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Eur gonna cruise through
STEVEN HOWARD - Chief sports writer
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Published: Today
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THIS should have been the week when we found out the true state of the Premier League.
Whether, as some of us believe, the standard has dipped visibly.
That Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal, despite filling the top three spots, have stagnated while the rest have regressed.
A truer indication of that will not come until next week - UEFA having decided to maximise TV revenue potential by staggering the first Champions League knockout stage over a fortnight - when Chelsea fly out to Milan to take on Serie A leaders Inter.
For this week, though, the status quo should be comfortably maintained thanks to a fortunate draw that sees United and Arsenal take on AC Milan and Porto respectively.
And having the bonus of the return legs at Old Trafford and the Emirates.
Even Red Devils manager Alex Ferguson is confident enough to say: "We could not be going to Milan in a better state mentally and physically."
Sure, AC Milan are seven-time winners of the trophy and have beaten United all four times they have met at the knockout stage.
And on all four occasions United have failed to score at the San Siro.
Yet, the rejuvenated Ronaldinho aside, there is not much in this current team to duly concern United.
They were well beaten by Inter in the recent Milan derby - the contribution of the absurdly over-hyped David Beckham likened to that of a waxworks dummy - and lie third in Serie A, some eight points behind their city rivals.
If Beckham, relegated to the bench after that display, is to get a start then he will have to force his way past Gennaro Gattuso and Clarence Seedorf on the right of a three-man midfield.
Yes, there are still some huge names in this Milan squad - Seedorf and Gattuso plus Ronaldinho, Andrea Pirlo, Massimo Ambrosini and Alessandro Nesta - but they are hardly in the first flush of youth.
Ronaldinho aside, they were all there two years ago - plus Kaka - as they were comprehensively outplayed and beaten 2-0 by Arsenal in the San Siro.
The Gunners themselves face a trip to Porto, a fixture Arsenal fans will only have been dreading because of the tedium factor.
This is the third season in four they have played the Portuguese side and have been beaten only once - at the Estadio do Dragao in the final group game last season when Arsene Wenger's outfit had already qualified for the last 16.
It is also the SIXTH time - 12 games in all - Porto have been drawn against English opposition in the past five seasons, winning just two and beaten every time at the knockout stage.
Though it did take Cristiano Ronaldo's 40-yard rocket at the Dragao last season - plus a couple of Porto misses - to get United through their quarter-final.
Currently lagging third behind Benfica and Sporting Braga - and some way below last season's form - this Porto team seems unlikely to break that run, even given Arsenal's extremely brittle condition and the absence of Andrey Arshavin.
So far, so good.
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var RStag = "";try{RStag = segQS;}catch(e){RStag = "";}document.write('');
But the Premier League's biggest test comes the following week when Chelsea travel to Milan to joust with Jose Mourinho's Inter.
Inter may be heading for their fifth consecutive Scudetto but they have a record of struggling to beat English teams.
They have gone out in the last two seasons to United and Liverpool. But with Zlatan Ibrahimovic - something of a Jonah against Premier League sides - sold to Barcelona and some vital pace injected into the attack, former Chelsea boss Mourinho says he has at last built the team he wants.
It should be the most eagerly contested of all the knockout stage ties.
For the moment, though, it's United and Arsenal. Unless English football has regressed even further than we thought, both should survive more or less intact.
STEVEN HOWARD - Chief sports writer
Email the author
Published: Today
Add a comment (6) THIS should have been the week when we found out the true state of the Premier League.
Whether, as some of us believe, the standard has dipped visibly.
That Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal, despite filling the top three spots, have stagnated while the rest have regressed.
A truer indication of that will not come until next week - UEFA having decided to maximise TV revenue potential by staggering the first Champions League knockout stage over a fortnight - when Chelsea fly out to Milan to take on Serie A leaders Inter.
For this week, though, the status quo should be comfortably maintained thanks to a fortunate draw that sees United and Arsenal take on AC Milan and Porto respectively.
And having the bonus of the return legs at Old Trafford and the Emirates.
Even Red Devils manager Alex Ferguson is confident enough to say: "We could not be going to Milan in a better state mentally and physically."
Sure, AC Milan are seven-time winners of the trophy and have beaten United all four times they have met at the knockout stage.
And on all four occasions United have failed to score at the San Siro.
Yet, the rejuvenated Ronaldinho aside, there is not much in this current team to duly concern United.
They were well beaten by Inter in the recent Milan derby - the contribution of the absurdly over-hyped David Beckham likened to that of a waxworks dummy - and lie third in Serie A, some eight points behind their city rivals.
If Beckham, relegated to the bench after that display, is to get a start then he will have to force his way past Gennaro Gattuso and Clarence Seedorf on the right of a three-man midfield.
Yes, there are still some huge names in this Milan squad - Seedorf and Gattuso plus Ronaldinho, Andrea Pirlo, Massimo Ambrosini and Alessandro Nesta - but they are hardly in the first flush of youth.
Ronaldinho aside, they were all there two years ago - plus Kaka - as they were comprehensively outplayed and beaten 2-0 by Arsenal in the San Siro.
The Gunners themselves face a trip to Porto, a fixture Arsenal fans will only have been dreading because of the tedium factor.
This is the third season in four they have played the Portuguese side and have been beaten only once - at the Estadio do Dragao in the final group game last season when Arsene Wenger's outfit had already qualified for the last 16.
It is also the SIXTH time - 12 games in all - Porto have been drawn against English opposition in the past five seasons, winning just two and beaten every time at the knockout stage.
Though it did take Cristiano Ronaldo's 40-yard rocket at the Dragao last season - plus a couple of Porto misses - to get United through their quarter-final.
Currently lagging third behind Benfica and Sporting Braga - and some way below last season's form - this Porto team seems unlikely to break that run, even given Arsenal's extremely brittle condition and the absence of Andrey Arshavin.
So far, so good.
Advertisement
var RStag = "";try{RStag = segQS;}catch(e){RStag = "";}document.write('');
But the Premier League's biggest test comes the following week when Chelsea travel to Milan to joust with Jose Mourinho's Inter.
Inter may be heading for their fifth consecutive Scudetto but they have a record of struggling to beat English teams.
They have gone out in the last two seasons to United and Liverpool. But with Zlatan Ibrahimovic - something of a Jonah against Premier League sides - sold to Barcelona and some vital pace injected into the attack, former Chelsea boss Mourinho says he has at last built the team he wants.
It should be the most eagerly contested of all the knockout stage ties.
For the moment, though, it's United and Arsenal. Unless English football has regressed even further than we thought, both should survive more or less intact.