The Games Have Begun.

The games have truly begun! The first leg of the quarter finals, for Chelsea, Fenerbahce, Arsenal, and Liverpool, were nothing compared to what was witnessed in the second leg. The games were more intense and everyone was trying their best to fight for the ball.

There was one saying that I got from my coach in college. "Kung kaylangang magpakamatay para sa bola, gawin niyo!" This means that we should do whatever is needed to get the ball, provided that we don't play dirty.
This was really seen in how the players showed their hunger for the ball and the win. Even though Fenerbahce Istanbul and Arsenal FC lost in this game, they still showed top-quality football. It's just that they had a problem with goal conversion.

Chelsea FC vs Fenerbahce Istanbul

The match was started off by Chelsea's Michael Ballack when he converted a great header from a well placed free-kick by Frank Lampard. This started off Chelsea's momentum. As seen in the game, the first half was almost completely dominated by the Blues. After the 33rd minute, the shots on target was 4 for Chelsea and 0 for Fenerbahce. Fenerbahce's goal keeper was constantly bombarded by attempts from Drogba, J. Cole, who by the way almost goaled using an outside foot shot. There were also some attempts from Kalou, who was a regular threat with his dribbles and passes. On the Yellow Canary's side, there were also a few decent attempts from Alex and Lugano, although they weren't on target. I'm sure if they were on target, the ball would have passed through Chelsea keeper Cudicini. Speaking of Cudicini, he went out of the game because of a right hamstring injury, with Hilario, replacing him. Frank Lampard sealed the deal on the 87th minute by scoring a goal. The final result is 2-0, which sends Chelsea FC to their 4th UCL Semi-finals in 5 seasons.

Arsenal FC vs Liverpool FC

This was one for the books!
Abou Diaby opened the game with a goal that gave the Gunners an early lead. This gave Arsenal a much needed encouragement in their match against the club giant Liverpool FC. But then, Sami Hyypiä made the equalizer and put Liverpool back in the game. No one was able to stop the magnificent header. By this time everyone was in it for the win. 69 minutes into the game, Fernando Torres, who was playing in top form almost all season, converted and the Reds took on the League. The Gunners' Emmanuel Adebayor wouldn't stand for this and gave them leveled ground to play on. This was certainly anyone's game! Then suddenly, Kolo Toure was penalized for a foul which gave Steven Gerrard the chance to score the penalty. And score he did! This gave the Reds the edge to win the game. Babel ended the game by putting the cherry on top of a magnificent game.

All the teams faught and "died" for the ball. Each team showed that they deserved the semi-finals spotby bringing out their fiercest game. This night surely was a great one. We can expect better performances in the next matches.


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UEFA QUARTER FINALS 2ND GAME FIXTURES

Here are the fixtures for the second game of three of the quarter finals of the UCL.
I hope that the matches will be better than what were shown last time!


-UEFA
Quarter-finals 2nd leg
8 Apr
Chelsea 20:45 Fenerbahçe
Liverpool 20:45 Arsenal
9 Apr
Barcelona 20:45 Schalke
Man. United 20:45 Roma


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What's up with Fenerbahce?

Fenerbahce Istanbul - Underdog, Overachieving

Fenerbahce Istanbul has really heated themselves up. They have gone through a lot in the UCL. Now, they are emerging as possibe champions in the league. Even with less super stars in their teams, compared to the others, they have responded to obstacles and downsides in their games with much intensity and determination. They are surely a force to reckon with and are a threat to the other clubs who are vying for the trophy. They prove that hard work and determination can defeat skill.

PLAYER TO WATCH

Fenerbahçe – Alex

Alex is a star. The Brazilian attacking midfielder failed to make a splash in his first spell in Europe, but he’s certainly made waves this time around. The Yellow Canaries’ No20 has been the star several times in Europe this season and is the man Chelsea need to watch. Having scored both goals against Besiktas at the weekend, he’s definitely in form.

