Bayern will challenge Barcelona and Madrid for Champions League glory

Arjen Robben is brimming with confidence ahead of the first leg of Bayern Munich's Champions League quarterfinal tie against Juventus, and believes the Bundesliga leader can challenge pre-tournament favorites Barcelona and Real Madrid for the title.

The Bavarians made it to the final of the competition last campaign, and Robben feels they have what it takes to make it to this year's showpiece at Wembley too, even though he realizes Juventus will not be a pushovers in the quarterfinals.

"We showed last season that we can be up there with the best in Europe, so we want to be in the final at Wembley. We will challenge the likes of Barca and Real for the title," the Dutchman was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

"If you look at last year's final against Chelsea, again we should never have lost it. But we’ve improved from last year. We are in the quarterfinals and we are top of our league, so you can’t ask for more.

"The tie against Juventus is going to be a tough challenge for sure. They are a team with so many experienced players — people like Andrea Pirlo — and we know how hard they will make it for us."

The Netherlands international then went on to discuss his future at Bayern, and dismissed rumors that he could be on the move this summer.

"Sometimes it's ridiculous what gets written. I have another two years on my contract and I am looking forward to seeing it through," he continued.

"Of course I didn’t want to be on the bench. When you’ve recovered from a few injuries like me, then you’ll understand. I love being on the pitch. When I’m out there, I just want to play football."

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PSG must shine on counter-attack, says Ancelotti

Paris St Germain must capitalise on their counter-attacking chances in Today's Champions League quarter-final first leg against Barcelona because they will not see much of the ball, said coach Carlo Ancelotti.

PSG are back in the last eight for the first time in 18 years but face the ultimate challenge, taking on the title favourites.

"We may not have a lot of possession but as soon as we get the ball I want my team to show character and inspiration to go forward and score," Ancelotti told a news conference on the eve of the game.

"We have defended very well so far this term and we've done well on the counter-attack. This is what we want to do tomorrow because we'll need it if we are to get a good result."

PSG, who have a seven-point lead at the top of Ligue 1, will be without midfielder Thiago Motta because of a groin injury.

Ancelotti's team will take heart from AC Milan's first-leg performance in the previous record, the Italians having won 2-0 before Barca turned the tie around in the return match.

"Milan played a good tactical game. They made it difficult for Barcelona to play like they wanted to," said PSG's hot-shot marksman Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

"Barca like to keep the ball but we want to have possession because we are at home. We want to find a solution to upset them."

Ibrahimovic seemed to relish PSG's underdog status for the clash with World Player of the Year Lionel Messi and company.

"We are up against probably the best team that has ever played on this planet," said former Barca striker Ibrahimovic. "But the team that makes the fewest mistakes is the team that will win."

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Villa says Barça must learn from mistakes

Scorer in the round of 16 comeback win over AC Milan, David Villa has his sights set on a semi-final spot – but knows FC Barcelona cannot afford a repeat of their display in Italy.

An injured David Villa did not feature in FC Barcelona's 2-0 defeat by AC Milan in their round of 16 opener, but he made sure he had a say in the 4-0 second-leg comeback at the Camp Nou when he curled in the crucial third goal.

Now Paris Saint-Germain FC stand between Barcelona and the semi-finals, and the Spanish international forward says the Blaugrana must learn from their mistakes if they are to beat an ambitious team coached by one of Milan's most decorated alumni.

"You learn from losses as well as wins," Villa explained. "In Milan, we suffered a lot, but we managed to bounce back at home. Tomorrow will be another difficult match and we will have to be focused to avoid making the same errors as in Milan.

"Against them, we were reminded how important it is to score in the first leg," continued Villa. "We hope to manage that tomorrow, even though we'll host the return leg again. It's important to be at 100% for 180 minutes."

The return to the bench of Tito Vilanova is sure to be a fillip in this regard. The Barça coach has been undertaking treatment in New York since January following a throat operation in December, coinciding with something of a rocky patch by the Catalan club's high standards; four defeats and four draws in their 19 matches in 2013.

