Champions League semi finals: Will Mourinho finally win against Barcelona? Will Schalke surprise Manchester United too?

The quarter finals are over & as it has become a tradition, all encounters produced exciting & high scoring encounters. Whilst in most pundits' view, Barcelona with Messi & co were once again in another class, the humiliation handed down to Inter Milan by Germany's Schalke led by the Champions League legend Raul & possibly currently the best keeper in the world Neuer was undoubtedly the one of the greatest shocks in the CL history. Inter Milan have been a pale shade of the team that won in Madrid in May 2010 & were very lucky to get to the QF anyway. Nevertheless, no one could have ever predicted an aggregate 7-3 double loss elimination by erratic yet potent Schalke, whose players seem to be once again enjoying their football after the sacking of much criticised Magath.

I predicted 3 out of 4 overall results right. I still believe this Manchester United side is not as good as the teams that reached the final in the last few years & expected Chelsea to beat them.

As for the semi final pairings, both are very hard to predict! In case of Real & Barcelona, this is due to multiple matches the clubs will have to play each other in the coming weeks. Barcelona under the magnificent coaching of Guardiola & the irresistible magical displays of Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Villa & co have beaten Real Madrid 5 times so far including a 5-0 in La Liga earlier this year. Real & Barcelona will however meet twice in CL semi finals as well as in La Liga & the Spanish Cup in the coming weeks. It will be a chess game between two master tacticians & interesting to watch. Both Mourinho & Guardiola would rather win the CL semi final matches & lose the other two.

with regards to the other semi final pairing of Manchester United vs Schalke, as I said in my last post about Schalke, they may be underdogs but on their day have the players & the finesse to beat anyone, and with their coaching issues resolved, they may even dispose of Manchester United, although United are a much more formidable opponent than Inter Milan ever was.

So, here's my prediction for the final: Barcelona vs Schalke

(although my head tells me Manchester United will be there in the final!)

A review of Champions League quarter final pairings

Last year I managed to predict ALL 8 quarter finalists in the Champions League correctly. This year I only managed 7 out of 8. The one fallen victim were my beloved but out of sorts Bayern Munich, who were comfortably leading Inter Milan 3-1 on aggregate with 30 minutes to go in Munich but (yet again this year) made too many mistakes & got eliminated 3-3 on away goals rule by an 88th minute goal! Better luck, and form next year! So, to my quarter final predictions (got 3 out of 4 right last year): Teams in Bold to advance:

• Real Madrid vs Tottenham: Spurs have surpassed all expectation, entertained & thrilled on their way to this stage & have introduced Gareth Bale as a real superstar in the process. But Mourinho & his Galacticos are simply too good to be overplayed by the wily Redknapp & co, especially since Bale is not fully fit.


• Chelsea vs Manchester United: I have been very unimpressed with Manchester United this year & they proved they are not formidable with a lacklustre win against Marsielle. Even though Chelsea's form has been patchy, they are capable of beating Manchester United comfortably.


• Barcelona vs Shaktar: Anyone who does not acknowledge this Messi led Barcelona as one of the greatest club sides of all time & the best to watch & enjoy, either does not understand football or is in denial. For the good of the game, Barcelona should, will & deserve to win the Champions League. Whilst Barcelona's record in eastern Europe in recent years has been patchy, they will win the tie in Camp Neu.


• Inter Milan vs Schalke: I must disclose I do not like Inter Milan! I had picked Schalke as one of the dark horses of elimination rounds. But with coach Magadth sacked & Schalke languishing in the bottom half of Bundesliga, & with Inter regaining confidence with Leonardo as coach having beaten Bayern Munich, Inter should comfortably dispose of Schalke on paper. However, on their day Schalke are capable of beating any team & in Neuer in goal & Raul in attack they have two world class players capable of winning matches. So, on this one I will remain undecided!