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Champions League preview: England fighting for pride

By on March 17, 2014

England might be considered as one of the best footballing nations, yet the nation’s final Champions League hopes rests in the hands of a Manchester United side in turmoil and Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea as the two sides battle for a spot in the quarterfinals of the elite against Olymiacos and Galatasaray respectively.  While it might seem as if the country’s reigning champion and former champions will keep England’s pride well and alive with ease, reality shows a whole different story.

Both sides are returning home for the second leg both needing either a win, or in Chelsea’s case, a goalless draw or win on penalties.  The Blues, having been held to a 1-1 draw by Galatasaray, are probably the favorites coming into the match at Stamford Bridge, although their recent 1-0 loss to Aston Villa should bring Chelsea back down to earth for the match.  Yet Roberto Mancini’s Gala side probably would rather have Chelsea walk into the match with overweight confident, which can often lead to an underestimation of the Turks, who benefited from this before when they edged out Manchester United and Real Madrid in last season’s competition.

Olyimpiacos, meanwhile, already got themselves a vital win from United’s underestimation, and are now coming into the second leg on the front foot.  However, while United have the burden of horrible form, highlighted in their recent 3-0 loss to rivals Liverpool, they will not have the distraction of facing their fourth highest goalscorer ever as Chelsea do.  Mourinho’s side will face Didier Drogba for the first time ever at Stamford Bridge, an untimely diversion from pre-match preparation that Mourinho has attempted to use in his mind games by claiming that Drogba has to rejoin the Londoners.

Yet if the Portugese manager had retained his job at Real Madrid he would need no mind games to seal their ticket in the quarterfinals, as his former club are already sitting pretty following a 6-1 win in the first leg of their tie against Schalke 04.  Mourinho’s successor at the Bernabeu Carlo Ancelotti can now afford to rest his starting side.  In the final tie of the week Borussia Dortmund will, unlike Madrid, have to be weary in the second leg of their tie against Zenit Saint-Petersburg, with a 4-2 win the in the first leg giving Jurgen Klopp’s side the advantage, and vital away goals, but not certainty of an aggregate win against the cash-rich St Petersburg.  After all the beauty of the Champions League comes in it’s unpredictability.

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.