Both Chelsea and Liverpool will be looking to notch up their second successive Champions League victory when they play surprise Romanian package Cluj and PSV Eindhoven respectively today.
Chelsea outclassed French side Bordeaux in their first match of the campaign a fortnight ago but may find Cluj a tougher proposition after they pulled off a stunning victory over AS Roma in their debut in the competition.
Liverpool started with a hardfought 2-1 away win over Bordeaux’ French rivals Marseille and have a good recent record over PSV while the Dutch side’s coach Huub Stevens has never won either as a player or coach in England.
PHOTO: AP
Marseille will travel with some trepidation to Madrid to take on dark horses Atletico Madrid.
Chelsea will be hoping to sink their fangs into Cluj’s jugular when they travel to Transylvania — the land of horror story icon Dracula.
Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari warned fans not to expect the samba style just yet after the London all-stars were made to battle for a 2-0 win over Stoke on Saturday — and it will be no different against the Romanians.
Cluj inflicted one of shocks of the first round by humbling Roma with the help of a double from Argentinian Juan Culio.
Chelsea may have hit Bordeaux for four the same night, but Cluj — who won their first championship last season — appear likely to pose more problems as Scolari admitted.
“The Bordeaux game was a good experience for us but the game against Cluj will be different,” he said. “If Cluj can win away from home [like they did at Roma] then we are in danger.”
Liverpool go into today’s tie away to PSV Eindhoven full of confidence. Rafa Benitez will hand Ryan Babel a star role as the Dutch international faces a side he first played against as an Ajax player.
“Our view of Ryan is a player who starts games and has an impact from the beginning, not just as a sub,” Benitez told the club’s Web site on Monday. However, the man that PSV should really be wary of is Fernando Torres as he showed a return to goalscoring form with a double at the weekend in the Liverpool derby victory over Everton.
Torres had appeared to be suffering something of a hangover from his efforts in Spain’s triumphant Euro 2008 campaign but he looked back to his best as he claimed both goals in the derby win over Everton at the weekend.
“Fernando is the kind of player who can change games and it is very positive for us that he has confidence now,” Benitez said.
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
Taiwanese badminton player Lin Chun-yi had to settle for silver in the men’s singles at the Orleans Masters in France on Sunday after losing in the final to his French opponent. The 25-year-old Lin, ranked world No. 14, lost to Alex Lanier 13-21, 18-21 in a match that lasted 42 minutes at the Palais des Sports arena. It was the first time that the two players were facing each other in their professional careers. In the opener, Lin was slow to warm up, which gave the 20-year-old Lanier an opportunity to take an early lead with seven consecutive points. Despite
Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi on Wednesday inflicted a first-round defeat on former badminton world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen at the All England Open. Lin came out of top after a back-and-forth first game before Axelsen dominated the second, but the Dane was not able to keep that form in the decider as Lin reeled off six points in a row on the way to a 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 victory. “If I don’t play my best, everyone can win against me,” said Axelsen, the world No. 4. “Today’s opponent played a fantastic game; it was disappointing, but that is how it is.” “I just tried
RSS