Paddy Agnew EurosceneBayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is predicting defeat for his side, Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is laying down the law as to just what tactics his team AC Milan will use and Real Madrid coach Carlos Queiroz is dreaming of a May final clash with Manchester United.
Yes indeed, folks, spring might not quite be sprung but, as of this evening, the gloves are off and the Champions League is back. As we head into an intriguing second round of knockout football, the competition has suddenly got desperately serious, and nowhere more so than at the Olympic Stadium in Munich tonight where Bayern Munich face Real Madrid in the outstanding fixture of the round.
Curiously, Bayern chairman Rummenigge has been sounding an untypically defeatist note in recent days, suggesting that Zidane, Figo, Beckham, Raul, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos et al might prove too much for his boys.
"When we saw the draw, we thought this was the toughest draw we could have been given," he said. "For Bayern to make it through to the quarter-finals, Real Madrid will have to have two very bad days and we will have to play two really good games.
"I know our players will be motivated by the very fact that they will be playing Real Madrid, but even if we perform to 100 per cent of our ability I'm still not sure we can knock them out."
Maybe the Bayern chairman's words were intended for the ears of his players, in the hope that their amour propre might be stung into winning action. Yet, Bayern's recent league form does leave something to be desired.
Currently second in the Bundesliga, seven points adrift of surprise leaders Werder Bremen, Bayern could be strengthened by the return of three key players, Peruvian striker Claudio Pizarro, playmaker Michael Ballack and goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, who all missed Bayern's 1-0 win against Hamburg on Saturday.
Real, by the way, warmed up for the task by extending their Spanish League lead over Valencia to five points by beating Espanol 4-2 away on Saturday in a game in which Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo (two) and Raul Bravo got on the scoresheet.
If Bayern and Rummenigge felt that they had got the toughest draw possible, the same is seemingly not true for Real coach Carlos Queiroz. He recently conceded that for him "the worst opponents would have been Juventus or Manchester United".
Queiroz, who worked as assistant to Alex Ferguson at Manchester United last season, also admitted that his dream final would see his merengues face to face with United.
That could, of course, yet happen, but before we get to that point United must first see off UEFA Cup holders Porto, unbeaten in the Portuguese League this season and seven points clear of second-placed Sporting Lisbon after an easy, 3-0 win over Vitoria Guimaraes on Sunday.
As for the other side Queiroz was keen to avoid, namely "Old Lady" Juventus, she too has plenty on her plate with a tie against Deportivo La Coruna, currently third in La Liga behind Real Madrid and Valencia. Even though Juventus continue to grind out the results in Serie A, trailing AC Milan by six points in third place, there have been signs aplenty that the Old Lady's wrinkles are showing. A recent 4-0 drubbing by AS Roma and 25 goals conceded in 22 games (second-placed Roma, by comparison, have let in just nine) would suggest that, at this stage at least, a second consecutive Champions League final is a very tough call.
What about the reigning European champions themselves, AC Milan, then? In coming from 2-0 behind to win Saturday night's Milan derby 3-2, AC Milan continued a fabulous 2004 run which has seen them win eight out of nine Serie A games, drawing the ninth, to lead the league by five points from Roma. For most of us, that form and Saturday night's result would have been more than enough.
Not for club owner, the dynamic media tycoon and prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who in the heated aftermath of battle publicly rapped coach Carlo Ancelotti over the knuckles when he told TV viewers that he will be writing a letter to the Milan coach pointing out that, henceforth, the side must play with two strikers. And if the coach does not agree? No problem. He "can give up being coach of Milan", said the prime minister.
So watch out for Filippo Inzaghi up front alongside Andriy Shevchenko in Milan's not-so-difficult looking tie tonight, away to Karel Poborsky's Sparta Prague.
Watch out, too, for fireworks within the Milan camp if Ancelotti opts to defy his lord and master and play just one striker, Shevchenko, in front of Brazilian Kaka and Portugal's Rui Costa.
As we said, this is the time of year when the gloves come off.
aleagnew@tin.it
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