Barca vs Zaragoza Preview

Barca would be travelling to Zaragoza with uncertainity over Lionel Messi's participation. Lionel Messi missed the final training today morning and going by Guardiola's pre-match conference Messi may miss the match against Zaragoza. Zaragoza who got promoted this season is currently lying on the 17th position, three points clear of drop zone. Earlier in October, FC Barcelona Thrashed Zaragoza when they visited Camp Nou. Guardiola has announced a 19 man squad which will travel to Zaragoza - Pinto, Alves, Puyol, Piqué, Chygrinskiy, Milito, Maxwell, Márquez, Jeffren, Touré, Keita, Sergio Busquets, Iniesta, Messi, Ibrahimovic, Henry, Pedro and Bojan. Messi has been included in the list but will only participate if he is fully fit. In such a crucial juncture of the season Guardiola will not take risk with his star player.

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It's FC Barcelona vs Arsenal in UEFA Champions Quarter Final

FC Barcelona vs Arsenal Tie Could Be a delight for Neutrals

FC Barcelona has been drawn to face Arsenal in the Quarter Final stage of UEFA Champions League. FC Barcelona hold a slight advantage of playing their second leg at home. But as I wrote in the Preview to Quarter Final Draw, that advantage would amount to nothing against a team which plays the same way. Arsenal vs Barca will be a treat for the neutrals, but for the clubs this might have come a bit earlier.FC Barcelona has better players on a one on one comparision to Arsenal but we all know the likes of Fabregas, Nasri, Arshavin etc are capable of. The last time these two teams met was in the final of Champions League 2005-06 in Paris. Barcelona emerged victorious in that match, but Arsene Wenger could be out here to extract revenge. Henry who played for Arsenal in that final would be facing his team mates for the first time after he has left. Fabregas meanwhile will be pitted against his childhood club and Arshavin against his favourite team. The first leg of the Quarter Final will take place on 30th and 31st of March and the second leg a week after. I was just going through the previous records of Arsenal and defeating Arsenal is not a great Omen, as all teams has lost out in the next stage. May be that's just a coincidence.

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Champions League Quarter Final Line-up Preview

With FC Barcelona and Bordeaux qualifying last night, we have clear picture of the teams which qualified for the Quarter Final stage. FC Barcelona, FC Girondins de Bordeaux, Arsenal FC, FC Bayern München, FC Internazionale Milano, Manchester United FC, Olympique Lyonnais and PFC CSKA Moskva are the teams which will battle out each other in the next stage of UEFA Champions League. There were some surprising results from the Knockout stage, Real Madrid's exit will top the list followed by Chelsea's exit. There are two teams from England and France and one each from Russia, Germany, Italy and Spain. For another season in row Barca represent the only Spanish challenge in the quarter final stage. The quarter final draw and the semi-final draw will take place on this friday at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. There won't be any seeding or restrictions in these draws, that means anyone can get paired with anyone. But the crucial factor will be to get the chance of playing the second leg at home, that is a hge advantage usually in Champions League. At this stage there could be no favourite for any team to face, as all are dangerous - but considering CSKA's success in Champions League stages, they could be everyone's favourite.

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