Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Round Of 16 Preview

The third day of Champions League Round of 16 action begins at 2:45 p.m. ET here in the United States, and Xtra Time has the previews and predictions for both matches.

  • Inter Milan vs. Chelsea
The most anticipated match of the day sees Inter manager Jose Mourinho face his old club at the San Siro. Mourinho left Stamford Bridge in 2007 after serving as the club caretaker for three years. This storyline will surely dominate heading into the game, but one cannot overlook the recent form of Chelsea striker Didier Drogba. If Inter are not careful, Drogba could easily poach the crucial away goals needed to put the Blues into the next round. As for Inter, the status of starting goalkeeper Julio Cesar is in question after the Brazilian was involved in a car accident on Sunday. The fact that Inter's goalkeeping options are unsure at the moment makes it to hard to pick against Drogba and Chelsea.

Prediction: Chelsea wins, 2-1

Here's a recent interview where Mourinho talks about facing Chelsea:



  • CSKA Moscow vs. Sevilla
The day's other contest sees Sevilla come in as strong favorites, as CSKA let up the most goals of any team that advanced from the group stage. Sevilla will be led by striker Frederic Kanoute who is returning from injury, but will be without star forward Luis Fabiano after the Brazilian picked up a chest injury in a recent La Liga game versus Mallorca. Despite this, the Spanish side should progress as they take on the wintery elements and a determined CSKA squad.

Prediction: Sevilla wins, 1-0

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