Is anyone following this? It's into the knockout rounds yet you hardly see any of it here in the USA.

Edited to delete 2009 from the title:

2011 again sees the two of the most expensive teams in the finals. But the art of Barça and the individual talent of ManU make this one a fantastic game to watch so far (halftime).

Yeah, I've been watching. ESPN2 carries the matches but they come on live in the afternoons in the US. And, they are always during the week so it can be hard to watch unless you have an extended lunch.

Second Leg (It put the times below but there is a clock change this weekend so check on the ESPN-ABC Sports website)
Tuesday 10 March 2009
Bayern Munich 20:45 Sporting Lisbon [Bayern Munich leads 5-0]
Juventus 20:45 Chelsea [Chelsea leads 1-0]
Liverpool 20:45 Real Madrid [Liverpool leads 1-0; away goal advantage]
Panathinaikos 20:45 Villarreal [tied 1-1; Panathinaikos with away goal advantage]

Wednesday 11 March 2009
Barcelona 20:45 Lyon [tied 1-1; Barcelona with away goal advantage]
Man. United 20:45 Internazionale Milan [tied 0-0]
Porto 20:45 Atlético Madrid [tied 2-2; Porto with away goal advantage]
Roma 20:45 Arsenal [Arsenal leads 1-0]

I put my predictions to advance in bold. The spoilers can be Real Madrid, Inter Milan, and Roma.

Our "lunch" is short and getting shorter with the expensive cable monopoly here in Philly. But I'd love to see Chelsea Tuesday (or is it Monday night?) put away Juventus. And I think Liverpool may fade against Real Madrid. But I like your other picks, though I don't get to see any of the teams actually playing enough to judge.

TSN broadcasts at least one game on the Tuesday and one game on the Wednesday.

As for my picks...

Bayern, Chelsea, Liverpool, Villareal, Barcelona, Man Utd, Porto, Arsenal.

Wow simontexas were you ever right about Liverpool-Real Madrid. That 4-0 drubbing must have stunned Real as much as it did me.

Had I been following euro-soccer more closely I would have known that Real had lost a lot of big name talent over the years to better endowed (moneywise that is) teams since marquee names like David Beckham graced their roles.

Still I was surprised at the poor shots made on goal by Real veterans like Raul, who probably would have nailed those when they were younger, and they put their better players in too late to make a difference.

I also thought it was soul-shattering for them to have the first goal scored against them be the result of an error on the refs part (that "hand ball" that should not have been called) giving Gerrard a relatively easy goal at the start.

No player with any class will make a fuss or excuses, using a call that close, but holding that inside throughout the game eats at you subconsciously. Reals' strength was probably sapped from that.

The rest was downhill from there. But I enjoyed the hell out of watching the game. Don't know why I would find it so much more difficult to sit through an MLS game, but the passing by Real while losing was incredible.

I think the biggest problem for Real Madrid was that they were up against Liverpool.

Ever since Rafael Benitez took over, Liverpool has been a team built for Europe. He has this almost weird obsession with Champions League and good on him! It's clearly worked as Liverpool has been the class of Europe since Rafa took over. Though I will say, if it came down to them and Man Utd - they'd fall short... then again, in a one game championship anything can happen.

Premier League is showing that money talks.

From Wiki:
The draw for the final rounds of the competition is set to take place on 20 March 2009. For these rounds there is no seeding nor any country protection; it is an entirely random draw.
The quarter-final first leg matches are set for April 7th and 8th and the second legs on following week.
The semi-final first leg matches are scheduled for 28/29 April and the second legs on 5/6 May.

Arsenal
Barcelona
Bayern Munich
Chelsea
Liverpool
Manchester United
Porto
Villarreal

4 teams from England
2 teams from Spain
1 from Portugal
1 from Germany

Of course the Liverpool-Chelsea QF matchup is gonna be classic!

