals Barcelona 0-0 1-0 Chelsea Group stage Rosenborg 1-1 4-0, Valencia 2-1 0-0, Schalke 2-0 0-0 Round of 16 Olympiacos 0-0 3-0 Quarterfinals Fenerbahce 1-2 2-0 Semifinals Liverppol 1-1 3-2 Copyright Ozren Podnar & Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

South Korean football fans have been following the progress of Manchester United and Park Ji-sung to the UEFA Champions League final with great interest. On May 21, the English champions will meet Chelsea in Moscow in the biggest club match on the planet and if Park features, and as he played every minute of the quarter and semifinals there is no reason to suggest he won’t, he will become the first Asian to play in Europe’s showpiece. Excitement is growing with dozens of daily articles but in the Asian Champions league, Korean interest will not last all the way to the final game. It has ended with the first round barely half over. The League’s two representatives in the competition Chunnam Dragons and Pohang Steelers are all but out of the running even though two of the six first round matches remain. It is a sorry and unusual state of affairs for Korea, the country that enjoys easily the best record in the competition with seven titles since it started back in 1967. Chunnam’s exit may not yet be officially confirmed but it is only a matter of time. Group leaders Gamba Osaka will have to lose both its remaining games and Chunnam will have to do the opposite. Even that may not be enough. The Dragons’ demise is no surprise. The club finished tenth last season in the league, only qualifying for the competition by winning the FA Cup. Injuries to its best players made a tough task even more daunting. A loss in the opening game at Melbourne Victory was a poor start but Chunnam looked like bouncing back in game two against group favorites Gamba. The Gwangyang team took a two-goal lead. The defence then fell to pieces and the visitors fought back to win 4-3 and take three points back to Kansai. No points from the first two games usually spell disaster in a first round where only the top team from each group survives. A last-minute home win against Thailand’s Chonburi FC in game three gave a little hope and that glimmer intensified in the return match in Bangkok but once again, Chunnam let a two-goal lead slip and drew 2-2. Pohang’s failure has been more disappointing. Unlike Chunnam, the stronger Steelers were expected in Korea to make it out of a group containing Australia’s Adelaide United, Changchun Yatai of China and Vietnam’s Binh Duong. Those expectations lasted exactly three minutes as Adelaide took the lead in the Steelyard and won the first game 2-0. It wasn’t all doom and gloom as Pohang had enough chances and possession for a much better result. A victory in Vietnam on matchday two was followed by a tricky trip to northeast China. Pohang dominated but was unable to take its chances and lost 1-0 to Changchun. The same happened in the return match two weeks ago. Pohang controlled the game from start to finish but could only manage a 2-2 draw. “I have never seen a team be so much on top but then fall behind,” Pohang’s Brazilian boss Sergio Farias said at the time. “We will do our best in the remaining games we have.” That is the way it should be but it will be barely noticed. Even without the distraction of Park Ji-sung, Korean fans and media are not big followers of the Asian Champions League. In the early stages, only the hardcore turn out for games against teams made up of players unknown in the Land of the Morning Calm. Scenes such as an almost completely empty stadium when Chunnam hosted Chonburi – albeit in bad weather – are unfortunate as the tournament has potential So if Chunnam manage to defeat Melbourne Victory in Gwangyang tonight and Pohang gain some revenge over Adelaide in South Australia, you will be able to read about it, but you may have to look hard to find stories of what in Korea is very much the other champions league. Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile.com Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

Champions League report Old acquaintances meet again The semifinal clashes in this season's Champions League have joined old foes who have run against one another many times in the European competitions. Manchester United and Barcelona have played seven games in the UEFA's competitions while Liverpool and Chelsea have met on six occasions, all of them in the last three years. United and Barcelona have a very evenly balanced score with two wins for each team and three draws. The Red Devils have been a bit more successful as they achieved a better score on two occasions, with one tie and one loss. Their first encounter took place in the Cup Winners' Cup quarterfinals in 1983/84, when United performed a sensational comeback against total favorites that Barcelona were at the time with Diego Maradona and Bernd Schuster in their ranks. The first leg on Camp Nou ended 2-0 for the Catalans, but a young Mark Hughes helped United towards an unlikely 3-0 at Old Trafford in the return match. After surviving infamous episodes at Barcelona and Bayern, Hughes returned to Manchester in 1988, in time to lead his old club to another unexpected triumph. With two goals the Welshman knocked down Cruyff's Barcelona in the 1991 Cup Winners' Cup finals. Hristo Stoichkov and Romário gave Barça a wonderful 4-0 win over