Premier League Schedule for Feb. 28-March 1

Saturday, Feb. 28
Everton vs. West Brom
Arsenal vs. Fulham – 10 a.m. EST/Fox Soccer Channel (Live)
Chelsea vs. Wigan
Middlesbrough vs. Liverpool

Sunday, March 1
Hull vs. Blackburn
West Ham vs. Manchester City
Bolton vs. Newcastle – 4:30 p.m. EST/Fox Soccer Channel (Delayed)
Aston Villa vs. Stoke – 10 a.m. EST/Fox Soccer Channel (Live)

Champions League Results – Wednesday, Feb. 25

Real Madrid 0
Liverpool 1 (Benayoun 82)
 
Chelsea 1 (Drogba 12)
Juventus 0

Villarreal 1 (Rossi 67 – pen)
Panthinaikos 1 (Karagounis 59)

Sporting 0
Bayern 5 (Ribery 42, 63 – pen; Klose 57; Toni 84, 90+1)

Champions League Results – Tuesday, Feb. 24

Inter Milan 0
Manchester United 0

Lyon 1 (Juninho 7)
Barcelona 1 (Henry 67)

Atletico Madrid 2 (Rodriguez 3, Forlan 45+2)
Porto 2 (Lisandro 22, 72)

Arsenal 1 (Van Persie 37-pen.)
Roma 0

The return of Champions League

The sweet sixteen of the Champions League kicks off today and tomorrow with first leg action.  There are some fantastic matchups on the slate.  Today’s biggest game is between Inter Milan and Manchester United.  Milan boss Jose Mourinho has of course added fuel to the fire with the thought that Manchester United’s current stellar form is all a result of wanting to be better than his Chelsea squad.

Today’s games
Atletico vs. Porto – 4:45 p.m. EST/ESPN Deportes (Delayed)
Lyon vs. Barcelona – 2:30 p.m. EST/ESPN Deportes (Live) and 5:00 p.m. EST/ESPN Classic (Delayed)
Arsenal vs. Roma
Inter vs. Manchester United – 2:30 p.m. EST/ESPN2 (Live)

Wednesday’s games
Real Madrid vs. Liverpool – 2:30 p.m. EST/ESPN Deportes (Live) and 5:00 p.m. EST/ESPN Classic (Delayed)
Villarreal vs. Panathinaikos – 2:30 p.m. EST/ESPN360.com (Live) and 4:45 p.m. EST/ESPN Deportes (Delayed)
Chelsea vs. Juventus – 2:30 p.m. EST/ESPN2 (Live)
Sporting vs. Bayern Munich

Live updates for all games are also available on Yahoo! Eurosport.

Liverpool’s title bid takes a hit

Dirk Kuyt equalized for Liverpool on Sunday, but the Reds are now seven points back from league leader Manchester United.

Liverpool fought back from a 1-0 deficit, but had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Manchester City on Sunday.  Despite dominating the first half, the Reds were unable to take advantage before the break.  City went up 1-0 on a Craig Bellamy (or Arbeloa own goal) goal almost immediately to begin the second half.  Dirk Kuyt tied the game for Liverpool after Fernando Torres mis-hit the ball.  Liverpool has to take better advantage of the chances they get.  While obviously a draw is better than a loss, one point does little to close the gap on Manchester United.

Meanwhile, Manchester United romped to a 2-1 victory over Blackburn and now have a seven point lead at the top of the table with just 12 games remaining.  ManUtd has been tearing it up lately, so Liverpool is going to have to actually win and hope that Manchester United drops points along the way.  Also, Liverpool is now only three points up on third place Chelsea.  Bottom line: WIN OUT.

In other Liverpool news, Steven Gerrard has been included in the squad for Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Real Madrid.  Whether he is actually fit to play a significant role remains to be seen.

Results from Feb. 21-22
Liverpool 1, Manchester City 1
Newcastle 0, Everton 0
Fulham 2, West Brom 0
Aston Villa 0, Chelsea 1
Arsenal 0, Sunderland 0
Bolton 2, West Ham 1
Middlesbrough 0, Wigan 0
Stoke City 2, Portsmouth 2
Manchester United 2, Blackburn 1