Champions League last 16 draw

The draw of the Champions League last 16 has been made as follows.

Celtic v Barcelona
Lyon v Manchester United
Schalke 04 v FC Porto
Liverpool v Internazionale
AS Roma v Real Madrid
Arsenal v AC Milan
Olympiakos v Chelsea
Fenerbahçe v Sevilla.

Group winners have an extra advantage as they play their second leg tie at home.As the only big clubs not winning their groups,Arsenal and Liverpool gave themselves a hard time as both faced the possibilities of drawing European superpowers Real Madrid,Barcelona and the two Milan clubs.And frankly,I had hoped for Arsenal-Milan as that would be a superb tie.Hope the best of European football will oblige.

Now that's th-ugly

Mark Hughes's recent comment on referees' handling of clashes between the Big Four certainly merited some second thoughts.The Blackburn Rovers boss was quoted as saying that referees tend to "give the bigger clubs the benefit of the doubt."

Hughes said: "I watched the games involving the Big Four on Sunday. Some challenges merited straight reds, yet the referees were asking the players to come over and have a chat to calm it down.

"They tend to give the bigger clubs the benefit of the doubt, but I don't see that where Blackburn are concerned. I just see yellow cards coming out too readily and, as a consequence, we are always on a tightrope for sendings-off.

"My gripe is that, in the high-profile games, because of the reaction that would be prompted if a player was sent off, referees tend to err away from making those decisions. They are more inclined to to book players in our games though and Arsenal don't pick up yellows and reds for the challenges that we get penalised for."

Granted,Hughes's words certainly are not far from the truth.The people from Sky,in particular Andy Gray,regularly praise the referee for "keeping his cards in his pocket" and saying stuff like "it's good to see *insert referee name* giving *insert player name* a warning before reaching for his cards" in clashes between the Big Four.Encounters such as these tend to produce heated exchanges and tempers usually flare up faster than usual,particularly when you've got England stalwarts Captain John-

-and Captain Marvel Steven.



So does that mean that every time the Big Four clash,they should be given special treatment just because they are fiercer rivals?Or is it like Hughes said,referees are afraid of the backlash when a player gets booked or sent off?The players have themselves to blame because whenever a decision is given against them,they surround the referee with snarling faces,led by none other than the England captain again.Just because they tend to go in for tackles harder,it doesn't mean that it should be allowed or even worse,go unpunished.Such tackles could end a player's career,as proven by a certain Roy Keane on then-Man City player and fellow Republic of Ireland international teammate Alfie Haaland.



It's time to put a stop to this thuggery and disgrace of the English game.And referees will have the perfect chance to prove that this isn't true (although it is),starting this week with three of the most fiery derbies in world football: Arsenal-Tottenham,Milan-Internaziole,and Barcelona-Real Madrid.

Benítez and his paymasters have plenty to talk about after hitting the United wall

Accents have changed in the corridors of power at Anfield but its anguish sounds the same. On Saturday Alex Hicks, son of the Texan millionaire and Liverpool co-chairman, Tom, proposed to his girlfriend Portia Tuma (yes, really) when he reached the centre circle during a private tour of the stadium. Twenty-four hours later Liverpool's players were also on their knees posing serious questions, none of them related to love.

From Rafael Benítez came the familiar complaint yesterday about the small details that undermine Liverpool's title credentials whenever examined alongside Manchester United. Familiarity flowed from Sir Alex Ferguson's champions too but that came in an exuberant response to their second successive 1-0 victory here and a performance so far removed from last season's heist it bodes ominously for those with designs on their crown.

The overwhelming evidence from the latest duel between the great north-west rivals is that both have made genuine strides since they last met. Liverpool's despair and deflation on the final whistle bore that out after Carlos Tevez, and not Fernando Torres, had proved the more decisive of the exotic strikers signed amid great fanfare in the summer.

This, Benítez had hoped, was the afternoon when the Spain international would reproduce the exhilarating form that has kept Liverpool's title aspirations alive thus far. Instead his team were unable to engineer the openings that Torres has thrived on this term and, as in Benítez's six previous league meetings against United, they could not pierce a defence marshalled imperiously by Rio Ferdinand and bullishly protected by Owen Hargreaves. The full extent of the strides Liverpool have to take before claiming the 19th title they so covet was again made apparent before their own suffering support.

