Happy Valentines to you all. Now, if football was a hamster on a wheel, then what we’ve been experiencing could be the perfect description. Week in week out, we’ve been accustomed to exhilarating soccer action in foreign leagues, not forgetting the recent continental showpiece that had a horde of unknown players shock the high and mighty of Côte d'Ivoire.
We’ve already gone through the first weekend of the Kenya Premier League 2012 season, and as if the football gods are Energizer bunnies, European continental football. Yes, the elite global cup competition is back starting today, as European supremacy battles rage on with the second round of the Champions League getting underway.
Arguably the tie of the week is on Wednesday when Arsenal faces the might of Serie A’s defending champions and table toppers, AC Milan. Now that will be a Giuseppe Meazza cracker of a match, as San Siro looks most likely to be what marks the last contribution by Gunners legend, Thierry Henry.
The North Londoners are on a roll, currently placed in fourth position in the EPL. If they can produce the same result like four years ago, when they went on to become the first English club to beat the Rossoneri at home, then their dismal opening of the season performance will be marked ‘forgotten’.
Defending champions, Barcelona, seem the favorites for the title this season. However, if their domestic away form is anything to go by, then a defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in Germany will not be any surprise. The Catalans head into today’s tie on the back of a loss at the weekend that extends their points’ deficit to 10 in La Liga.
The Blaugrana’s bus may be wobbling on the road, but they are better placed to hammer a team languishing 6th in the Bundesliga, way off the Champions League spots. That should present Messi et al with a perfect opportunity to hit the high notes of the soccer pitch, if their season will get any better.
In France, Ligue One side Olympique Lyonnais take on the first Cypriot team to be in the last 16, APOEL Nicosia, in today’s other match, with Zenit St.Petersburg and Benfica having a go at each other in Russia tomorrow, to complete the quartet of Champions League matches that will take place this week.
The next cup ties involving the likes of Chelsea, Inter, Bayern and Real Madrid will happen next week.
Tuesday 14th February
10:45pm Bayer Leverkusen – Barcelona, BayArena-Leverkusen, SS3
10:45pm FC Lyon – APOEL Nicosia, Stade De Gerland-Lyon, SS7
Wednesday 15th February
8pm Zenit – Benfica, Petrovskij Stadion-St. Petersburg, SS7
10:45pm AC Milan – Arsenal, Giuseppe Meazza-Milan, SS3
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