United in the 1995 Champions League group stage, which ultimately cost the English side a place in the quarterfinals. Finally, in 1998/99 these two teams played two spectacular 3-3 draws in the group stage, but these scores favoured United, who went through together with Bayern, and in the end beat no other than Bayern in the finals at Camp Nou. In the previous three seasons Liverpool topped Chelsea twice in Champions Cup semifinals and between those matches other two encounters ended with goalless draws. Amazingly, in the six games only three goals were scored, two for Liverpool and one in Chelsea's favour. One of these goals, scored by Liverpool's Luis García in 2005, was in fact illegal, which makes the two teams' scoring output even more miserable. Quarterfinals 2007/08 Schalke vs Barcelona 0-1 0-1 Roma vs Manchester Utd. 0-2 0-1 Arsenal vs Liverpool 1-1 2-4 Fenerbahce vs Chelsea 2-1 0-2 Previous matches Manchester Utd. vs Barcelona 1st 2nd 1998/99 Champions League 3-3 3-3 1994/95 Champions League 0-4 2-2 1990/91 Cup Winners' Cup 2-1 1983/84 Cup Winners' Cup 0-2 3-0 Liverpool vs Chelsea 1st 2nd 2004/05 Champions League 0-0 1-0 2005/06 Champions League 0-0 0-0 2006/07 Champions League 0-1 1-0 4-1 (pen) Copyright Ozren Podnar and Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

The sixth round of the J. League throws up two significant clashes, with the eleventh Tokyo derby competing for headlines along with the eternal classic between Urawa Reds and Kashima Antlers. Fallen giants Tokyo Verdy host their Ajinomoto Stadium co-tenants FC Tokyo on April 12, with Verdy having only just registered their first win in the league since winning promotion back to the top flight. They won away at Vissel Kobe in Round 5 thanks to 18-year-old Hiroki Kawano's volley, but it is the return of striker Hulk that could prove key to Verdy's chances of maintaining their top flight status. The 21-year-old Brazilian propelled Tokyo Verdy to promotion by scoring 37 league goals in 42 appearances in J2 last season, but after failing to settle at Kawasaki Frontale, Hulk has made a permanent switch across the Tama River for a reputed fee of around 500 million yen. On Sunday the highlight clash of the day undoubtedly takes place at Saitama Stadium, when bitter rivals Urawa Reds host defending J. League champions Kashima Antlers. There is plenty of history between these two clubs, but another chapter was added on an extraordinary final day last season when Kashima pipped Urawa to the post to lift the league trophy in thrilling circumstances. The Reds will be aching for revenge against their arch-nemesis, although they will have their work cut out for them against a Kashima side that has won all five of their league fixtures at a canter this season. In other highlight Round 6 fixtures, Consadole Sapporo look to crack their first home win of the season in the league when they host Jubilo Iwata at the Sapporo Dome, struggling JEF United welcome Omiya Ardija to the Fukuda Denshi Arena, Tokai rivals Shimizu S-Pulse and Nagoya Grampus face off at Nihondaira Stadium, while there's a Kansai derby between Kyoto Sanga FC and Vissel Kobe at what will be a packed Nishikyogoku Stadium in Kyoto. Relegated Sanfrecce Hiroshima lead the way in J2, although they are level on points with Sagan Tosu as the early jostling for promotion places kicks off in earnest. Yokohama FC and Vegalta Sendai are hot on their heels, but it has been a disappointing start for Pierre Littbarski's Avispa Fukuoka, with the Kyushu outfit currently lying in ninth following their latest 3-1 loss away at Tokushima Vortis. This weekend Fukuoka host newcomers FC Gifu at Hakata no Mori, while the other highlight clashes see Vegalta Sendai take on Tokushima Vortis, Shonan Bellmare welcome relegated Ventforet Kofu to Hiratsuka, while there's a clash of the big guns when Sanfrecce Hiroshima take on Cerezo Osaka at Big Arch Stadium in Hiroshima. AFC Champions League Kashima Antlers look set to cruise beyond the group stage of the AFC Champions League, after the Ibaraki side maintained their one hundred percent record with a 1-0 victory over Beijing Guoan FC on April 9. Former Sao Paulo midfielder Danilo scored the only goal of the game as Kashima notched up their third straight win in the competition, although there was a blow for coach Oswaldo de Oliveira as Japan international Atsuto Uchida was forced to leave the field with a back injury late in the second half. Meanwhile a last-minute winner from substitute Lucas Severino saw Gamba Osaka beat Melbourne Victory 4-3 in a thriller watched by 23,857 fans at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne. The A-League side raced out to an early lead through Danny Allsopp, however Gamba pegged back the hosts thanks to goals from long-range specialist Takahiro Futagawa and the predatory Bare. There was controversy when Gamba captain Satoshi Yamaguchi appeared to be fouled in the build-up to Melbourne's equaliser - which Roddy Vargas headed home, and Bare then had a goal ruled out after officials judged that his header had not crossed the line after bouncing down off the crossbar. Melbourne retook the lead midway through the second half through the ubiquitous Allsopp, but Gamba roared back as Yamaguchi equalised with a trademark header. The stage was set for a winner, and Gamba duly conjured it as teenager Michihiro Yasuda