Champions League Semifinals Preview

We're heading into the final stretch of the Champions League, the time of the tournament when even the most casual of soccer fans should tune in to watch the most compelling club tournament in the world. Due to my limited (but growing!) depth of knowledge in the space, I will keep things simple.

First off, let's talk about the format. The "semis" consists of two-game series between clubs. Each side hosts a match. If there is a win for each side, or two ties, the first tiebreaker is aggregate goals. The second tiebreaker is most goals scored by an away team, meaning a team that ties 1-1 on the road and then ties 0-0 at home would advance. So an interesting item to watch in the first legs of these series are the goals scored by the away squad. The third tiebreaker would be a pair of 15-minute golden-goal overtime periods, and the last would be penalty kicks. (Editor's Note: Something equivalent to "I think" should preface each of the last three sentences.)

Match-up #1: FC Schalke vs. Manchester United
First Leg: Manchester United @ Schalke, Tuesday April 26th
Second Leg: Schalke @ Manchester United, Wednesday May 4th

Schalke
I know very little about Schalke, other than it's pronounced Shahl-ka and they are supposed to have a great keeper in Manuel Neuer. But before we dismiss them, it's important to note Schalke's impressive run to the semis. After a loss in the first round of group play to French club Lyon, the squad has gone undefeated in nine consecutive matches. The last two of those were a thorough quarterfinals beating of defending champions Inter Milan, 5-2 on the road and 2-1 at home. The first leg of this series kicks off in Germany, where Schalke is 5-0 at home so far in the tournament, having outscored its opponents 12-2 in aggregate.

Manchester United
I will spare you a detailed review of a well-known squad, but this team has been peaking at the right time in both EPL and Champions League play. This year's team is stacked up front, with Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez and Dimitar Berbatov leading the team. The midfield play has been solid with a steady rotation of attacking midfielders (Nani, Antonio Valencia, Ji-Sung Park, Ryan Giggs) and defensive hacks who are not afraid to draw yellow cards (Paul Scholes, Darrin Fletcher and Darren Gibson). The back line is all healthy, and 40 year-old Edwin van der Saar will be in the cage as his professional career wraps up over the next month. Mexican striker Javier Hernandez remains the man to watch in this series. He has been a goal-scoring machine for the team all year after fighting for minutes, playing so well he's kept Berbatov off the pitch.

Match-up #2: Real Madrid vs. Barcelona
First Leg: Barcelona @ Real Madrid, Wednesday April 27th
Second Leg: Real Madrid @ Barcelona, Tuesday May 3rd

This match-up of the two titans of the Spanish league is about as good as it gets. The two biggest Spanish cities squaring off, with the scrappy Lionel Messi leading Barcelona against the petulant but gifted Cristiano Ronaldo. Making the series even more interesting is that the two teams have played twice since April 16th. On that date, the teams tied 1-1 in Madrid in Spanish Liga play, which was a better showing for Real Madrid than in November 2010, when they lost 5-0 in an away match at Barcelona. Last week, the teams met again on April 20th in the finals of the Copa del Rey, a Spanish tournament that is so prestigious that Real Madrid accidentally let the trophy get run over by a bus after winning 1-0 on a header from Ronaldo in the 103rd minute of play. The current standings in the Spanish Liga, where Barcelona leads Real Madrid by 8 points with five matches left, indicate Barcelona should be regarded as slight favorites, but this is a grudge match of the highest order, where the two most recent results were a draw and a tie broken in the 103rd minute.



Barcelona
Barcelona's stars include a lot of names you may remember from last year's World Cup, including Argentina's Messi, Brazil's Dani Alves, and Spaniards Carles Puyol and David Villa, who scored five goals for Spain last year, leading them to the World Cup title. Barcelona coasted to the semis after crushing Ukrainian squad FC Shakhtar Donetsk 6-1 in aggregate, but they have not been invincible in the tournament so far, with a 7-1-2 record, including a loss to Arsenal and ties to Euro soccer welterweights FC Rubin Kazan (Russia)and Kobenhavn (Denmark).


Real Madrid
There are no shortage of stars for this team either, including Spanish World Cup keeper and squad captain Iker Casillas, Portugal's Ronaldo, Brazil's Kaka and ex-EPL star Emmanuel Adebayor. Real Madrid has gone 8-0-2 so far in the tournament, with ties to Lyon and Inter Milan being the only blemishes on the team's record so far.

Predictions
Manchester United should be able to use their horsepower to pull out this series. They are comfortably ahead in the EPL (up 6 points to Chelsea with 4 matches left) and have a match against a demoralized Arsenal squad on Sunday May 1st that will likely feature a lot of Man U reserves in the starting lineup. In the other match-up, I have to go with Barcelona, because when in doubt, bet against Ronaldo's waxed eyebrows and his (lack of) heart.

One last thing - I want to remind you all to clear your schedules now. The finals of the Champions League will be at Wembley Stadium on Saturday May 28th at 2:45 PM ET. The game is one more excellent reason to day-drink on a long holiday weekend. The mayhem factor will increase exponentially if Man U is involved.