Barca Destroy Stuttgart and Inter Overpower Chelsea

A fantastic end to the Champions league round of 16, and now we finally know all of the quarter finalists, Europa League will be added on tomorrow after the matches, and when the draw happens on friday, you'll know where to find it, right here on SWU.

Chelsea - Inter Milan: Aggregate 1-3

Inter Milan simply overpowered Chelsea throughout the match, of course the blues looked dangerous sometimes, but fantastic resolute defending by Samuel, Lucio (who will miss the next Champions League match), and Maicon stopped Drogba in his tracks. Sneijder was magical, spreading passes which created 4 or 5 great scoring opportunities for Eto'o, Milito, and Pandev, but the magical moment was when Sneijder launched a beautiful ball with his left foot for Eto'o, and Eto'o did what he does best, score. At the end, it seemed that Drogba lost his cool, and kicked Thiago Motta who had fallen over, causing the Ivorian to be sent off in the final minutes of the match. Chelsea had some penalty shouts, but Inter severely overpowered Chelsea, completeing Jose Mourinho's epic return to Stamford Bridge.


Barcelona - Stuttgart: Aggregate 5-1

Barcelona were inspired by a brilliant Messi yet again, the Argentinean decided to take the ball and stroke it into the top left corner of Lehman's net in the 14th minute, and although Stuttgart pressed, it already seemed decided. Messi inspired Pedro's after a brilliant through pass to Toure Yaya who squared the ball to Pedro for the tap in, and Messi scored a third after quickly turning around at the top of the box, and stroking yet another beautiful ball in the bottom right corner this time. Bojan came on in the 88th for a wonderful Iniesta, and scored a minute later after a good pass from Ibrahimovic, Bojan slid it past Lehman to complete a fantastic night at the Camp Nou.


Sevilla - CSKA Moskva: Aggregate 2-3

This match was decided thanks to some horrendous goalkeeping by Palop, Necid quickly grabbed a goal in the first half, but Perotti quickly equalized after some great work by Navas on the right wing. Then came the goal which marked Palop's game, Keisuke Honda shot a good free kick which Palop punched right into his own net. Sevilla were unable to get the needed goals to go through after the mess-up from their keeper in the 55th minute, letting CSKA Moskva go through


Olympiakos - Bordeaux:  Aggregate 1 -3

Bordeaux were led by a fantastic Gourcuff away from home, the young frenchman inspired his side with a free kick which looped over the keeper giving his side a crucial goal in the 5th minute of the match. Derbyshire was ssent off for Olympiakos, but they equalized soon after in the second half after a great volley by Mitroglou, seemingly restoring things for the Greek champions. Diarra was sent off for the French champions, and eventually Chamakh grabbed an important goal, a powerful header in the 88th which assured Bordeaux a spot among the quarter finalists.

Inter Lose to let AC Milan Close in at -1 while Messi Hat-Trick keeps Barca latched to Real

A weekend which includes a revitalized Serie A, Messi showing why he's number 1, and Rooney continuing his fantastic form. Not only all this, but in the Eredivisie a fantastic match between Ajax and PSV ended 4-1 for Ajax after some fantastic goals, especially a rocket shot by Emanuelson that went into the top right corner. This allows Steve Mcclaren's team FC Twente to remain 5 points ahead of PSV in first place in the Eredivisie, while Ajax is just one point from second-place PSV.

In Italy, Inter lose to Catania 3-1 after a disappointing display from the champions, Sulley Muntari was the main cause of their loss, after being substituted on he was sent off within 70 seconds letting Catania score the winners. AC Milan draw close to Inter after a 1-0 win over Chievo, everything seemed square until a rocket shot by Seedorf in the 90th won the game for the rossoneri. Juventus drew 3-3 against Siena, after going 3 up in the first 10 minutes thanks to a brace from Del Piero and a wonder shot from Candreva, Siena fought back for an important draw. Bari defeated Lazio 2-0 as they continue to rise, and Lazio continue to fall just two points from the relegation zone, if you want more info on Lazio and Bari check out this Serie A Talk article.

In Spain, Barcelona seem to be in great form before their Champions League match against Stuttgart, a 3-0 win over Valencia was thanks to a fabulous Messi hat-trick, and a great performance by Henry. Real Madrid have no problem rising back up against Valladolid after being kicked out of the Champions League by Lyon, Cristiano Ronaldo started the scoring with a fantastic free kick, but then it was the Higuain show, the Argentinean netted a hat-trick (with all the goals being somehow provided by a brilliant Ronaldo), and Valladolid were only able to cause an unfortunate own goal by Raul Albiol.

In England, Pavluchenko continues his fantastic form for Tottenham, scoring two in their 3-1 victory over Blackburn, Bolton crush Wigan 4-0, and Stoke City and Aston Villa drew 0-0. Arsenal grabbed a last gasp win over Hull City thanks to Nicklas Bendtner, and Chelsea pummeled West Ham 4-1 after a fantastic performance by Malouda who provided three great assists for Alex and twice for Drogba, and also netting a pretty nice goal himself. Rooney has no trouble continuing his goalscoring run after scoring two in Manchester United's 3-0 win over Fulham, Berbatov scored the other and also provided Rooney with an assist. Sunderland and Manchester City drew 1-1, it seemed to be a good win for Sunderland, but a beautiful curling shot into the top left corner by Sunderland supporting Adam Johnson let Manchester City grab a point.

What do you think of this week's action? Comment below!

Good News Bad News Friday: Jim Lovetoy Wonderblog and Donovan Returning to MLS

This is the first installment of the weekly Good News Bad News Friday, it's quite simple: every Friday SWU will find some good, and some bad to report, whether it be tabloid gossip or player injuries. And now on with the news...

