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UEFA Champions League: Running Commentary

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The Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League is set to kick off and we are about to be treated to some of the best match-ups in recent memory.

The schedule of matches reads like a who's-who of top European clubs, making today a dream day for soccer fans. Here is the list of today's games and TV listings:

  • Manchester United at Inter Milan (2:30pm, ESPN2)

  • Barcelona at Lyon (2:30pm, ESPN Deportes, 5pm, ESPN Classic)

  • AS Roma at Arsenal (2pm, Setanta USA)

  • FC Porto at Atletico Madrid (11pm, Setanta USA)

I will be providing a running commentary throughout the afternoon, with the main focus being on Manchester United-Inter. The computer will be fixed onto Barcelona-Lyon while Roma-Arsenal will be a click away on Setanta, so I will be commenting on multiple matches (In other words, if you don't want to know the score of certain matches you might want to stay away.)

As always, feel free to share your thoughts and opinions on today's matches in the comments section below (I will be doing a running commentary so no need for one in the comments section).

Enjoy the action.

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FINAL– That's all for now. Thanks for following along and please feel free to share your thoughts on any of today's Champions League matches in the comments section below.

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FINAL– Manchester United 0, Inter Milan 0. This one will be decided at Old Trafford in the return leg.

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93rd minute– Save Cesar. Ronaldo hit it hard, but right at Cesar, who didn't know much about it when it hit him in the chest. Game over.

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92nd minute- Dangerous free kick for Manchester United and this might be the best of the bunch they've gotten today. 25 yards out, above the left side.

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90th minute– First of three minutes of stoppage time down.

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90th minute– A miscommunication in the back nearly leads to a United goal, but Julio Cesar cleans it up.

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88th minute– Rooney gets a yellow for what was a pretty clean challenge. Not sure that was deserved.

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85th minute– Inter with a dangerous free kick from straight ahead, 35 yards out.

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83rd minute– Rooney in for Park. Let's see what 'The Boy' can do in seven minutes.

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82nd minute– WOW, Inter comes oh so close on a corner but can't get it into the net.

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81st minute– Rooney will be coming in soon.

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77th minute– Balotelli and Cruz in for Muntari and Adriano.

Berbatov hits the side netting with a shot.

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75th minute– Still scoreless and it's time for United to make a sub, Where are Rooney and Tevez?

Julio Cruz will be coming in for Inter.

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73rd minute– Berbatov looks a bit flat. I could see him coming out for Rooney.

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72nd minute– Fletcher with a yellow for a foul on Muntari.

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71st minute– Manchester United is starting to wake up again.

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69th minute– Thierry Henry just equalized for Barcelona. Header as he creeped into the back-post. 1-1 in Lyon.

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68th minute– Action is picking up. Ronaldo gets stopped by Santon and the crowd cheers.

Does anybody else see Cambiasso and think he reminds them of a young Locke from Lost?

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67th minute– WOW, United so close. Ronaldo laid off a ball to the front of goal but nobody can tap it home.

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64th minute– Manchester United looks a bit flat this half, must have used up all the chances in the first half.

Who will find the goal? Will we see "The Boy"?

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59th minute– Maicon carded for a late challenge on Carrick.

Where is Ronaldo? And where is Wayne Rooney?

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58th minute– Chivu gets a yellow for a foul on Berbatov. I was beginning to wonder if the ref was going to give any cards in the run of play.

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56th minute– Corner leads to nothing.

Ibrahimovic is ruled offside on what would have been a dangerous chance.

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55th minute– Inter with a corner.

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54th minute– Someone might want to tell Cristiano Ronaldo that the second half started.

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51st minute– Stankovic sends a long-range bomb wide.

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51st minute– Evra takes some cleats to the groin. Never a good thing.

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48th minute– Inter has come out flying.

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47th minute– Hey, it's Esteban Cambiasso. When did he get here?

Nice ball in by Cambiasso but Adriano hits it off his own ankle. What a miss.

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46th minute– Second half is under way.

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HALFTIME– Veteran defender Ivan Cordoba is going to be coming in for Rivas. Had to happen.

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HALFTIME– What changes might we see at halftime? Mourinho might want to consider benching Nelson Rivas. Ferguson will need to bring in Rooney at some point.

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HALFTIME– Man of the match so far is Julio Cesar, who has shown why some (including myself) consider him one of the top 10 goalkeepers in the world.

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HALFTIME– Manchester United 0, Inter Milan 0. United has dominated play, but has no goals to show for it. Inter was flat most of the first half, but showed some life in the final 10 minutes.

Lyon leads Barcelona, 1-0, at halftime.

Arsenal leads Roma, 1-0, at halftime.

Atletico Madrid leads Porto, 2-1, at halftime.

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45th minute– Inter with a free kick from 25 to 30 yards out on the right side.

