One of the most intriguing matchups is Chelsea playing against former manager Jose Mourinho and Inter Milan. Defending champion Barcelona ended up with Stuttgart. In a change of format, four first leg games will be played Feb. 16 and 17 while the other four first leg contests will be Feb. 23 and 24. Second leg matches are March 9-10 and 16-17, respectively.
AC Milan vs. Manchester United
Lyon vs. Real Madrid
Bayern Munich vs. Fiorentina
Porto vs. Arsenal
Olympiacos vs. Bordeaux
Stuttgart vs. Barcelona
Inter Milan vs. Chelsea
CSKA Moskva vs. Sevilla
And since I’m a Liverpool fan and they are now in the Europa League, here’s the round of 32 draw for that competition. These fixtures are numbered because they are used to establish the draw for the round of 16. For example, if Liverpool wins at No. 9, they will play Lille or Fenerbahçe, the winner of No. 14.
1. FC Rubin Kazan vs. Hapoel Tel-Aviv
2. Athletic Club vs. RSC Anderlecht
3. FC København vs. Marseille
4. Panathinaikos vs. AS Roma
5. Atlético de Madrid vs. Galatasaray
6. Ajax vs. Juventus
7. Club Brugge vs. Valencia
8. Fulham vs. Shakhtar Donetsk
9. Liverpool vs. Unirea Urziceni
10. Hamburger vs. PSV Eindhoven
11. Villarreal vs. VfL Wolfsburg
12. R. Standard de Liège vs. Salzburg
13. FC Twente vs. Werder Bremen
14. LOSC Lille Métropole vs. Fenerbahçe
15. Everton vs. Sporting
16. Hertha BSC Berlin vs. Benfica
So, Bayern Munich dominated Juventus, 4-1, to progress to the knockout stage today. Real Madrid and Milan also secured spots in the round of 16. CSKA Moskva also advanced with a 2-1 win over Beşiktaş. Wednesday’s clashes will determine the final teams in the knockout stage. Defending champion Barcelona only needs a draw with Dynamo to advance, while Inter and Rubin battle for that second spot.
Atletico Madrid 0
Porto 3 (Bruno Alves 2, Falcao 14, Hulk 76)
Wednesday’s Schedule
Liverpool vs. Fiorentina*
Lyon* vs. Debrecen
Inter vs. Rubin Kazan – 2:30 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Live)
Dynamo Kiev vs. Barcelona – 2:40 p.m. ET/Setanta (Live)
Stuttgart vs. Unirea – 7 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
Sevilla* vs. Rangers
Olympiacos vs. Arsenal* – 9 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
Standard vs. AZ
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi captured the 2009 Ballon D’Or by the largest margin ever on Tuesday. The award is given to the European Footballer of the Year and Messi is the first Argentine to win. Messi received 473 of a possible 480 points to take top honors. Last year’s winner Cristiano Ronaldo finished second, while Messi’s Barca teammate Xavi came in third.
It is a deserved award for Messi, who led Barcelona to the treble last season. The talented forward led the Champions League in goals with nine, including one in the final. He also scored 23 goals in La Liga competition. An incredibly dynamic player, Messi has the ability to change any game he plays with his sublime touch and deceptive quickness. He’s already off to a great start this year with nine goals.
2009 Ballon D’Or Results
1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United/Real Madrid)
3. Xavi (Barcelona)
4. Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)
5. Samuel Eto’o (Barcelona/Inter)
6. Kaka (AC Milan/Real Madrid)
7. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter/Barcelona)
8. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
9. Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
10. Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
The big news out of Tuesday’s contests is that Liverpool has crashed out in the group stage for the first time in six years. Despite the fact that the Reds notched a 1-0 win over Debrecen, Fiorentina managed a win over Lyon to book their spot in the knockout stage. Here’s hoping Liverpool will be able to do some good things in the Europa League. Arsenal joined Fiorentina in the knockout stage with a 2-0 win over Standard, while Barcelona helped their cause greatly with a 2-0 win over Inter Milan.
Tuesday’s Results Debrecen 0
Liverpool 1 (Ngog 4)
Fiorentina 1 (Vargas 28-pen)
Lyon 0
Rubin Kazan 0
Dynamo Kiev 0
Barcelona 2 (Piqué 10, Pedro Rodríguez 26)
Inter 0
Rangers 0
Stuttgart 2 (Rudy 16, Kuzmanović 59)
Unirea 1 (Dragutinović 45-o.g.)
Sevilla 0
AZ Alkmaar 0
Olympiacos 0
Arsenal 2 (Nasri 35, Denilson 45+2)
Standard 0
Wednesday’s Schedule
Bordeaux vs. Juventus
Bayern Munich vs. Maccabi Haifa
CSKA Moskva vs. Wolfsburg
Man. United vs. Beşiktaş – . 2:40 p.m. ET/Setanta (Live); 7 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
Real Madrid vs. Zurich – 5 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
AC Milan vs. Marseille – 2:30 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Live)
Porto vs. Chelsea
APOEL vs. Atletico Madrid
This week’s Champions League games will go a long way in deciding the final spots in the knockout stage. Liverpool need a miracle, namely they need to beat Debrecen and they need some Lyon (who’s already in) to beat Fiorentina. If Fiorentina wins or draws either of their final two games, Liverpool is out. The Reds will be without Fernando Torres, who’s still battling a groin injury. Fellow striker Ryan Babel also picked up an injury in the draw with Manchester City this weekend. Defending champion Barcelona finds themselves in a similar boat. They need to beat Inter Milan at home to keep their chances at advancing alive. Barca will likely be without Lionel Messi due to injury. Several players are also ill with the H1N1 virus.
Tuesday’s games
Rubin vs. Dynamo
Arsenal vs. Standard – 9 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
AZ vs. Olympiacos
Barcelona vs. Inter – 7 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
Debrecen vs. Liverpool – 2:40 p.m. ET/Setanta (Live); 5 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
Fiorentina vs. Lyon – 2:30 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Live)
Rangers vs. Stuttgart
Unirea Urziceni vs. Sevilla