Good News: Jim Lovetoy has a wonderblog


Jim Lovetoy's blog is probably the funniest football blog around right now, bringing memories of the fantastic Ballack and Neville diaries (if you haven't read those then search em up) the Lovetoy blog on The Football Ramble site is hilarious. With fantastic Chelsea bias, it has lines like,

"Chelsea will score first, second, third, fourth, fifth, but the score will remain at 0-0 as the officials will contrive a way to disallow each goal."

This is probably the best footy comedy blog around, so check it out at http://www.thefootballramble.com/blog.asp and follow Jim Lovetoy on Twitter at @JimLovetoyTFR.

Bad News: Donovan returns to MLS after Birmingham match


Donovan will be returning to the MLS to play for the LA Galaxy after the Birmingham City match, although there is some speculation that the USA captain could stay, it is unlikely and it would mean that the MLS strike continues. As an American I have loved following Landon throughout his Everton experiences, and Donovan says that he will certainly return to England, until then he will be an LA Galaxy player.

Lyon Knock out Real Madrid and Bayern Edge past Fiorentina plus Europa League results

And epic first week to the second leg of the Champions League round of 16, epic matches that showcase some fantastic young talents. Not only this, but the first leg of Europa League round of 16 ended with some interesting results...

Europa League 1st leg results:


Juventus get a 3-1 win against Fulham, but Roy Hodgson's side has a crucial away goal.

Panathinaikos slip up at home against Standard Liege, losing 3-1 at home.

Valencia and Werder Bremen fought out a 1-1 draw which had Valencia play without Banega for over 30 minutes after the promising young midfielder was sent off.

Hamburger have little trouble against Anderlecht winning 3-1 at home thanks to Mathijsen, Van Nilsterooy, and Jarolim.

Rubin Kazan and Wolfsburg drew 1-1 as did Benfica and Olympique Marseille.

Atletico Madrid and Sporting Lisbon battled out a 0-0 draw, Sporting had two men sent off and Atletico failed to capitalize.

Liverpool fall poorly against Lille losing 1-0, the reds will hope they can win back at Anfield, very similar to the Real Madrid - Lyon tie in the Champions League...

Champions League 2nd leg results:

Real Madrid - Lyon: Aggregate 1-2

Probably one of the greatest upsets in French Champions League history, Lyon was able to nab a 1-0 win back in France, but going to the Santiago Bernabeu is a much different thing. Real Madrid dominated the first half, a fiery Ronaldo along with a quick Higuain put Lyon on their heels, just 6 minutes in Guti plays a fantastic pass to Ronaldo who steams his way past a defender to slot it through Lloris' legs at a tight angle. It seems like it would be target practice for Real, but after many wasted opportunities and selfish decisions (Higuain hits the post on a completely open net etc.), Real Madrid only went in one up after the first half. Claude Puel decided to make two key substitutions at the half, putting Kallstrom and Gonalons for Makoun and Boumsong, these two gave an attacking spark to the Lyon side that was slowly growing in confidence. Govou misses a good chance in front of Casillas, but eventually, in the 75th minute, Lisandro Lopez flicks up a ball in the 18 for Pjanic to volley into the goal. Real Madrid break down completely for the rest of the match, players are greedy and Kaka' is eventually taken off much to his anger. Lyon break down Real Madrid a couple times and find themselves 1 on 1 against Casillas, but they don't need to score, wasting fantastic opportunities to humiliate Real further, the two teams draw 1-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Fiorentina - Bayern Munich: Aggregate 4-4 Bayern through on away goals


After the refereeing injustices that Fiorentina suffered in the Allianz Arena, the Italian team was ready to make an impact at home, it took Fiorentina 28 minutes to make the breakthrough, Vargas leaps onto a ball out on the left wing and blasts it past Butt letting the Viola take the lead. In the second half, Jovetic helps lengthen the lead by sliding it past Butt after a clever back-heel from Gilardino, but Bayern react with a low shot by Van Bommel heavily affected by the windy conditions in Florence. Jovetic scores again after a loose ball in Bayern's area was badly cleared, but Fiorentina's hopes were halted by a phenomenal shot by Robben, after dribbling past two defenders, the Dutchman cuts in and blasts the ball into the top left corner. Even though Bayern lost, they were equal in score letting the Germans go through on away goals.

Arsenal - Porto: Aggregate 6-2


What should've been a shaky evening for Arsenal without Fabregas and Gallas turned out to be an homage to Wenger's beautiful football, all of Arsenal's players were fantastic, working to demolish a mediocre Porto side. Arshavin was deadly along the wing, providing Bendtner with fantastic service twice, which the striker tucked away quickly putting the gunners two up by halftime. Then the Nasri show began, the young Frenchman playing in Fabregas' role goes on a fantastic slalom dribbling past three Porto players before tucking the ball into the far corner at an impossible angle. Soon after Eboue followed after rounding Helton and passing the ball in the net, and finally Bendtner grabbed his first hat trick in his senior career after slotting a penalty into the back of the net, making the final score 5-0 for the gunners.

Manchester United - AC Milan: Aggregate 7-2


It seemed inevitable that Manchester United would breeze past AC milan, but the careless meandering fashion which the English champions accomplished the feat was amazing, it took a Rooney double to put the game to bed, a fantastic header and a good finish. Ji Sung Park then slotted one home right before Rooney was replaced by Berbatov, the Englishman did what he needed to do, and Sir Alex Ferguson wanted to make sure he kept his wonder-boy far from any possible injuries. AC Milan had some possession of the ball, but United let them have it where there was no danger, and eventually the fourth came, a diving header from Fletcher completed the great United night which brought memories of the 7-1 thrashing against Roma.

What do you think of this week's action, Beckham's return, and next week's Champions League action? Comment below!