Some juicy matchups here, we'll get to see Chelsea / Barca soon, though it would have been great to see them in the final. Porto will have a job and a half getting past Inter. Their defense will not withstand Adriano, and Vieri seems to be coming back if last week's heroics were any indication.

2004/05 UEFA Champions League
First knockout round
Team named first play at home in first leg
1. Real Madrid CF v Juventus FC
2. FC Porto v FC Internazionale Milano*
3. FC Barcelona v Chelsea FC
4. Werder Bremen v Olympique Lyonnais
5. Liverpool FC v Bayer 04 Leverkusen
6. PSV Eindhoven v AS Monaco FC
7. Manchester United FC v AC Milan
8. FC Bayern München v Arsenal FC

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É a minha filosofia de futebol. O futebol é isso: assumir o risco. O futebol é dos valentes.

ManU and Milan will get the most press. 4 out of the 8 are matchups you usually only get in a video game, so it should be fun. I like Liverpool's chances to get to the final 8.

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"I wake up every morning, clap my hands in the air and say, 'Today's going to be a great day!'"

-Chris Biello

"Red gets a pass in his absurdity, it's his charm."

-Pila

One of the best things UEFA ever did was get rid of that 2nd group stage round. Once again, a lot of big name are going to get knocked out before the quarters, leaving the door open for someone like Monaco or Bremen to make run to the semis and beyond.

On the UEFA Cup front, the local teams once again didn't fair too well in the draw:

Sporting v. Feynroord
Benfica v. CSKA Moscow

Feynrood was one of 2 teams I wanted Sporting to avoid (Stuttgart being the other). On the bright side for Benfica, they avoided Valencia. However, if either team advances, they'll have a good shot to make it to the quarterfinals. Sporting would play the winner of Graz AK/Middlesborough, while Benfica would play the winner of Dnipro/Partizan.

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Porto e Inter?! Papa like!

If this were a Serie A match, the fixture would go to PKs (Inter's got two wins, no losses and TWELVE draws so far this season in Serie A), but are dominant in the CL. Adriano will light them up.

I admit it. I'm not holding out much optimism for Benfica vs. Moscow.

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"Not that I know but I can send you texts with key updates. For example, Balotelli misses a goal, Balotelli with a rash tackle on Bellamy and gets a red card. Throws his shirt at Rafa and goes directly to the City locker room" - England66 in response to Razor's question "Will the Inter-Manchester City game in Baltimore be televised?"

Real Madrid over Juve
Inter over Porto
Barcelona over Chelsea
Lyonnais over Bremen
Liverpool over Leverkusen
Monaco over PSV
AC Milan over Man U
Arsenal over Bayern

What the hell...

Juve over Real Madrid, (Figo can't carry this bunch all by himself)
Chelsea over Barca, (Mourinho to show he was the main man at Porto)
Inter over Porto
Olympique over Bremen
Livuhpool over Layfurkoozen
Monaco over PSV
Milan over Man U
Bayern over Arsenal (the "english" will choke again in the CL)

That's what I think will happen, I'd love to see Figo, Porto and Ronaldo all go through.

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É a minha filosofia de futebol. O futebol é isso: assumir o risco. O futebol é dos valentes.

Alongside Roma and Lazio, Inter are the biggest frauds in the Italian game. Every year Inter fans spit out the same shit how this year is different bla bla bla. And every year the team does dick. I remember a few seasons ago being blasted by Couto 5 and Razor when I said an Inter with Cuper will do the same as the Inter's without Cuper did...and that was (is) NOTHING. An Inter with Mancini will continue in that mold. Adriano is scary, I admit, but he'll receive one swift kick (behind the ref's back of course) from Jorge Costa and/or Pedro Emanuel and be scared off for the rest of the game (wishful thinking....I know).

Nontheless, as long as Moratti is in charge, this team will continue to be AC Milan's pretenders (the true giants of Milan) and Juve's little bitch (the class of Italy).

Can you make out any hint of clubismo in my post? hahahahaha

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...women may be able to fake an orgasm, but men can fake whole relationships...

...Women need gofers and dummies to vent to about their friends and boyfriend...

This might post have to be my new sig come end of February after Inter ousts Porto from the CL. We'll see...

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"Not that I know but I can send you texts with key updates. For example, Balotelli misses a goal, Balotelli with a rash tackle on Bellamy and gets a red card. Throws his shirt at Rafa and goes directly to the City locker room" - England66 in response to Razor's question "Will the Inter-Manchester City game in Baltimore be televised?"

I'm not feeling an Inter victory.

What's the story with Nuno Valient? Is he going to play anytime soon? Or did he visit Mantorras's doctor?

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"I wake up every morning, clap my hands in the air and say, 'Today's going to be a great day!'"

-Chris Biello

"Red gets a pass in his absurdity, it's his charm."

-Pila

At least now we know for sure that ONE of you will definately have a new sig.

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É a minha filosofia de futebol. O futebol é isso: assumir o risco. O futebol é dos valentes.

The rumours are that he's finished.

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For how long? What's wrong with him?

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Good grief, are they still using leeches in Portugal?

When I compare the type of recovery experienced by athletes in North American sports, I really think these clubs need to look into the quality of their medicine.

If it's true that Valente's playing days are over, it's a real shame. He had entered the "prime" of his career, and would have earned his best paychecks soon. This would be a huge blow of the selecao's defense in preparing for WC'06. Rui Jorge isn't much of an option now, I can't imagine him being one in 18 months.

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"I wake up every morning, clap my hands in the air and say, 'Today's going to be a great day!'"

-Chris Biello

"Red gets a pass in his absurdity, it's his charm."

-Pila