Who will pass on to the round of eight?

Outside of Franck Ribery and his Bayern Munich club, each of the matches left next week in the round of sixteen are all but up for grabs. Only three of the other teams command a one goal lead heading into the next match up. This is where things really start to heat up.

To recap the first round of the leg:
A) Chelsea heads to Turin to take on Juventus with a plus one goal differential.
B) Van Persie and the Gunners head into Roma with plus one.
C) Steven Gerrard and Liverpool get to stay at home and take on CR7's next club Real Madrid commanding a one goal lead.
D) The rest of the match ups, Lyon v. Barca, Inter v. Man U, Atletico Madrid v. FC Porto and Villarreal v. Panathinaikos are all equal on the goal differential.

Juventus v. Chelsea

Before this match, Juventus will first have to face a feisty Torino club in the Torino Derby della Mole. Torino is facing relegation and would love nothing more than to pick up a win at the expense of their crosstown rivals. Injuries heading into this match are a concern for Juve with both Zanetti and Camoranesi's health being in question. Meanwhile, Chelsea is coming off a rain soaked win against Portsmouth. Chelsea has been playing very well since Guus Hiddink took over the club, but they have had to deal with major off the pitch controversy with the arrest of defender Ashley Cole recently. Cole was arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct and the event has been a huge distraction for the club. Chelsea meets Coventry City this Saturday in an FA Cup warm up to the big Juventus game.

Prediction: I think Chelsea will hang onto the lead and go on to the round of eight. Chelsea has been getting particuliarly strong play out of Lampard and Malouda in the midfield lately. And I think that they know that the Champions League is their only hope for some silverware with Man U continuing to dominate in England.

Inter v. Man U

Inter travels to England to play at Old Trafford amid swirling controversy followin Jose Mourinho's press conference this week in which he seemed to invoke the ire of the whole country of Italy. Meanwhile, Carling Cup winners Man U have continued their almost impossible dominence and continue on with business as usual. Inter has not looked the same since meeting Man U at San Siro a couple of weeks ago. They allowed three goals against a Totti-less Roma squad and their back four looked horrible. The one bright spot on the pitch was young future Azurri fixture Mario Balotelli. With Ibrahimovic on the sidelines, the youngster looked full of enjoy and really had a great game. Jose is going to have to find a way to put Mario, Zlatan and Adriano on the pitch at the same time. I wouldn't be surprised if we see this in the future with the young striker pressing for more playing time.

Prediction: I think Man U takes this one pretty easily. I don't think that this will be much of a contest. Look for Rooney, Tevez and future Real Madrid mid fielder Cristiano Ronaldo to put a couple in the back of the net. Inter has looked, by their own standards, awful as of late. And I think the controversy around Jose is hand writing on the wall that he won't be in Italy come summer time.

Liverpool v. Real Madrid

Liverpool striker and Spanish superstar Fernando Torres will be healthy and I'm almost certain will be playing in this match up when the "super team of the world" Real Madrid head into Anfield. Torres used to play for Real's bitter city rivals Atletico and would like nothing better than ending his former hated enemy's hopes of continuing on in the Champions League. Speaking of Atletico, Real must first get through them this Saturday when they play in the Madrid derby.

Prediction: I think that the Madrid derby is going to take it's toll on both Real and Atletico and I see both sides exiting after this leg.

Other match predictions: Messi and Barca put one in the back of the net in a close match with Lyon and move forward. The Gunners hold off Totti and Roma and move forward. And in Greece, Panathinaikos holds Villarreal scoreless and wins it with a golden goal in extra time.

It should be a great week, enjoy it.