Match Review : Bayern Munich VS Basel and Inter Milan VS Marseille

FC Basel will take on Bayern Munich tonight in the UEFA Champions League last sixteen knockout stage. Bayern  will surely look for a victory. However, they are not taking Basel lightly. UEFA Champions League has always produced surprises and Bayern Munich coach is well aware of that. Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes said, "We will not be underestimating Basel". He also said, "Basel have impressed me with the way they have put together a well-organised side with a good mixture of experienced players, some of whom have played in the Bundesliga, and talented young players who have a big career ahead of them."

Basel, without any doubt, will be the underdog and not clearly everyone's favorite to win the tie. Still, they are all prepared to go for a fight. They are not going to provide Bayern Munich with an easy victory. Basel Coach Heiko Vogel says that he is well aware of the recent performances of the Bayern team. However, he thinks that Byern's performance in the Budeslia will not affect Byern players in tonight's game. He said, "Tomorrow is the Champions League, not the Bundesliga. We have got to concentrate on our own strengths and not what happened against Freiburg, Stuttgart or Kaiserslautern." He added that "We are playing a top-quality side and we are going to have to play very well and have the right attitude, but so too must Bayern."

In another match of the UEFA Champions League Marseille will take on one of the favorites of the tournament, Inter Milan. The recent performance of both the team are poor. Inter Milan have tested defeat in their last three consecutive Italian Serie A matches. On the other hand, Marseille had to be content with draws in their last two matches in Ligue 1. Marseille coach has pointed out the weaknesses of the Inter team by saying, "They are a team that is not playing well at the moment. I have seen their previous matches on television, and there have been lots of individual defensive mistakes." However, he warned his players also. He said,  "I am convinced we will not see the same Inter as of their last four Serie A matches. They will not erase everything in four or five days, but collectively they will be better." He seems to be quite right in his judgement, isn't he?

Both the teams have great records in the UEFA Champions League history and both the teams will try to win. Despite the fact that Inter is a great team, home advantage will play a vital role for Marseille to win the match. What do you say?

Match Review: CSKA Moscow VS Real Madrid

Even before the match between CSKA Moscow and Real Madrid started we knew that Real Madrid would have to struggle to cope with the extremely cold weather in Russia. CSKA Moscow has had the advantage of playing in their home ground and they were supposed to cope with the cold weather better than their opponents. But we were stunned to see how Real Madrid coped with the situation. In fact, in the first half of the match they came forward with really dangerous moves and scored one goal also in the 28th minutes. From there on they moved forward with some other serious moves also. Even before Christiano Ronaldo scored the only goal for Real Madrid, the CSKA Moscow goalkeeper had to make some outstanding saves.

CSKA was supposed to give it a good fight. But their home record this season wasn't something that inspired them to go for a win. If we remember, they had to go to Inter Milan being in the 4th place. However, they dramatically won the match 2-1 and secured the second place in the group stage of the competition. So, they were not really comfortable in the first half. However, they managed to go foward with some positive moves but in vain. The majority of the time, the Real Madrid players dominated. Despite the fact that Real had to replace Karim Benzema due to a groin injury they were in full control.

However, in the second half of the match CSKA had some good chances to score goals. But they couldn't get the final result. Real Madrid always seemed to be scoring the second of the night. However, when it seemed that Real Madrid are going home with a spacious away victory then something happened that elated more than sixty thousand CSKA Moscow fans present in the Luzhniki Stadium. It was the first game for the Swedish midfileder Pontus Wernbloom of CSKA Moscow in the UEFA Champions League and he scored the vital goal for CSKA in the last minute of the three minute's stoppage time.

Despite the fact that Real Madrid had 100% success in this season's UEFA Champions League before the match started they couldn't make it far better with another away win. Despite the fact that CSKA Moscow had poor record in their home games they came away with a vital draw. And we all know that CSKA is enjoying better record in away matches than in home in Europe. So, anything can happen in the second leg of the match between Real Madrida and CSKA Moscow. Hope to watch an intriguing match in three weeks time. What's more, CSKA Moscow have never lost to a Spanish La Liga team in the UEFA Champions League. May we expect a surprise? Of course, we may.