*** Soccer Post - Champions League QF/SF draw ***

[msubullie4life]

<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">Quarters:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">
</span></div>Chelsea v Manchester United
Tottenham v Real Madrid
Barcelona v Shaktar 04
Inter Milan v Schalke</span>

<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">Semis:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">
</span></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#464646" face="verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif" size="2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">Inter Milan/Schalke v</span></span></font><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">Chelsea/Manchester United</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">Tottenham/Real Madrid vBarcelona/Shaktar 04</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">Spanish derby on the cards and an all-London finals at Wembley on the cards too (Don't see it happening though).</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">My picks: Barca beats Inter in the finals. Chelsea and Real Madrid the other semi-finalists.</span></div>

 

[RobbieRandolph]

And just so happen to ALWAYS match up EPL teams against one another. I get the point of trying to get teams from different countries in the semis and finals, but don't piss on me and tell me it's raining.

Anyways, can't wait for the Chelsea/MU and Real/Tot games. Go Man U and Real.

 

[Liverdawg]

Noone ever accused fifa of being fair, but you gotta be excited about Man U/Cheslea and Spurs/Real. Gonna be interesting to see upstart spurs vs the Real superstars. Come on Crouchie!

 

[RobbieRandolph]

Barca just dominated Arsenal a week or so ago. Unbelievable control of the game from start to finish practically. So if my Gunners had to bow out, I hope for it to be to the overall winners.

 

[o_1984Dawg]

Spurs-Madrid is interesting...that's about it. I would've liked to see Shaktar play anyone but Barca and Barca anyone but Shaktar or Schalke. I wouldn't be suprised if Inter gets caught looking past Schalke while focusing on Serie A, especially considering how every other Italian team has managed to crash out of Europe this year, with several falling to weaker sides.

 

[Cousin Jeffrey]

Seriously....
I'll call Man U over Inter, Barca over Real, and Barca over Man U.
</p>

 

[MaroonedNdaRock]

Alright I'm fairly new to following professional soccer. So let me get this straight;

You have the EPL, La Liga, Serie A and so on with their own seasons/matches.

Then at the same time. You have FA matches being played. Also, at the same time, you have UEFA matches? Which I know the Premier League and UEFA last over 3/4of the year. But, wow! Pretty cool all these clubs play all these matches.

 

[msubullie4life]

plays its league (EPL, Serie A, la Liga, Bundesliga, etc) and also play the national knockout tournament (FA Cup, Copa del Rey, etc)...the top-notch teams go on to play in the UEFA Champions League. The number of topteamsrepresentingtheir respective countries in the UEFA CL depends on UEFA coefficient of each country (explained here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_coefficients ).<div>
</div><div>When they talk about the double, it is usually winning your country's league as well as the national knockout tournament. An European treble (winners of league/knockout/UEFA) is a rarity. Only ManU, Barca and Inter haveachievedthe treble in recent years.</div>

 

[dawgs.sixpack]

is it weird that all of my soccer ties are based on the teams i play with on fifa? and the teams i hate are the ones my friend plays with?<div>
</div><div>go man u and madrid! 17 barca, chelsea, tottenham, and inter!</div>

 

[RobbieRandolph]

Hope this helps somewhat to distinguish.

EPL, La Liga, Seria A, Bundesliga - League's with regular season games.
FA Cup - Tournament run by the governing body of English Football for English and Welsh clubs.
UEFA Champions League - Most prestigious European-only tournament for clubs that finished in the top of the league the previous year.
UEFA Europa Leauge (formerly UEFA Cup) - Same as above, but its a secondary tournament. Usually teams finishing in the 5-7 range of their respective league.

 

[shsdawg]

national knockout cup in England , the League Cup. That one has become a bit more interesting now since the winner now goes to the Europa league (same as the FA Cup)

 

[Fresno Bob]

I guess I could see it with the two EPL teams playing each other but still.... I'm a Chelsea fan and I'm not sure I'd bet much on them the way they're playing and the complete cluster created trying to figure out what to do at forward but ManU is the one matchup I think they've got a shot at and match up with right now. That could really be an entertaining and intense pair of matches. With Chelsea out of the FA Cup and essentially out of EPL contention now they should be giving it their all in this matchup.</p>

Barca is so good. I was there last year right after the World Cup and those folks were much more excited about the LaLiga/Champions league double that Barca pulled off than the WC victory. Catalans are an interesting and entertaining lot...very provincial...literally.</p>

 

[RobbieRandolph]

Yeah, thinking about Arsenal blowing it to B'ham just pisses me off.