Shearer says: “I can’t remember a Champions League as open as this one.”
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Coral ambassador gives his take on the quarter-final draw
It was fantastic to have four English sides in the Champions League quarter-final draw last week. It’s great for those clubs and also the Premier League in general. It’s very exciting and everywhere you look there are tough matches between quality sides.
I can’t remember a tournament that has been as open as this one. There is a genuine case for six of the teams winning it, bar Porto and probably Ajax, even though they are a very young side.
It would be brilliant to see an all English final but if that doesn’t happen then I would love to see Barcelona against Juventus. Messi and Ronaldo going head to head in Madrid would be unbelievable.
Nobody will have wanted to draw Manchester City. They are the favourites for the competition for a reason and Spurs will feel as though they have got the toughest tie of the round.
However if you want to go far in the top competitions then you are going to have to beat the best and Spurs on their day can beat anybody.
Liverpool got the best tie of the round and will be confident of getting past Porto, however if they do, then either Barcelona or Manchester United will provide a much tougher test in the semi-final.
It’s two defeats in a row now for Manchester United and although there wasn’t too much wrong with their performance at Arsenal, there was a lot wrong at Wolves.
It was by far the worst performance since Solskjaer took over, but there is no reason to panic, and Ole still deserves to get the job permanently, which I’m sure he will.
Manchester United went to PSG and produced a great performance to qualify, and that will give them the belief that they can beat Barcelona, although that will require them to stop Lionel Messi.
They managed to keep Kylian Mbappe quiet in Paris, but Messi is on a different level again, and it will be tough for them to progress here.
It’s always worth reiterating how fortunate we are to have two of the all-time greats of the game in Messi and Ronaldo performing at the highest level season after season.
It is an incredible achievement in itself just how long they have been at the top of the game, and that tells you not just how much talent they have, but what a great attitude they both have.
