Chapter 122: Meeting Barcelona

In the quarter-finals of the Champions League, Arsenal advanced to the quarter-finals strongly, and Manchester United, sitting at Old Trafford, swept AC Milan 4-0 thanks to Wayne Rooney's brace and goals from Park Ji-sung and Fletcher, thus defeating the Rossoneri 7-2 on aggregate over two legs to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the eleventh time, and thus ending the previous record of being eliminated by AC Milan in the Champions League every four times.

Bayern traveled to Fiorentina to take on Fiorentina, and in the first half, Vargas opened the scoring for Fiorentina to help the team temporarily lead 1-0. In the second half, Jovetic scored two goals in a row, but Bayern also scored one goal each by Van Bommel and Robben to chase the score to 2-3, and finally although Bayern lost 2-3, it relied on the advantage of more away goals to beat Fiorentina to advance to the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

Arsenal, Manchester United and Bayern Munich were also sensible, but at the Bernabeu, La Liga giants Real Madrid drew 1-1 at home to former seven-time Ligue 1 champions Lyon, and the new ships were eliminated on aggregate by a score of 1-2. The new Galaxy Battleship missed out on the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the sixth year in a row, ending a three-game winning streak in all competitions and an eleven-game winning streak at home. Although Ronaldo broke the deadlock early, the second phase of the Galaxy Battleship still continues to create the title of Champions League 16.

Elsewhere, Inter Milan beat Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge thanks to Samuel Eto'o's goal to eliminate their opponents 3-1 on aggregate and progress to the quarter-finals after four years. At the Camp Nou, six-time champions Barcelona swept past reigning Bundesliga champions Hoffenheim 4-0 at home to make it five to one on aggregate, making it five wins in a row at home in all competitions.

In the other game, Bordeaux won 2-1 at home to Olympiacos. The defending Ligue 1 champions advanced with an aggregate score of 3-1. Sevilla FC lost 2-1 to CSKA Moscow at home. As a result, they were eliminated with an aggregate score of 2-3. CSKA Moscow reached the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history.

Arsenal, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Lyon, Inter Milan, Barcelona, Bordeaux and CSKA Moscow, these eight teams have advanced to the quarter-finals of the Champions League; Although the elimination of Chelsea and Real Madrid was a bit of a shock for a while, the Champions League, as the most attractive cup competition, is never without surprises.

Balance has become the impression of the Champions League quarter-finals this season, and the past four of the Premier League have formed huge groups, with teams from six leagues taking eight places. Chelsea were eliminated, and the Premier League's monopoly on the Champions League quarter-finals in the last three years was shattered; Real Madrid Sevilla was out at the same time, and the once strong La Liga was left with only the lone seedling of Barcelona; Inter Milan rose to prominence in the face of adversity. Finally picking up the burden of defending the glory of Serie A; CSKA survived and became a special guest outside the five major leagues......

Over the past decade, the strength of one league has almost become a feature of the Champions League, with the exception of 2003-04, at least one league has been able to occupy more than three places in the last eight of the Champions League, and in 2002-03 La Liga and Serie A even took six of the last eight places in the Champions League! However, this situation has been broken this season, with the Premier League and Ligue 1 accounting for two of the top eight places, and the rest of Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga and Russian Premier League each have one team in the final, and each league can be described as evenly matched.

The quarterfinals have just ended, and all the quarterfinals have been produced. They are: Barcelona, Manchester United, Inter Milan, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Lyon, Bordeaux and CSKA Moscow. The draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League in 09-10 was held at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, with eight of Europe's biggest teams battling each other. The draw was chaired by UEFA Secretary General Gianni Infantino. Butragueno, the ambassador of the final and the manager of the PR department of Real Madrid, was the guest of honor. The draw will take the form of a mixed eight-team draw, and teams from the same country will not shy away, nor will the teams that have met in the group stage.

The draw was announced, with the most notable match undoubtedly being the reunion of the two teams in the 1999 Champions League final - Manchester United and Bayern Munich, while defending champions Barcelona also met Arsenal in the 2006 final and Inter Milan were drawn against CSKA Moscow, with two Ligue 1 sides Lyon and Bordeaux in a civil battle.

Lyon and Bordeaux, Bayern Munich vs Manchester United, Arsenal's opponents are Barcelona, and Zuihou's opponents are Inter Milan and CSKA Moscow. The draw for the quarterfinals ended, which naturally caused an uproar and attention.

Bayern and Manchester United, the two old rivals who had formed a bond at the end of the last century and the beginning of this century, meet again after eight years, Bordeaux and Lyon will start the French derby, Arsenal will have a chance to avenge the Champions League final defeat to Barcelona four years ago, Inter Milan is relatively lucky, and CSKA will be the opponent of the Serie A king in the quarterfinals.

The draw came as a surprise to many, but it was also a surprise to many, but then again, the team supporters could put the so-called conspiracy theories aside, because instead of speculating about the unseen and unguessable, it would be better to sit back and watch the game, after all, there are many things that really attract attention in these strong conversations.

