While he didn’t add to his impressive haul of five Champions League goals for the season, the 27-year-old was a shining light – particularly when compared to the ineffective and disinterested Eden Hazard. “From start to finish it was hard but when you have dug in as much as we did and defended really well throughout the game, I thought 1-1 would have been a terrific result to go back to the Bridge with”, Cahill stated.
Advertisement
Roma have not reached the last eight since then and scraped into this season’s knockout stage after winning just one group game under Rudi Garcia. The contrast between the two sides’ domestic situations was clear in their performances on the night: while the hosts looked fresh and positive, the visitors seemed worn down by their rather workmanlike mission to salvage their dire Premier League campaign.
In other fifth-round matches, Bournemouth host Everton in an all-Premier League tie, Watford play second tier Leeds United and West Bromwich Albion and West Ham United travel to Championship sides Reading and Blackburn Rovers respectively.
Benfica, who also succumbed 1-0 in Saint Petersburg last term, dropped three points behind Primeira Liga leaders Sporting this past weekend.
As we’ve come to know all too well over the past few years with the likes of Diego Costa, Danny Sturridge, and Marko Marin, hamstring injuries can easily turn very annoying if not carefully managed. We can’t win the league.
The European cup remains the only major competition Ibra has contested at club level that he’s not won.
Asked if Terry would return for the City game on Sunday, Hiddink said “Difficult”. We have to go on. And now at age 34, the Paris Saint-Germain striker is staring at what could be his last chance.
“We have to be more compact and more careful, because these small details can decide a game”.
Advertisement
The club is used to facing Zenit’s Portuguese manager Andres Villas-Boas, who previously coached Porto and Academica de Coimbra.
