Can I start with a statement? Liverpool Football Club are going to win the European Cup for the 6th time in Athens on the 23rd of May. You heard it here first.

The draw for the Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Final of the UEFA Champion’s League was just made.

Those will be the first leg ties to be played on the 3rd/4th of April with the reverse fixtures on the 10th/11th.

I’m tipping Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Man United and Valencia to go through.

The Milan/Munich game is the tie of the round and a tough one to call. I caught the end of Bayern victory over Real Madrid the other night and they looked like they wanted it badly. For that reason I’m going to tip them to progress. Being at home for the second leg can’t hurt either.

Liverpool and PSV have already met twice in this season’s competition when Liverpool topped the group with an away draw and a home win. They kept two clean sheets and looked comfortable in both games. Having said that Ronald Koeman was the manager of Benfica when they knocked Liverpool out last season. It feels like Liverpool’s year though. Again Liverpool are at home for the second leg and are very good at two-legged ties with the home leg second.

Roma Vs. Man United looks a foregone conclusion, but then I thought Lyon would beat Roma. Man United are having a great season without playing well at the moment. They have some injury concerns but I think that over two legs, and with the second at home, they’ll do the job.

In the Chelsea/Valencia tie I’m going for the team at home in the second leg once more, Valencia. It is unlikely that all the home teams in the second leg will go through - and I’d say Bayern are the shakiest - but I think Valencia are well equipped to handle Chelsea. Most “experts” disagree of course!

The Semi-Finals will be;

Again it will be that way for the first leg on the 24th/25th of April with the reverse on the 1st/2nd of May.

I’m tipping Liverpool and Manchester United to progress.

Both Chelsea and Valencia would prove stiff opponents, but ones that Bentez knows all about. Liverpool/Chelsea would be a repeat of the 2005 semi-final, but since my gut says Valencia I’ll talk about that. Rafael Benitez was the manager of Valencia before he quit to become manager of Liverpool in 2004. A return to his former club would be very emotional no doubt, but I am sure that he keeps a close eye on the news of his former club and so would be well equipped to face them tactically. Valencia are a very dangerous team and are still very similar to the way Benitez had set the team out. As a result they are similar to how Liverpool are set out. It would be a very close tie but with Liverpool at home in the second leg, only a fool would write them off. And I mean that whether it’s Valencia or Chelsea.

Man United have already started talking about trebles and 1999 (when they won their 2nd European Cup). There is the possibility of an Italian team in both the quarters and the semis as it was in 1999 and if it ends up being Bayern Munich instead that’s still a good omen for them as that’s who the beat in the final that year. An A.C. Milan/Man United tie would be very hard to call, but I think Bayern have the desire to beat Milan and United have the skill to beat Bayern.

In the Final the winner of the 2nd Semi-Final (Man United) were drawn as the home team.

I’m saying Man United Vs. Liverpool on the 23rd of May and that Liverpool will wear their white and green jearsey instead of the yellow.

The final would be revenge and more proof that while Bentiez has yet to crack the Premiership code, he is a master at the tactical battle of the cup competitions.

Our esteemed editor and chief will no doubt tell me this should have gone with my previous post, but honestly Frank, this is an entirely different game. Well…it’s a second leg.

Liverpool host Barcelona in the Champion’s League 2nd leg of the last 16 tonight at 19:45 (GMT). The game is live on RTÉ2 and ITV1.

The first leg finished 2-1 to Liverpool, so Barcelona need to score at least two goals to go through. If the game finishes 1-0 to Barcelona then the away goal rule comes into effect. Liverpool scored two away goals so, even though the tie would be level at 2-2, Liverpool would go through, as they had scored more away goals. The same rule would see Barcelona go through if tonight’s match ended 3-2 in their favour.

To simplify things a little here’s what you need to know. Any victory for Liverpool tonight puts them into the draw for the Quarter-Finals. Any draw puts Liverpool into the draw. A 1-0 defeat puts Liverpool into the draw. If the game is 2-1 after 90 minutes then it goes to extra-time and penalties if necessary. There are no golden goals or anything it would be two halves of 15 minutes each. Any victory other than 1-0 for Barcelona tonight puts them into the Quarter-Finals.

It all seems very simple to me, but I wonder if that made it easier for anybody else?

So who will go through? Liverpool of course! Since Ajax in 1996, no side has overturned a home, first leg defeat in the Champion’s League. No side has ever retained the Champion’s League since it changed from the European Cup into it’s current format. Liverpool’s record at home in the Champion’s League this season is played 4, won 4, and they have only lost once in Anfield in their last 13 European fixtures. Barcelona have won only once away from home in the Champion’s League this season and have been knocked out of Europe by English opposition 5 times. So it’s a foregone conclusion right? Wrong!

Statistics don’t win you football matches and Barcelona are a damn good football team. On their last visit to Anfield, in the group stages of the 2001/2002 season, Barcelona won 3-1 - a score that would see them progress tonight. They are more than capable of scoring goals, but they are equally as capable of shooting themselves in the foot depending on which Barcelona turn up. If Liverpool score the first goal it is questionable that Barcelona have the character to come back into the game.