-Goal.com

Team Line up:

Name and position	No	Joined in	Former team	Birth date	Citizenship
Goalkeepers
Volkan Demirel	1	2002	Kartalspor	27 October 1981
Serdar Kulbilge	22	2005	Bursaspor	7 July 1980
Volkan Babacan	88	2005	Fenerbahçe PAF	11 August 1988
Mert Günok	89	2007	Fenerbahçe PAF	1 March 1989
Defenders
Diego Lugano	2	2006	São Paulo	2 November 1980
Roberto Carlos	3	2007	Real Madrid	10 April 1973
Yasin Çakmak	5	2007	Çaykur Rizespor	6 January 1985
Wederson	6	2007	Ankaraspor	22 July 1981
Can Arat	17	2001	Fenerbahçe PAF	21 January 1984
Önder Turacı vice-	19	2004	Standard Liège	14 July 1981
Edu Dracena	36	2006	Cruzeiro	18 May 1981
Gökhan Gönül	77	2007	Gençlerbirliği OFTAŞ	4 April 1985
Midfielders
Stephen Appiah	4	2005	Juventus	24 December 1980
Kemal Aslan vice-	7	2003	Gaziantepspor	24 October 1981
Mehmet Aurélio	15	2003	Trabzonspor	15 December 1977
Ali Bilgin	18	2007	Antalyaspor	17 December 1981
Alex	20	2004	Cruzeiro	14 September 1977
Selçuk Şahin	21	2003	İstanbulspor	31 January 1981
Deniz Barış	24	2004	Gençlerbirliği	2 July 1977
Uğur Boral	25	2006	Gençlerbirliği	14 April 1982
Gürhan Gürsoy	32	2004	Adanaspor	24 September 1987
Claudio Maldonado	33	2008	Santos	3 January 1980
Strikers
Colin Kâzım-Richards	8	2007	Sheffield United	26 August 1986
Mateja Kežman	9	2006	Atlético Madrid	12 April 1979
Semih Şentürk vice-	23	1999	Fenerbahçe PAF	29 April 1983
İlhan Parlak	38	2007	Kayserispor	19 January 1987
Deivid	99	2006	Sporting Lisbon	22 October 1979

-Fenerbahce Istanbul Official Site

This is a video of the long-shot screamer of Deivid again Chelsea FC in the Quarter Finals League of UCL.






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"Anything can happen in the game. A goal can be made in a millisecond.": Liverpool v Arsenal, Chelsea v Fenerbahce

Stage of disbelief

I was very shocked at the results of the second set of matches in UCL's Quarter Final Leg. For me, the results were surprising because I didn't think that Liverpool and Chelsea will even submit goals at this stage. Well, I guess what my coach said when I was playing for my college was true: "Anything can happen in the game. A goal can be made in a millisecond."

CHELSEA FC v FENERBAHCE ISTANBUL

SUKRU SARACOGLU STADIUM, ISTANBUL - I am really disappointed at the Blues because it's a fact that all of the goals made in this game were made by Fenerbahce. Even with their line-up of famous star players, they were still beaten by a team that consisted of a few star players. They weren't in top shape during the whole game, something that I didn't expect to get from teams in this late stage of the UCL. It seems that the blog entry that I was going to make about Fenerbahce will push through. I was going to put an entry if they won this game.



It's sad to know that Chelsea did not play their best but there are still other games in which they can make comebacks. It's just the first game of the quarter finals.

The first lead was received by Chelsea from Yellow Canaries' Deivid de Souza, who made an own goal. He later gave the game an upset by scoring the last goal for the game from 30-yards which netted the turkish team the win. Minutes later, Kazim Kazim made the equalizer for his team by beating the blue defenders' offside trap and scoring agains Carlos Cudini.

Even if they lost, Chelsea still made a few notable attempts, one by Lampard and another by Drogba. Just shows that they didn't give up.

"Normally it's a good result to lose 2-1 away from home, but because we played the better football, we are disappointed," Chelsea manager Avram Grant said. - Canadian Press

Great work Fenerbahce, keep it up. Chelsea, you should do better in the next game.

ARSENAL FC v LIVERPOOL FC

EMIRATES STADIUM - The first game of Arsenal and Liverpool was one that gave disappointments to both teams. They wanted to win the first out of three but instead of a win-lose situation, they ended up with a draw. Arsenal made the first move when Gunner striker Adebayor headed a magnificent cross from fellow Gunner Robin van Persie. Liverpool wasn't going to stand for that so after a few minutes, they responded with a goal from Kuyt from captain Steven Gerrard's own cross. Overall, I think that Arsenal did very well even t

hough they failed to score again. There was also a controversial non-penalty call that could've given Liverpool the edge for their next match-up.

Well, the advance to Semi Finals is anyone's game right now. Who knows? Maybe Chelsea FC will take this as a wake up call and bring on their A game in the last two games. Maybe Fenerbahce Istanbul will continue to ride on their momentum and throw away Chelsea's chance to advance. Maybe Liverpool FC will show what they had in the past games - pin-point long-range screamers, excellent plays and passes. Maybe Arsenal FC will use this disappointment to increase their determination to succeed in this endeavor.

Maybe. Maybe not. We won't know until they play again.

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