Anelka thinks Eng 3-0 Ita. What do you think?

By: Rob | February 5th, 2009

You might have noticed, but the Champions League draw has thrown up three England Vs Italy ties in the last sixteen of the Champions League, to be played later this month. Claudio Ranieri takes new club Juventus to play against his old club Chelsea, Jose Mourinho reignites his rivallry with Sir Alex Ferguson as Inter play Manchester United, and in a battle of the all-attacking under-achievers, Roma play Arsenal.

It provides an interesting look at the state-of-play between the two leagues, as well as a good chance for both England and Italy to dominate this years Champions League in the way that the Prem has for the last couple of seasons.

Chelsea striker Nicky Anelka, while respecting Juve, thinks it will finish 3-0 to the English sides.

But I doubt it will be as easy as all that.

Looking at the ties, they are very interesting in their own right. Ranieri visiting his old club adds spice to an encounter between two sides on different trajectories. Chelsea seem to have lost the fight in the Prem a bit this season, coming down from their prem dominence under Jose Mourinho. Juventus are fighting their way back to the top after a couple of Scandal-hit seasons, and are finally right back up near the top of Serie A again. Chelsea struggled against Roma, and they are going to have to really want it if they want to come out on top against the Old Lady.

Presumably we can expect fireworks as the Champions of Italy take on the Champions of England. Throw in Mourinho’s stunningly good record against Sir Alex (including a win against United in the Champions League when he was Porto boss), and it looks very interesting indeed. Inter have underachieved in the Champions League since their enforced period of dominence over Serie A, and will be looking for moody striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic to pull out one of his best games. When he does, he’s nigh-on unplayable, and if he ever wants to be recognised as one of the world’s best players, The Champions League is the time to do it.

Both Roma and Arsenal have had sub-standard seasons. Both have gone through the season suffering badly from injuries, both like to play free-flowing wonderful-to-watch attacking football. While Arsenal are struggling to cling on to that fourth place spot and their place in the Big Four, Roma started the season badly but have fought their way back up into contention. Both sides will want a big run in the Champions League to set a bad start straight. The final, of course is in Rome, which gives extra insentive to the Roma boys. Roma topped Chelsea’s group, and Arsenal knocked out AC Milan last year.

So, how do you think it’ll go, at this early stage?