crossed for substitute Lucas Severino to head home in the final minute. The victory leaves Gamba three points clear of Chonburi FC at the top of Group G, with Melbourne Victory and Chunnam Dragons both locked on three points at the bottom of the group. The next round of fixtures scheduled to take place on April 23. Japan National Team Japan slumped to a 1-0 defeat in hot and humid conditions in Bahrain on March 26, in their second qualifying game for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Takashi Okada spared Celtic star Shunsuke Nakamura the trip to the Middle-East, while Urawa Reds striker Naohiro Takahara picked up an injury on the eve of the match. Their absences failed to mask a desperately poor showing from the Blue Samurai, with many questioning why not a single Kashima Antlers player was used despite the Ibaraki side lifting last season's J. League trophy. Japan now turn their attention to the annual Kirin Cup, where they will face the Ivory Coast at Toyota Stadium on May 24, before taking on Paraguay at Saitama Stadium three days later. Their World Cup campaign resumes on June 2 when they take on Oman in Yokohama. Japanese players overseas Takayuki Morimoto : Catania

Champions League review England in extasy as Milan and Real fall It looks like three English teams will make it to the semifinals of the Champions League, just like they did last season. Arsenal or Liverpool are sure to be there while Manchester United and specially Chelsea are favourits against Roma and Fenerbahce, respectively. We may well see a repetition of last year's semifinals setup with Liverpool, United and Chelsea, with Barcelona instead of Milan this time. Well, last year Milan defeated the English competitions, United by a 5-3 aggregate in the semis and Liverpool by 2-1 in the finals, but Milan is out, after being well defeated by Arsenal in the eight-finals. Milan: End of an era The Gunners cut short the magnificent Milan's European run since the 2001/02 season. In the last six campaigns, Red and Blacks made it at least to the quarterfinals, in fact playing five times in the semifinals. Such balance made the Italians the most successful European side in the said period. Since 2002, when they were stopped in the UEFA Cup semis by Borussia Dortmund until last season's grand finale in Athens against Liverpool, Milan failed to make the last four just in 2003/04. On that occasion it took a magnificent performance by Deportivo to kick Silvio Berlusconi's boy out of the competition. Apart from that incident, Milan won the Champions League in 2003 and 2007, got narrowly beaten by Liverpool in 2005 and eliminated in the semis of 2006 by eventual winners Barcelona. Arsenal have thus made history as the team that ended the latest era of Milan's continental domination, but making it past Liverpool will take an extra effort. The Champions League is Rafael Benítez's lucky ground and the Reds in Europe regularly look quite a different side, significantly superior to the one seen in the Premiership. Prediction: Liverpool to progress Manchester United last year demolished Roma by 7-1, the heaviest defeat in the club's European history. This season in the group stage the Devils won by a mere 1-0, salvaging a draw in Rome. Francesco Totti and the rest of the ragazzi may be closing on United, but they are not matching them yet. Prediction: Manchester United by a narrower margin this time Of all English sides, Chelsea should have the easiest task against the ferocious Turks from Fenerbahce. The Canaries from Istambul boast a reported army of 20 million fans, but Roman Abramovich's invested millions will count far more on the pitch. Prediction: Chelsea absolutely must go through In the remaining tie, the mighty Barcelona's squad face Schalke, theoretically the weakest side left in the competition. The Germans are struggling even in the Bundesliga, where they have practically surrendered all chances of winning the title (the fans are accustomed to them doing that, by all means). But, this is a spirited, fighting German team which will engage Barca stars in a pitched battle with some, not many, hopes of pulling a stunning upset. Prediction: Barcelona is so much more talented Round of sixteen 1st 2nd Schalke 04 vs Porto 1-0 0-1 (4-1 pen) Arsenal vs Milan 0-0 2-0 Roma vs Real Madrid 2-1 2-1 Liverpool vs Inter 2-0 0-1 Olympiacos vs Chelsea 0-0 0-3 Celtic vs Barcelona 2-3 0-1 Fenerbahce vs Sevilla 3-2 2-3 (3-2 pen) Lyon vs Manchester Utd. 1-1 0-1 Quarterfinals (1/2nd and 8/9th April) Arsenal vs Liverpool Roma vs Manchester Utd. Schalke 04 vs Barcelona Fenerbahce vs Chelsea Copyright: Ozren Podnar & Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson will tell you otherwise, but it if anyone in the UK thought club international football was no longer the best, they only needed to follow this weekend's relevant Euro 2008 qualifiers. The fact remains no one club's Champions League success can inspire a country like their national team can on the edge of glory. After a week of nationalistic hyperbole at the prospect of making the finals ahead of the Sassenachs (their derogatory term for the English), Scotland failed heroically by losing 2-1 at home to Italy and will stay on the Eurostar platform, while England advanced to within a point of qualification without playing a game, thanks to Russia's equally calamitous 2-1 loss to Israel.