UEFA Champions League Draw: Chelsea, Manchester United To Meet In Quarterfinals; Barcelona, Real Madrid On Collision Course For Semis

When Schalke fired Felix Magath earlier this week, they became the club all other UEFA Champions League quarterfinalists wanted to draw. Well, in truth, they were already the club everybody wanted to draw. They came out of a weak group and did not face a titan in the Round of 16. Combined with their poor showing in the Bundesliga, Schalke has the worst resumé of any of the tournament’s final eight. And as if to trying to becoming the most dubious quarterfinalist in the current format’s history, Schalke decided to fire their coach.

But despite making the quarterfinals and pulling themselves to the edge of another scudetto, Inter is nowhere near the team that won last year’s title. Yet Barcelona is still out there. Real Madrid is looming. Manchester Untied or Chelsea will meet them in the next round, should the Nerazzurri advance. Inter has a month to find last year’s form, if they are to make a serious play at retaining their title.

As those opportunities have faded and injuries have set in, van der Vaart has seemed more van der Vaart-ian, though that takes little away from the story of his Bernabeu return. He didn’t want to leave, felt has was never given a chance after moving from Hamburg, and having become an important part of a side that could put Los Merengues out, the half-Spanish attacker would relish giving Jorge Valdano a reason to regret.

Real Madrid are rightfully favorites, but within their team you see the cracks that could allow Spurs to go through. Still, Tottenham are upstarts, and starting on April 5, their Champions League gets real.

But Shakhtar is a team that just posted a lopsided victory over Roma, and while the Giallorossi were not a threat to win this competition, the Miners gave the type of convincing performance we saw from none of Chelsea, Manchester United, or even Barcelona. They got three road goals at the Stadio Olimpico and finished with a 6-2 aggregate victory. Couple that with winning their group (over Arsenal) and the distance they’ve put between themselves and Dynamo Kiev in league, and you see a CV that hints at a much stronger Ukraine representative than we’re used seeing. Barcelona fans really shouldn’t be that happy.

There’s also the eye test, always important. Shakhtar looks the dark horse’s part. They have a strong system in place, one where players have defined roles in which they’ve been allowed to excel, the type of combination that allowed expertise to transcend gaps in talent. They have a sprinkling of world class skills to go with a couple of players who are on the verge of reaching beyond the stature of a plucky Eastern European club.

Unfortunately for United, will is the most ethereal of those three qualities. It’s also an area where Manchester United is not used to dealing with deficiencies. They’re is usually the side with mental edge. When circumstances that rouse blood pressures arise and the best embrace dreams as their opponents entertain failures, the Red Devils are typically the ones finding the late goal, drawing a late penalty, or holding out for an entire match without giving their opponents a sniff of goal.

Though United lost the 2009 final to Barcelona, they showed these qualities two years earlier, knocking Barça out at the semifinals. They were the last team to see Inter Milan out of the tournament and recently posted a record 21-match unbeaten streak in Champions League. And, of course, they beat Chelsea the last two times the teams met in Champions League, though finding hopes on a penalty kick win is no way to exercise a demon.

The draw also finalized the bracket for the tournament, a process that put Barcelona and Real Madrid on a course to meeting in the semifinals. Should each club move past the quarters, they will meeting the last week or April and the first week of May, creating four match-ups in a three week span: April 16 (league), April 20 (Copa del Rey final), April 26-27 and May 3-4.

In the other half of the draw, the winner of Chelsea-Manchester United will face either Inter Milan or Schalke.