Before the draw for the quarterfinals of the Champions Cup, Italy's "Milan Sport" and Spain's "Shijie Sport" both predicted that the results of this draw would definitely follow the usual style of UEFA in the Platini era: encirclement of the Premier League is one thing, teams with clear grievances meet second, and Platini's home country team may be "guaranteed", which is the third. The results of the draw were announced, and sure enough, the world's three-point predictions were all realized.

Aside from other teams and highlights, the clash between Arsenal and Barcelona alone is very interesting.

Before the results of the draw were announced, many Arsenal people thought that avoiding Manchester United was the first sign, and Xiao Qing even expressed his hope to draw Barcelona. Sure enough, Arsenal's opponent is Barcelona. However, these two matchups must have been quite special for Xiaofa, who had to prove in action that his heart is still red and white, not red and blue, at least for now. Accompanying the team to Camp Nou, this is a report performance of Xiaofa, if you play at the highest level and help the Gunners win away, the feeling of the red and blue is naturally mixed.

On the 55th anniversary of the Champions League, "return" has become the key word. In the season. The group stage saw Kaka's return to the San Siro. Samuel Eto'o is back at Camp Nou. Ibra returns to Meacha; In the round of 16, the returning protagonists became David Beckham, who returned to Old Trafford, and Jose Mourinho, who returned to Stamford Bridge; In the quarter-finals, however, the theme of "return" continued: this time, it was the turn of Barcelona and Arsenal, Thierry Henry and Cesc Fabregas.

The scandal between Barcelona and Cesc Fabregas has been familiar to all fans in recent seasons, especially this season, despite Xiao Qing's strong rise. It seems reasonable for Arsenal to return to Barcelona after a complete fall from grace.

Arsenal's encounter with Barcelona, a repeat of the 2006 Champions League final, and the "Thierry Henry's homecoming" element will make the game more interesting and attract the attention of the world. In 2006, Barcelona beat Arsenal, and four years later, Arsenal are looking forward to revenge against Barca. When two of the world's most unrestrained teams meet, the game is unpredictable, but obviously. The Emirates Stadium and Camp Nou will be full, and the whole Shijie will be paying attention to it.

And the contest between Xiao Qing and Messi is also a highlight. Messi is an honorary Grand Slam winner, and he has already won all the honors; And Xiao Qing's current growth rate is amazing, after winning the major honors in the Bundesliga, Xiao Qing also began to dominate the Premier League, Xiao Qing's strong performance this season made everyone feel amazed, he can get better.

Now many fans and the media are thinking that one of the highlights of football in the next few years is the confrontation between Ronaldo, Messi and Xiao Qing, and it is not surprising that these three top players are likely to dominate the Ballon d'Or and the title of Shijie Footballer, and the three of them are now the most considered to have the strength and potential of Shijie No. 1.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger probably never dreamed of facing defending champions Barcelona in the quarter-finals, but the cruelest reality is in front of him, and the real warriors dare to face the bleak life.

Objectively speaking, this is the worst result, Barcelona is the most outstanding and in-form team in the whole of Europe at the moment, and among the remaining six teams, Manchester United, Inter Milan and Barcelona are relatively close in strength, plus Arsenal, it can be regarded as the four most Haode teams, if Arsenal can draw the relatively weak CSKA Moscow or Ligue 1 teams, it should be easy to enter the semi-finals.

But now, Arsenal have drawn the toughest way to win the title. It was only the second time in recent years that Arsenal have met the defending champions before the semi-finals, having last met AC Milan in the round of 16 in 2006/07, where they were beaten 2-0 at the San Siro in the second leg and became the first English side to beat Milan away.

Arsenal and Barcelona, it is worth mentioning that in fact, the relationship between the two teams has always been good, and the players have been in frequent contacts, and the two talented players Henry and Cesc Fabregas will face their old owners. Thierry Henry, Arsenal's all-time leading scorer, will return to the Emirates Stadium for the first leg at the end of March. Cesc Fabregas chose to leave Barcelona at the age of 16 to develop in England, and now at the age of 22, he has become the captain of Arsenal.

Xiao Qing met his favorite opponent as he wished, but this did make it a lot more difficult for Arsenal to compete for the title on both fronts; Truth be told, Barcelona are really not a haode opponent and Arsenal are now becoming more dangerous.

Arsenal are the best team in the Premier League at pinching soft persimmons. The Gunners have a very high win rate against teams in the middle and lower tiers. But in the strong dialogue, Arsenal's performance was very disappointing. Against Manchester United and Chelsea, Arsenal only had a slight advantage, although two wins over fallen giants Liverpool were Arsenal's only wins against a strong team this season. But Barcelona, the six-time champions, is clearly a few notches above Liverpool.

Xiao Qing naturally began to prepare for the game seriously, Barcelona is really a difficult opponent to be honest, but Xiao Qing believes that Arsenal still has the confidence to wrestle with Barcelona; Barcelona's quality is very good, but Arsenal is not so easy to handle. Although it may not be a good thing to meet a strong opponent, Arsenal are still very confident that they will win Zuihou.

What Arsenal need now is serious preparation for the upcoming new league, and now Arsenal are in a good situation in the league, they need to continue to extend their lead, they need to stabilize their winning advantage in the league, so that they can be more prepared for the upcoming Champions League games! (To be continued......)