10th March

First of all, a massive apology. I've been so busy and drowning under all my uni work that so far this week I've neglected this blog. I'm hoping that three days in a row won't happen again, so let's get down to business.

Midweek Football

Let's kick off with a round-up of this week's Champions League clashes, but first, Arsenal took on Hull on Tuesday night, in a match that ended up being as easy for the Gunners as it was on paper. Against Championship opposition, Arsene Wenger's side put them to the sword, as two goals a piece from Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott made it 4-0 to Arsenal on the night, with Hull never really putting up much of a fight, and some defending allowing Arsenal to take advantage. 

There's nothing overly exciting about the scoreline, but there are two important things to note. The first is considering how poor Arsenal have been recently, this was a much needed result, and it will really boost their confidence, especially that of the two goalscorers, Walcott and Giroud who both really needed to score some goals, having been low on confidence for a while. Giroud in particular has been appalling in 2016, having not scored in 11 games before Tuesday night. 

The other significant thing to note is injuries, and Arsenal picked up a few of them, with Mertesacker, Gabriel and Ramsey all limping off to the despair of Arsene Wenger. Ramsey's injury looks to be the most serious, but the last thing Arsenal need is more players out and there's no telling who'll be fit to play their FA Cup match at the weekend, let alone the crunch match against Barca that they'll probably end up throwing next week. 

And in the Champions League, Real Madrid cleaned up Roma, 2-0 on the night, making it 4-0 on aggregate as expected, Wolfburg beat Gent 1-0 to hold on for a place in the quarters, 4-2 on aggregate, whilst Benfica won on the night 2-1 to knock Zenit out 3-1. Interesting how all the teams who won on the night had also won the first leg, and how none of this week's ties were draws, either on the night, or last week. Madrid, Wolfsburg and Benfica all won both legs. 

And on that note, Paris Saint-Germain also did the same, winning 2-1 on the night, as they did in the first leg, to knock Chelsea out of the Champions League, 4-2 on aggregate. But Chelsea did themselves proud, because they played really really well, created a lot of chances and after Diego Costa cancelled out Rabiot's early goal with a stunning equaliser, shifting the ball onto his left foot and wrapping it into the far corner following a lovely passing move, it looked as if Chelsea could take the tie to extra time. 

And the tension really ramped up in the second half, as both teams went for it. But in the second half's three key moments, it went against Chelsea. First, PSG keeper Trapp made an exceptional double save to deny Chelsea, then Diego Costa limped off injured and with the game finely poised at 1-1, the next goal was crucial, as a Chelsea goal would have taken it to extra time. But, sadly, PSG always looked capable of putting Chelsea out of the game and when Azpilicueta was caught napping, Chelsea's offside trap was breached and a wonderful cross was turned in by Zlatan Ibrahimovic. 

There'll be a lot of nonsense printed about how poor and weak and terrible English sides are now, but this was a Chelsea side who look a shadow of their former selves, sitting 10th in the Premier League, giving a side walking one of Europe's major leagues a massive game of it. Don't get me wrong, PSG aren't Barcelona and I don't think they're anywhere near Europe's best clubs, but I do think that City, Arsenal or even Leicester or Spurs on their day would cause them problems. We may see that in the next round, as City will almost certainly make the last 8 now. 

Europa League Takes Center Stage

The Europa League takes the stage tonight, however, as Liverpool take on Man United and Spurs go to Borussia Dortmund. Starting with Spurs and there is no doubting that this is an absolutely huge game for them, one of the biggest of their season, and they'll have to do it without their central midfield core of Dele Alli and Eric Dier. Both will be a big loss, as alongside Dembele, they are three irreplacable players in that midfield. Nobody else in that Spurs team can do what Dier in particular does on the same level, as Mason and Bentaleb just simply aren't as good. Hopefully for Spurs, Dembele and the likes of Eriksen and Lamela can control the pace of the game, but simply put, Dortmund should be too strong. They're currently giving Bayern a run for their money in the Bundesliga, where manager Tuchel has a 72% win ratio, and they have the outrageously good Aubameyang up front, who has 22 goals to his name this season, that's five more than Harry Kane, despite playing over five whole games less. And that's just in the league. The way I see it, if Spurs can nick an away goal to take to White Hart Lane and lose 2-1, then they'll be bang in the tie and should be happy with that. 

As for the big game at Anfield, I am confident. We have players back from injury, United are going the opposite way. We're picking up some form, United are slipping. It feels to me like we have the momentum and if I'm being brutally honest, I think that on our day we simply are a better team than United, the problem has been that we never seem to find our day consistently. We have a better midfield and attack than United, whereas their strength lies in their defence, which is now crippled, almost beyond recognition. There has never been a better chance to stick the knife into United's back and twist and I feel confident that if Klopp can get Coutinho, Lallana, Firmino and Sturridge firing, then this could be a massacre. 

That said, realistically it won't be that easy. United are still a good side and we aren't that much better than them, even on our best day. And I'm still suspicious as to whether or not we will in fact even play well. Nevertheless, whilst a 0-0 wouldn't be the end of the world, I'd be disappointed with a draw, and even more disappointed if United scored. I'm hoping for a win of any description, but I reckon 1-0 is a pretty good bet, meaning they need 3 if we were to score at Old Trafford. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• My doping knowledge is minimal but wow Sharapova.
• England's women failed to win a single game. Flashbacks. 
• The Cricket World Cup is underway! Sort of...
• Tuilagi is back on the bench for England. Options.