MANCHESTER UNITED VS. REAL MADRID and some other stuff

Holy Mega Match! 

Will the world stop?!

The Special One and his crew are at Old Trafford this afternoon for the second leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie with Fergie and his boys. You won't want to miss it. Sadly, Gus Johnson is calling the match here in the States along with Super Prick Orange Spray Tan Man Warren Barton. Dick. Anyway, prepare yourself for loud outbursts of "Cristiano Ronaldo"!!

Let's get to the hype!

Sid Lowe wants us to know about Raphaël Varane – Real Madrid's teenage 'natural' tipped for greatness.



When you think tactics, do you think Michael Cox? We do. Here's his tactical preview.

More Tactical Conundrums.

Daniel Taylor reckon Real Madrid present Manchester United with a formidable challenge. Well, duh. I mean, that's the point, right?

Sticking with that theme, Phil McNulty goes out on a limb and claims that the match has the potential to be a classic.  Er. Yeah.

Here, take this preview. And this one, too.

Christ. There is another game today. It's Shakhtar Donetsk and Borussia Dortmund down in Dortmund. Jonathan Wilson knows his Eastern Europe so we'll let him handle the preview responsibilities.

Gabriele Marcotti's Monday Musings: United and Real prepare for battle, the North London gap, praise for Francesco Totti. Do it.

Like we said yesterday, MLS has begun. Here's a look back at what happened.

MNF. Manchester City edged Villa (who played quite well, really) thanks to a Tevez goal. Henry Winter made it up to Birmingham for the match and filed this report.

My word, there's a lot going on. Phil Ball remains in Spain. He's got what you'd expect in terms of Madrid and Barca, but he's also got a little Betis on his mind. Raphael Honigstein is in Germany where the race for fourth is extreme, yah. Meanwhile, Paolo Bandini reports on the fireworks and fury in Italy.

And if you're fat, you can buy a special seat at the World Cup. Just so you know.

Don't worry. They have a special seat waiting for you in Brazil.

We'll terminate today's edition with The Podcast. It's this: And here we are again. Playing Chaz to Philippe Auclair's Dave is Amy Lawrence, who joins Barry Glendenning in the pod with James Richardson to dissect the north London derby, which was a rum defeat for sorry Arsenal and another triumph for Tottenham and Gareth Bale. After getting up to speed with the rest of the action in the Premier League - including QPR's win at Southampton and Liverpool's highly impressive demolition of Wigan - we then turn our attention to the Champions League. Will Barcelona overturn their 2-0 deficit against Milan? Will Manchester United be able to out-score Real Madrid? Sid Lowe gives us his thoughts, and an intimate glimpse into his innermost sanctum. Oo and, indeed, er. Finally, we preview some absolute humdingers in the Europa League, get updates on Serie A and Ligue 1, and discuss the merits or otherwise of employing a manager who needs an interpreter.

Onward!!

-SSN