Tuesday, February 21, 2006

In which I continue to be irrationally entertained by European football

I watched a few Serie A games this weekend, because even though I'm Canadian, there is only so much I can care about Olympic curling, really. There's one commentating team on TLN that I especially love, because they always sound so bemused by the whole thing, like, "Oh, those crazy Italians, what will they do next?" Which is basically my reaction, too, what with the random calling of fouls, the incessant diving, and the apparent lack of shame about wearing skin-tight Easter-egg-coloured jerseys. Plus I can watch without getting all worked up over the results because I'm not cheering for any particular team. I do sort of half-heartedly support AC Milan, because I'm shallow enough to like watching Kaká and Sheva, but I don't get personally offended if they lose, the way I do with Manchester United.

In the same disinterested and ill-informed spirit, I bring you my predictions for the round of 16 in the Champions League (predicted winners in bold):

Bayern Munich - AC Milan
Benfica - Liverpool Ok, I lied -- I care quite a lot about this one
Real Madrid - Arsenal
PSV Eindhoven - Lyon
Chelsea - Barcelona I will also be joining all right-thinking people everywhere in rooting against Chelsea
Rangers - Villarreal
Werder Bremen - Juventus
Ajax - Internazionale

Also, because I keep forgetting to mention this: If you haven't already, go check out You'll Never Blog Alone, written by a friend of mine (sadly, this means I can no longer steal her best material for myself).

3 comments:

jag said...

It pleases me that you were wrong about the three that I care about.

I was hoping Milan could get the win, but hey, a draw is better than losing. And, well, then there's Arsenal and we won't discuss how happy I am about that. Because I am. And then there's Liverpool. As an AC Milan fan and an Arsenal fan, I'm quite happy they lost. As someone who knows a lot (and I mean A LOT) of Liverpool fans ... I'm sorry guys, but only just a bit.

And now YNBA'll never talk to me again.

Jen said...

Well, technically the predictions are meant to be for the aggregate results over both legs. But yeah, I suck so far.

If Arsenal can play like this for the second leg, then they deserve to go through. Liverpool will be at home, too, so I'm not that worried about them. I think.

jag said...

Well, technically the predictions are meant to be for the aggregate results over both legs.
DETAILS. Also, I have to take my wins (or draws) where I can get them. Especially this season.

I hope they can. I really hope that they can. As for Liverpool, as you said about Arsenal, if they play well, good for them.