UCL Wednesday

Barcelona and Shakhtar made it look it easy by powering their way through to the next UCL round.

For tonight's games, I like Arsenal's chances at home to French champions Montpellier. Arsene Wenger has an impeccable record against French opposition in the Europe, and I see no change to this trend tonight. Arsenal will strive for maximum points at home in order to secure qualification and they have the ammunition to do so against average opponents, even without Theo Walcott. Arsenal is a straight win selection.

The UCL games have been somewhat obscured by the sacking of Di Matteo at Chelsea today. The Italian saved the Blues' season last year by landing the FA Cup and the improbable Champions League trophy. They started the  season well and only stuttered in the past month. Does that merit sacking? Looks like in Ambramovich's world, it is! Anyway, I could semi-understand if they already had secured Guardiola's approval to take over. But as I write this, papers seem to put Rafa Benitez as the leading candidate. This must be a joke or paper rubbish, it almost teeters on insanity. If he's really the fancied one, then watch Chelsea disintegrate to a second-rate team. With his record at Liverpool and Inter, there is every reason to believe that he will destroy them, hah!


Win: Arsenal

Delivery time

Great last week-end with the Lockinge and Preakness delivering the 1-2 punch as expected.

What else to say about Frankel that hasn't yet been said? He's not as imposing as Sea The Stars but his mechanics are just unbelievable. In full flight, he's an unstoppable machine in motion. At this point, there seems nothing to stop him in the Prince of Wales stakes at Ascot, possibly his next stop. Excelebration ran the race expected of him but again had to settle for second place. Unfortunately for him, it looks like there are more runner-up spots in the offing for him each time he locks horns with the Galileo colt.

State-side, I'll Have Another outran Bodemeister in the final strides to complete the Derby-Preakness double, opening the possibility of achieving the Triple Crown. Can he do it? It's a little early to say but I believe much of it will depend on the disposition of Dullahan and Union Rags. Both horses will be fresher for the Belmont showpiece as they skipped Pimlico. The Triple Crown is far from a certainty for I'll Have Another, but he's proved to have lots of ability, and certainly is among the best of his generation.

In football, Chelsea finally won the Champions League after coming close in recent years. Their success had looked so improbable in their encounters with Barcelona and in the final against Bayern, but it seems that it was written somewhere that they would win it. Di Matteo showed all his savviness and when you look at his short managerial career, he's never really showed he was a bad manager. He did well at West Brom and looked unlucky to be sacked there. Whether he stays at the helm of Chelsea of not, he looks destined to be wanted by other top clubs in Europe.

Coming up over the week-end are the Irish Guineas Classics and both colts and fillies races look competitive. With Camelot certain to step up in trip from now on, this year's 3-year old top miler could be making a statement at the Curragh. It will be interesting to see if the returning Parish Hall can confirm all the promise of last season, or if one of the flops at the Newmarket Classic, such as Born To Sea and Power, can redeem himself and take a leading role in the division. There certainly will be no more room for excuses and ability or non-ability will be there for all to see.

Make or Break

If Chelsea wanted some sort of justice to their controversial ouster at the hands of Barcelona in the UCL a few years back, they must feel they got it on Wednesday night. There was only one deserving winner in that game, and it certainly wasn't Di Matteo's men. Not scoring a vital away goal might come and bite back the Catalans in the second leg, which promises to be dramatic to say the least.

This is the final straight of the football season where any drop of points for the contenders can spell the doom to their title chances. Man City hopes are clinging to a thread at this point and they couldn't ask for a better road trip at Molyneux. Wolves have yet to win under their current manager, and it does not look it will happen against the Citizens. With in-form Tevez, Man City should win this and polish their goal differential as well, in case this becomes the deciding factor in the end.

Arsenal host Chelsea and I fancy the Gunners here; the reason being that Chelsea will have their eye on the upcoming UCL match in Barcelona. There is little doubt that many elements of the first-team will not be risked for Sunday's game. Their defense is already stretched and Drogba looks a definite non-starter. This is a glorious winning opportunity for the Gunners and they are good value as draw-no-bet

Man Utd host Everton in another must-win game for the leaders. The Toffees have been in great form of late, so this is not going to be a cake-walk for the hosts. They will need to get the quick first goal, or else there will certainly be jitters to break Everton's defence. A draw-no-bet on the Red Devils looks safe, but I believe they have enough fire power to claim the 3 points. A Win looks good value.

It's the Clasico in La Liga where Barcelona have to beat Real Madrid at the Nou Camp to have any chance of retaining the title. A draw will give the Los Blancos enough breathing room until the end. The coming week will make or break the Catalans. They wrongly negotiated the first leg at Chelsea by getting beaten and not scoring a goal. They are bound to be distracted on Saturday's game as they will want to be at their peak for the return UCL match a few days later. Madrid too will have an eye on their return leg against Bayern, but this the Clasico is not a must-win game for them. In fact, it would not surprise me if Mourinho went for the draw and parked the bus. He'll deny it, but this is sure to be in his plans. The Clasico can go either way and it would not surprise me if Real further advanced its cause for the title by obtaining a favourable result at the Nou Camp.

In Italy, I see a definite win for AC Milan against Bologna. Juventus have a tougher task at home to Roma, and a draw-no-bet on the hosts should be safe.

Win: Man City, Man Utd, AC Milan
Draw-no-bet: Arsenal, Juventus