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44th minute– Inter back-up goalkeeper Francesco Toldo was issued a yellow card on the bench, apparently for criticizing the referee. And hey, it's a Figo citing.

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42nd minute– Actually, this match has probably had more action than some expected, though Man United's inability to finish has made it a tough match to watch at times.

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41st minute– So it's kind of early for a drinking game, but I would advocate drinking some coffee. This match is making me sleepy.

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40th minute– Ibrahimovic shows off some nice moves and Inter finally shows a pulse. And just like that, another United corner kick.

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38th minute– Ronaldo wastes a great counter by United but he hits a cross from too sharp an angle and Cesar collects it.

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36th minute– Here is a question: What is the over/under on future MLS players in this United/Inter match? I say 2.5.

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35th minute– Lyon is really pressing Barcelona in their match. So much for a Barcelona cakewalk.

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32nd minute– Ronaldo's kick hits the wall. Another wasted chance for United.

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31st minute– ANOTHER Man United free kick. 25 yards, left corner of area.

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30th minute– Karim Benzema just hit the post for Lyon, which still leads Barcelona 1-0 in their match in France.

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29th minute– SAVE CESAR!! Wow. he dives at full stretch to save a Ronaldo free kick.

Ronaldo barely misses on a header just 30 seconds later.

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28th minute– Another Man U free kick coming.

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26th minute– SAVE CESAR!!! Giggs with a beautiful turn to break behind the Inter defense, he's wide open against Cesar, but Giggs shot is saved. Giggs torched Rivas.

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24th minute– Arsenal and Roma are still scoreless.

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23rd minute– United corner goes begging, but Manchester United comes right back and Berbatov pushes a header wide. Ferguson's boys are dominating, but still have no goals.

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21st minute– Scary to see how much United is in control of this match with Rooney and Tevez on the bench. Inter just doesn't look sharp today.

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20th minute– United knocks on the door but can't put one on net. Here comes Inter with their first threat, but nothing comes of it.

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18th minute– Inter has yet to do much this game, be it create any chances or even put together any good sequences.

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16th minute– For those unaware, Barcelona is trailing Lyon, 1-0.

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14th minute– Giggs' attempt hits the wall.

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13th minute– Carrick draws a free kick from about 25 yards out after a foul by Zanetti. 25 yards out right of the arc.

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11th minute– Ronaldo is getting a lot of the ball, and keeps trying to beat Santon, but the kid is doing a good job so far. Future star here for Inter.

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9th minute– Sully Muntari looks pretty shaky early on, not having a good start to this match.

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8th minute– Ronaldo misses wide right by inches from 35 yards out on the free kick.

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8th minute– United with another good free kick after Muntari fouls Park.

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6th minute– Ronaldo is racing down the right flank and will be looking to test 18-year-old Davide Santon all night. Yes, that's right, Inter's left back is 18.

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5th minute– SAVE CESAR!! Wow, just stopped a Ronaldo header from point-blank range. What a save.

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3rd minute– Ronaldo hits it right at Julio Cesar.

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2nd minute– We are underway and Manchester United already has a dangerous free kick.

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PRE-GAME– Here is Manchester United's lineup:

—————-Berbatov———————-

————————–Ronaldo————-

Park—–Giggs———-Carrick—–Fletcher

Evra——-Ferdinand—Evans——-O'Shea

—————–Van Der Sar——————

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PRE-GAME– The San Siro is rocking tonight.

Here is INter's lineup

——–Adriano—-Ibrahimovic————-

————–Stankovic——————–

—Muntari—————-Zanetti———

————–Cambiasso——————

Santon—Chivu—Rivas Lopez—Maicon

————-Julio Cesar——————-

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PRE-GAME– Some great match-ups to watch today, but the two I'm looking forward to the most are Zlatan Ibrahimovic-Rio Ferdinand and Maicon-Cristiano Ronaldo. Four of the best players in the world right there.

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PRE-GAME– The match is fast approaching and we're treated to some vintage video of Man Utd-Porto highlights from Mourinho's Porto days. And yes, we catch a few glimpses of Tim Howard during his Manchester United days.

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Comments

  1. Brett – didn’t you notice Deuce and Beas were switching sides quite a bit during the Mexico game? It was great to see.

  2. Dempsey seems to be really confident on the left side of attack with Fulham and he really has been working on his left foot.

    I was surprised to see him take a free kick. I don’t imagine Danny Murphy will allow that very much.

    Hopefully he isn’t afraid to force switches during the game when he plays for USA because you know Bradley won’t put him there.

  3. sounds like Dempsey had about 5-6 AMAZING shots on goal or off the woodwork. He is really playing well. I hope more start hitting the net for him.

  4. At least Zamora has broken free of his curse. 2 goals in two games after a full first half of the season practically goalless

Comments are closed.