Wiki info:
Arsenal - 2006 runner up (never won)
Barcelona - 2006 won beating Arsenal in the Final (2 overall titles)
Bayern Munich - 2001 won beating Man U in QF (4 overall titles)
Chelsea - 2008 runner up beating Liverpool in SF (never won)
Liverpool - 2005 won beating Chelsea in SF; 2007 runner up beating Chelsea in SF (5 overall titles)
Manchester United - 2008 won beating Chelsea in Final (3 overall titles)
Porto - 2004 won beating Man U in first knockout round (round of 16) (2 overall titles)
Villarreal - (never won)

Manchester Utd 2:2 FC Porto
Villarreal 1:1 Arsenal
Liverpool 1:3 Chelsea
Barcelona 4:0 Bayern München

Wow! The only match that was not a complete surprise? Villarreal-Arsenal. I did expect Barcelona to win but not by that score. And Liverpool losing at home and Man U tying at home? Chelsea is doing superb, in league and CL play, ever since they brought on Guus Hiddink. Liverpool and Man U are in big trouble with the away goals against them. Can Bayern Munich pull off another 5-0 result at home like they did in the first knockout round? The second leg for each match is gonna be classic. C'mon, Let's Have It!!!!

I just know I'm gonna jinx Chelsea but YESSSSS!!!! to that win over over the 'pudlians.

Now watch them get big heads.

Edit to add: Looks like Liverpool will have to pull off the upset of the millenium to get by Chelsea now. I can't imagine Chelsea becoming as complacent as AC Milan were in 2004/5.

That certainly doesn't rule out the possibility of course. Just the thought of watching Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard sweat it out trying to score that many goals is enough to make the mouth water. Gerrard can wilt or soar under tough defensive pressure but Torres tends to soar - full stop. Best tactic would be for them to play decoy and pass to someone else who can step up. Big gamble.

Chelsea for once are going to be very dependent on their defense. Score quick and hunker down; intensity and patience are tough.

Chelsea have died. On to Rome for Barcelona and Man U., three weeks away.

Barca will have to pick it up for the boys in red. Ronaldo's swagger is in full swing. With his constantly pursing lips and that stiff-legged stride, how could one not want to see him in Rome?

When he smiles at the camera you just know it's for you and you alone, such is the guys sex appeal.

But Barca play his style: short kicks near the goal, wizardry dribbling and killer strikes from 15 meters out. The key may be which team finds enough players to play defense.

Edge goes to Barca.

This is going to be one helluva match.

Barca were amazing. Some of the best football I've seen. Passing was beautiful. Especially after Eto'o scored the first goal and they relaxed a bit.

The game was not nearly as close as the 2-0 score suggested.

Still I think I'd rather be in the locker room of ManU after the game, to console them of course.

Big win for Barca! Not a big fan of ManU, so I was happy with the outcome....
Wish I could be there to experience the party!

Hard to believe how beautifully the 2011 competition between Barça and ManU has been played so far. And it's so inidicative how differently the game is played in the two countries Spain and Britain.

The brilliance of Barça's set pieces, ballhandling (or ballpedaling?) and aggressive opposite field defense were all off-set by a single magnificent needle-threading floater of a pass from Ryan Giggs, the most experienced player on the field, to that streaking frieght train Rooney.

Which reminds me how different the builds of the players are. Brits are all "chesty" and muscular which can only be useful in an aggressive physical game in soccer. Whereas the Spanish team are slender thin as rails if tough as nails.

Regardless of the outcome, Barça are clearly the artists on the field. If I were a soccer coach I would have my kids watching the teamwork of these guys like a hawk and write down their observations as an assignment.

What Barça does can be easily taught to a group. What Giggs did was a masterful work by an experienced artist and can only come from experience.

To stay relaxed and focused near the goal not hogging the ball and making a bad shot took years of practice.

The pace of the first 15 minutes was stellar, but once they settled down it was all Barça. Although that Giggs-Rooney goal was a thing of beauty, the last goal by Villa was my favorite.

I only saw the latter part of the game, from just before the David Villa goal to near the end. Barca dominated ManU and won quite impressively. From the FC Barcelona website:

Noticed that offsides calls seem to be killing ManU so I checked the stats for the game and found that there were five on them - all on Javier Hernandez - and only one on Barcelona: Abidal.

Getting the most forward player offsides is something Barça practices and worked to great effect during the last World Cup. It's risky but they have a lot of well-deserved confidence in Valdes in goal.

Also love - absolutely love - the way the other players swarm to their colleague who has the ball, like bees to honey, in a way that gives him options to pass if he's trapped. ManU guys have a tendency to stand around waiting whenever one of their players has the ball.

These little guys do the little things. Villa's score was my favorite of the game as well, but Pedrito's finishing of a set play to start all scoring was the most beautiful and typical of Barça. And he's sooo damn sweet: