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THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – Pablo’s Crystal Ball

Only sixteen teams left in Europe’s Champions League.  And for those of you that haven’t watched any of the games this year, well the Title is clearly up in the air. Right now it’s Wednesday morning, so I must start by saying that several first leg games have already taken place in the round, but a full slate are still do later on today. But let’s start with the teams I like to take home the crown. In no particular order, my choices to win the Champions League this year are Barcelona, A.C. Milan, Manchester United, and Lyon.

 MESSI AND THE BOYS 

Now I know all of you are already saying, this guy is a clear Barca fan, and yes, you would be right. But that is not the only reason why I think they have a great shot. The main reason is great home field advantage at the Camp Nou. And also players that can take over a series with just a few touches of the ball.  Lionel Messi can not only score on you, he can also affect a series by drawing yellow cards, and like he has done plenty of times, red cards.  Other nifty dribblers like Bojan, Deco, Ronaldinho etc, are tailor-made to pick up fouls on opponents. The accumulations of yellow cards on defenders, causes them to miss the second and decisive second leg. One key defender out may be all Barca needs to advance.

 THE CURRENT CHAMPS 

I move on to the defending champs. It’s a cliché but its true, to be the champ you have to beat the champs. A.C Milan. The Italian club is also led by FIFA player of the year KAKA, and are loaded in the back line with several players on the roster that have clearly found the fountain of youth.  Incase you didn’t know, A.C. Milan has a player named Paolo Maldini. I say that half kidding, because if you have heard of Milan, you have heard of Maldini. Just last week the Italian international played in his 1000th official club game with A.C. Milan.  In this day an age of players jumping ship for just a “couple of millions more”, Maldini continues to be an anchor for his club.  A great line was written about Maldini in a recent article. It said that if Maldini would have actually cared for more fame, and had more persistent agents and mangers, the tall, light-eyed, perfect hair Italian, would have “Out Beckhamed, David Beckham”. 

 THE RED DEVIL 

We now head to Jolly Ole England to talk about Manchester United. I will start by saying I am a huge Cristiano Ronaldo fan.  The Portuguese International came in 3rd in the voting for FIFA player of the year, behind KAKA, and second Place finisher Lionel Messi. I can’t be certain, but you can just tell that Ronaldo, absolutely wants to be FIFA Player of the year. The main problem for super stardom that Ronaldo has is that he plays nationally for Portugal, which isn’t as highly touted as Brasil (Kaka), Argentina (Messi) or even Italy, Germany, and England.  Which means Ronaldo needs to do even more than he would if he was from one of those countries. I also feel that his showboating from season’s pasts was directly related to him wanting to stand out. But in 2007-08 he changed. He is putting aside the trick plays and just flat out playing. He is also leading the Red Devils in scoring in the Champions league with 5 goals. My belief is he has two chances this year to truly standout and guarantee himself FIFA player of the year for 2008. The second is the 2008 Eurocup. However, his national team may let him down. And the other, is the Champions League. His club team should not let him down.  It continues for Man. U. today. They take on French six-time defending league champs Lyon. Tune in and see what Ronaldo, Rooney, and Tees can do. And pencil in Ronaldo for two goals in the series. Although I have a feeling Lyon will win the first leg.

 FRENCH KISS 

Those are my top three. I will even go as far as saying one of those three will win the Champions League. I know I’m not going out to far on a limb with that trio, so I will finish off with one dark horse.  If they can get past the Red Devils, careful with Lyon, they may just get on a great run and take home the top prize. 

 Write back with your thoughts and Predictions. And remember if you want the latest soccer news from around the world, tune in to GOLTV news at 7pm Eastern time. I anchor that show along with Andres Cordero every weekday. And tune in on weekends, when I do play-by-play for matches from Spain, or other top leagues from around the world.  

Pablo Alsina