Bordeaux had a very good result in the last 16 of the Champions League last night winning 1-0 away to Olympiakos. While their Greek opponents may not be the strongest they could have faced, any away win in this competition is a great result.
You would have to fancy Laurent Blanc’s side to reach the last 8 now and they are having a great season as they are also top of the league in France. It looks as though Blanc has ended the dominance of Lyon in recent seasons and he does appear to be a very shrewd operator.
So much so that Alex Ferguson is alleged to want him to replace him when he finally steps down at Old Trafford. Bordeaux could be the surprise package in this competition as I simply do not expect anyone to turn them over.
Everyone speaks of Barcelona, Real, Inter and the three big English clubs but no one mentions Bordeaux as possible winners of this competition. They came through a group that included Bayern Munich and Juventus and topped that group so they are clearly a very good side.
Barcelona also got a good result drawing 1-1 away at Stuttgart. I expect them to complete the job at the Nou Camp. I like this new format for spacing the games out as it gives me the opportunity to watch more football.
Usually with the old system in previous years, games clashed more and with four English clubs in action then you couldn’t watch all four. Really looking forward to Inter Milan against Chelsea in the San Siro tonight.
I think that Chelsea have the edge but the tie seems close to call. I did say a few weeks ago that all three ties involving the English clubs seemed close and I expected one of them to get knocked out just going by the law of averages.
Still time for that 
