Quote:
Originally Posted by ukhotstove
Milan are nothing special as they proved against Celtic and Bayern have nothing to prove, Roma v Man Utd is interesting, bit of a darkhorse Roma and it's going to be or should be a lot harder to beat them than it was Lille specially in Rome so a repeat of the 99 final should be on the cards.
|
That certainly looks the more interesting half of the draw. Still I for one will be surprised to see a replay of 99 in the semi. United simply stink in two legged European knockout football: Lille was just the second win since the treble campaign, and they’ve only recorded six wins in the fifteen seasons before this one. The basic rule for United in these games is when they play anyone half decent they lose. The entire list of victims post-Heysel runs Pecsi Munkas, Wrexham, Montpellier, Legia Warsaw, Athanaikos, Honved, Porto, Inter, Juve, Deportivo, Lille. Not exactly an impressive list for a side who have been ever present in Europe since the return in 90/91and truly awful for a side with United’s resources. Roma will have to cock it up in a big way to counter-balance Fergie’s incompetence. Even if this United team get the same copious good fortune as the 99 side did they simply don’t carry the same attacking threat. In 99 they could carve numerous chances and score against anyone. This United side without a fully match fit Saha rely solely on individual brilliance or the standard fare of defensive errors and set pieces.
United have been playing very poorly for some weeks now, and the absurd Larsson signing will be biting them in the butt over the next few weeks. Throw in the domestic suspension of Scholes and United’s season could easily fall apart in the next few weeks. They’ve just about got away with it in their last few games, but while champions have to win games while playing badly even the most obdurate and lucky sides only have so many lives. Middlesbrough have caused them an awful lot of problems in recent times, and the next league fixtures are the plastic derby against Bolton, and against another side who’ve caused them a lot of problems in recent clashes in Blackburn. Come Roma it isn’t hard to imagine them out the cup and just clinging on to a lead in the league. With the second leg coming days before the trip to Chelsea in the league their primary focus could well be elsewhere.
From what I've seen of the teams this season I'd go for Milan to edge through the other tie. They are far from their best this season with the total lack of firepower, but they have a lot of professionalism and know-how. However I haven't seen much of Bayern Munich since Hitzfeld returned, so if he has reminded the players they are in fact a team it wouldn't take much of his magic to make them favourites. Either way it should be an interesting tie, and it looks the most balanced of the four by some margin.
The other half of the draw looks a bit insipid to say the least. Unless someone dramatically under or over achieves, or The Lady interferes in a big way there doesn't seem much scope for interest. Well, on the pitch at least. If only Liverpool and/or Chelsea provided half as much entertainment on the park as they do off it this half of the draw would be so much more interesting.