After a thrilling round of 32, the Europa league is nearing its conclusion; but which teams will be playing in Amsterdam this year?
The English clubs scraped through with last-gasp goals for Tottenham and Chelsea, not forgetting the comedy of errors by Metalist Kharkiv defenders as they mucked up a routine backpass, allowing Sissoko to win a penalty which Ameobi duly converted.
In the next round, Newcastle face a strong Anzhi side who defeated Liverpool in the group stages. They will be hoping to gain a result though, however ugly the performance, Pardew needs a good cup run to make up for the dismal showing in the league and to prove the infamous eight year contract was the correct decision. If they are to win though, they will need a strong defensive performance from the likes of Taylor and Coloccini in order to keep out Eto'o and Traore; backed up by a spirited performance, with lots of effort put in, by the strikers. An away goal will be crucial.
Tottenham, having narrowly beaten Lyon, face a rematch from a couple of years ago in the Champions league as they come up against a significantly weaker Inter Milan side. They will hope that Bale can reproduce some of the magic of earlier this season and of course the Hat-trick that first brought him into the limelight and showed his immense talent to football fans around the world. This time though, Tottenham will be the narrow favourites and it will be Inter playing the counter attacking game, which should play into the hands of speedsters Bale and Lennon as it could mean that Inter, in being desperate for the goal, will leave themselves open to a counter-counter. It could come down to who makes less mistakes.
Chelsea face a much easier task (though it can't be taken for granted) in a two leg fixture against Romanian champions Steau Bucharest. The current Champions league winners will feel disappointed with their showing in Europe this year and will know that in order to make it up to their fans they need to do well in the Europa. This tie should help and, if they win, they will be just three rounds from another European title. This tie should be done and dusted before it's started, but chelsea should be weary of complacency and make sure they grind out the mistakes.
Chelsea, Tottenham and Newcastle will all be hoping to reach the next round for completely different reasons, and they all stand a good chance, but they must make sure they play well and if they do, anything could happen...
No comments:
Post a Comment