This was not the backdrop Benítez required to his long-awaited meeting with Liverpool's owners, Hicks and George Gillett. Whereas constant support has echoed around Anfield for the Spaniard since his rift with the Americans became evident, here there were only cries of frustration as United forced their hosts into countless errors and absorbed second-half pressure with ease. Having met their manager's financial demands in the summer only to witness a second Anfield reverse that offered less encouragement than their first exposure to United, Gillett and Hicks would have had their own questions to present to Benítez when they met for more than three hours after the game.

Gillett has been the less vocal of the Liverpool co-chairmen during the manager's attack on their transfer restrictions but was the more expressive here. On an impromptu walk around the Anfield perimeter before kick-off he greeted supporters who wanted answers more than his handshake and, unfortunately for Liverpool, their team's performance also lacked a convincing delivery.

United were tentative starters as the exemplary running of Torres and Dirk Kuyt denied their defenders time and space to construct from the back. This was an occasion, however, that demanded ingenuity as well as enthusiasm in attack and Liverpool's reliance on the quick, long ball forward would not have been so self-defeating had it not been their only route to Edwin van der Sar's goal.

That said, the Dutchman provided the home side with more optimism in front of goal than the forward line and formation that destroyed Marseille on Tuesday. Twice Van der Sar careered into his own defenders in the space of four first-half minutes. His first collision dropped a Steven Gerrard corner at the feet of Harry Kewell, whose shot was cleared off the line by Anderson and looped kindly for Torres. Anfield held its breath at a first league goal against United in four seasons but the Spaniard headed wastefully wide. The United goalkeeper then struck Nemanja Vidic as they chased a Gerrard free-kick and was indebted to Patrice Evra for beating Kuyt to the goal-bound deflection.

Save for a late shot wide from the substitute Ryan Babel, those openings were as close as Liverpool came. They needed greater invention, only United showed it and the result turned on the one well-executed move of a compelling rather than entertaining match. The moment arrived in the 43rd minute when Ryan Giggs played a low corner out to the lurking Wayne Rooney and his driven shot was flicked into the roof of the net by Tevez. It was a soft goal to concede, especially as Rooney had served notice of the plan at an earlier set piece, but one fitting for a game decided on the slimmest of margins.

The personal duel between Gerrard and Anderson gripped more than the flair of the anonymous Cristiano Ronaldo or Kewell, while the pace of the contest exposed the slightest limitations of a player in possession. Credit must go to the referee, Mark Halsey. A lesser official would have spoiled the spectacle of thunderous challenges and occasional head-to-heads but Halsey turned a welcome blind eye whenever necessary.

With Ferdinand meeting almost every Liverpool delivery from the left United more than handled the limited options thrown their way, with Peter Crouch and Babel overdue replacements for the disappointing Kewell and Kuyt. In doing so United became the first opposing team since Everton in 1910 to keep four consecutive clean sheets on this ground.

United would have toasted victory 12 minutes from time had Rooney converted a straightforward finish from Ronaldo's cross but, like the Liverpool supporter who threw a golf ball at the United striker moments earlier, he missed. Halsey is expected to mention the incident in his report, meaning the misery of this defeat for Liverpool is not over yet.

By Andy Hunter of the Guardian.

Grand Slam Sunday

As we reflect upon yesterday's so called Grand Slam Sunday,one could not help but wonder if the beautiful game could ever be played the way it should in England by both sides in any fixture save for Arsenal v Man United.In both clashes between the Big Four of the Premiership,only occasional flashes of brilliance,of intent to create an artistic move,were evident in the Emirates Stadium,so often the venue showcasing the best (albeit orchestrated by foreigners) English football can offer.

There were plenty of passion on display at Anfield,where Man United were fortunate to have snatched three points for the fifth time in six seasons,but it was a typical demonstration of how the heavyweights of the Premiership slug it out when they meet.Rafa Benitez will look back at the game with the realization that for all their effort,the chasing and closing down of opponents,Liverpool did not possess that cutting edge to produce a clear-cut opportunity to score.It is also worth crediting a United team which withstood the barrage of long balls into the area and,fittingly,the defending champions defended like champions.Things were a world apart from the match down in north London,where Chelsea showed the world that they,too,despite being unable to match the flow of Arsenal's passing,still managed to put together neat passes to carve out openings of their own.You probably wouldn't see Petr Cech make a mistake like the one he did last night in the rest of his career but he still managed to produce a magnificent double save later in the game to deny firstly Hleb and then Fabregas.

The top two may have put some distance between the rest of the league,but as far as this season goes,signs are pointing to a three-horse race that will surely be taken right to the last day of the season.