Barcelona are expected to go with a 3-4-3 formation tonight with Ronaldinho, Eto’o and Messi leading the attack. They have never lost, in any competition, when those three have started. They have no major injury concerns.

I expect Liverpool to go with a 5-3-1-1 formation after Rafa Benitez hinted at the inclusion of Crouch.

“Crouch is a big problem to Barcelona because normally they wouldn’t play against someone like him in Spain. The only player like that is Zigic, of Racing Santander.

“When we played against Real Betis, they couldn’t manage against Crouch because they aren’t used to it. And with the Spanish mentality about English football being all long balls and second balls, they are a little bit afraid to talk about Crouch.”

Reina was an injury concern after the Manchester United game, but he seems to have recovered. Liverpool are without Kewell and Garcia for tonights game and if Sissoko or Kuyt should get booked they will be suspended for the next match.

Dudek, Arbeloa, Aurelio, Kuyt, Pennant, Gonzalez and Fowler on the bench.

I expect Liverpool to go through and while I can see them beating Barcelona again I wouldn’t rule out a 1-0 defeat. One thing’s for sure though, with what’s at stake and the atmosphere that the Liverpool fans create on nights like this it’ll be essential viewing for all.

In the other games I expect Chelsea, Lyon and Valencia to join Liverpool in the Quarter-Final draw on Friday morning.

I heard an ad on the radio the other day saying that Setanta Sports was available to Eircom Broadband customers and sure enough it is.

I’m not sure how much of their schedule is shown live but it’s worth checking out if you want to catch Muster Vs. Cardiff on Friday evening or a Champion’s League game on Tuesday next.

With Setanta getting even more Premiership coverage next season this looks a very sweet deal for Eircom.

*Edit: This is a better link.

Apparently this was printed in Yesterday’s Independent. The guy was outside the Ireland Vs. England game on Saturday.

Oh, the irony of it all.

The Champion’s League is back with us again. Last night’s action gave us plenty of incident and it’s clear the Lille Vs. Manchester United game will give the media plenty to talk about for the next two weeks.

The one goal lead Man United take back to Old Trafford with them should be enough after seeing Lille struggle in the final third of the pitch last night. Lille deserved more out of the game, but United were clearly the better team. I’d expect Man United to win the second leg too and be in the draw for the Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals on the 9th of March.

Real Madrid’s 3-2 home victory over Bayern Munich won’t be enough to see them through. The 2 away goals and home advantage give Bayern a great chance of going through but neither team are as good as they should be at the moment.

For Arsenal, loosing away to PSV was a bad blow but they are more than good enough to turn the tie around. You never know what you’re going to get from Arsenal, but on their day they are one of the best footballing sides in the World. 1-0 is not a major disaster and the return leg is poised to be the most entertaining game of the round. This one could well need extra-time.

Celtic have to pleased with the 0-0 home draw they secured last night. When you’re playing AC Milan you’d take a draw in the first leg. Any goal Celtic can score in the second leg will be an away goal so a score draw will do them. It’s still hard to see them knocking Milan out though.

Tonight’s fixtures promise plenty more talking points with Jose Mourinho taking his Chelsea side back to Porto, in a tie that shouldn’t pose Chelsea many problems; Inter Milan hosting Valencia, in an evenly matched tie that I feel the Spaniards will edge; Lyon going to Roma to show Europe that they are a force to be reckoned with this season; and in the tie of the round Barcelona host Liverpool.

The visit of Liverpool to Barcelona has already filled many column inches. Both clubs have had problems with their players; Samuel Eto’o refusing to come on as a substitute in a recent game, and a few of the Liverpool players enjoying a lively boys night out during a training camp visit to Portugal last week.

To add to the similarities both teams come into this game on the back of league defeats, and lets not forget that it’s the 2006 winners against the 2005 Champions!

Since the draw was first announced people have been very quick to write off Liverpool’s chances. The statistics however, suggest otherwise…

In three visits to the Nou Camp Liverpool are yet to concede a goal. They won 1-0 in 1976 on their way to winning the UEFA Cup, drew 0-0 in the UEFA Cup during their trebble winning campaign of 2001, and again in the Champion’s League group stage of 2002. Rafael Benitez also has an excellent track record there winning twice and drawing once in his time as Valencia manager. With defensive linchpin, Jamie Carragher, going for a hat-trick of shut outs tonight it’s hard to see any result other than 0-0. That would set up another memorable European night in Anfield on the 6th of March.

The official Barcelona squad is Valdés, Jorquera, Belletti, Oleguer, Puyol, Thuram, Márquez, Gio, Zambrotta, Motta, Xavi, Deco, Iniesta, Gudjohnsen, Saviola, Ronaldinho, Messi, Giuly.

Liverpool have traveled over with Reina, Dudek, Finnan, Arbeloa, Carragher, Agger, Hyypia, Riise, Pennant, Gerrard, Alonso, Sissoko, Mascherano, Gonzalez, Zenden, Crouch, Kuyt, Bellamy and Fowler.

I expect that Barca will play their usual 4-3-3 and Liverpool with revert back to the 4-5-1 that helped win so many vital games in Europe in 2005.