Champions League’s 2010 quarterfinals and semi-finals draw is now ready after FC Barcelona and Bordeaux cruised through and completed the last eight. They will join Arsenal, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Lyon, Manchester United, and CSKA Moscow. We will miss Real Madrid, Chelsea and Liverpool, three superpower teams that are usual fixtures of the tournament. There will be no Ronaldo, Gerrard or Terry.

The draw will be held on Friday, 12:00 CET at the UEFA Headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. There will be no seedings, and clubs of the same country can be drawn against each other.

As in the last 16, the quarters and semis are played on a home-and-away basis, with the first leg schedule on March 30 and 31, 2010 and the second leg on April 6 and 7, 2010. The remaining four teams will battle it out on April 20 and 21, and the second leg on April 27 and 28. The Finals will be a one-game-take-all on May 22 at Madrid’s Bernabue Stadium.

The results of the draw will be posted here as soon as it is available. Personally, I don’t want Inter, Barcelona and Manchester United meet at the quarterfinals level. Any one of them is too precious to miss in the semis or in the Finals.

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Inter Milan vs Chelsea at the last 16 of the 2010 Champions League this March 16, 2010. This is a match between my favorite manager and my favorite team. Inter has the upperhand when they beat Chelsea 2-1 at their turf in Italy last February 24. That was the first time the two met at a European competition.

Inter’s Manager Jose Mourinho has been my favorite since that day I learned that his Porto team won the UEFA Champion’s League. I followed his move to Chelsea and then I had a self-declaration that Chelsea will be the team I’ll follow in the English Premier League. I read articles about him, and had quite a liking to his press antics. The British media loves him and are quick to pick up his conflicts with the other managers of the leading teams.

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Manchester United vs AC Milan - part 2 at the Old Trafford on March 10, 2010. In their previous encounter last month, Rooney showed his football prowess as he led the Red Devils to a 3-2 victory over the Rossoneri at the San Siro. It was not really an expected trashing of Milan, as history was always against the United side.

Now the game is turned, and Ronaldinho, Beckham and the Milan team, travel to Manchester and attempt to overcome the deficit. They need to score at least two goals apart — 2-0, 3-1 or whatever. Ronaldinho opened the scoring the last time, but it was all he could get. Now he needs to prove that he’s one of the best soccer players in the world today, and that he is still a force to reckon with.

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Manchester United stamped its class against AC Milan at the San Siro for a 3-2 victory. The result for this tie was amazing considering that the English side had not beaten the Italians in their last four encounters.

Ronaldinho opened the scoring for Milan and he danced the samba in celebration. It was an excellent set piece delivery from David Beckham, the player who loves and is loved by Manchester United, but is now playing on loan to Milan.

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AC Milan vs Inter Milan, January 24, 2010. The two Italian giants will battle it out to claim who’s the Boss in the Milan derby, and in the Serie A Scudetto title as a whole. Inter is leading by 6 points and a game ahead, while AC Milan is chasing along with the rejuvenated Ronaldinho and the English star David Beckham.

AC Milan

Originally, AC Milan is Milan’s football club as it was founded in 1899. It is simply called “Milan” in Italy. This club has a winning history, having won the most (18) internally recognized titles, and 17 Italian league titles. It has also won the European Cup seven times.

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Liverpool lost to Reading at FA Cup 1-2. This is another disaster for the Reds who were also ousted at the Champions League. Imagine, they lost to a club who is not even at the Premier League this season! Add to the woes is that they were beaten and at their own turf in Anfield in front of their fans. They also lost Torres and Gerrard to injury.

This could spell the end for the much-criticized Rafa Benitez, manager of the Liverpool squad. The Reds were leading at halftime because of a gift goal from the opponent. But two goals for Reading at the near end of the game left everyone shocked.

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