"Of course we are very happy about Tito Vilanova's return," said Villa. "It's always good to have the boss with you. We're also very happy with Éric Abidal's comeback: he's an example for us, the way he handled what he has gone through."

Despite their hit-and-miss form since the turn of the year, Barça are 13 points clear atop the Liga and the dominating display against the Rossoneri in their last European outing has ensured they are favourites to oust PSG reach the last four. It is a label that Villa dismisses.

"We're said to be the favourites, but it's very hard in this competition to know who really is the favourite," said Villa. "I think we'll only learn that after the match. Tomorrow will be a great contest, between two great teams: let's enjoy this occasion."

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Redknapp wants warm welcome for Zamora

QPR manager Harry Redknapp has told Fulham fans that Bobby Zamora deserves a hero's welcome on his return to Craven Cottage for Today's London derby.

Zamora's goals helped fire Fulham into the 2010 Europa League final and he spent four years at the club before moving to QPR in January 2010.

Redknapp despairs at the way modern-day football supporters abuse the players they once cheered - and he hopes Zamora gets the reception he deserves.

"I don't know why you should get stick when you go back to a club where you have done so fantastically well," Redknapp said.

"Why do you abuse someone when they have given you good service and been a good player?

"I went to watch them play Juventus that night (in the Europa League). That was one of the best footballing nights I have ever been to.

"Fulham went 1-0 down and they were something like 4-1 down on aggregate (but came back to win 4-1 on the night) and Bobby ripped them to pieces.

"What a night of football, I loved every minute of it.

"Years ago people would go back to their old club and they would get a lovely ovation. Dear oh Lord, what has happened?"

After starting the season with a bang, scoring four times in his first five matches, Zamora has only found the net once since last September.

But Redknapp believes his return to fitness after overcoming an ankle injury and a dose of the flu is vital to QPR's chances of Premier League survival.

"He is important to us. He holds the ball up, he knows what he is doing and he knows how to play. Going back to Fulham will be interesting for him," Redknapp said.

QPR are off the bottom of the table, courtesy of Reading's 4-1 defeat to Arsenal yesterday, but they still head to Craven Cottage seven points adrift of safety.

"Back-to-back wins for us could put us right back in the picture again," Redknapp said.

"Everyone has written us off but we are still right in there in my opinion.

"I am confident. When I am not confident I will be struggling to come into work in the morning."

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Unlike O’Neill, Di Canio has nothing to lose

Paolo Di Canio has been given the task of saving Sunderland from the threat of relegation after agreeing a two-and-a-half-year contract at the Stadium of Light.

Out goes the storied martinet, in comes the fascinating fascist. If ever there was a reason why Paolo Di Canio, proud football explorer and even prouder admirer of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, has been installed as Sunderland manager to succeed the sacked Martin O’Neill, it can be discovered in the dispiriting performances of men like the ghostly Adam Johnson. Di Canio's anointing suggests one right winger has benefited from another's failure.

Johnson is an example of why players get managers sacked, a microcosm of a wider apathy at the Stadium of dimming Light. His was a listless, limp and gutless performance in the 1-0 defeat to Manchester United on Saturday that sounded the death knell on O’Neill’s fairly miserable 16-month period as a black sheep manager of the Black Cats.

Johnson was replaced by Connor Wickham on 76 minutes against United amid a team performance of widespread poverty. Johnson was a figure who you would not have swapped an old Jimmy Nail album for, far less the £10 million O’Neill paid to purchase the player from Manchester City last summer.

O’Neill’s bigger problem was explained by a number 21 shirt that was as empty as the conversation his manager apparently had with the north-east club’s American owner later on Saturday night.

When O’Neill spoke to Ellis Short by phone, one guesses it would have been pointed out to the Northern Irishman that he had been given £30m to furnish a squad that one could easily argue are destined for relegation. Men like Johnson would have been held up as the stick to beat O’Neill over the head with.

Matches against Manchester United were supposed to be made for figures such as Johnson, a player with 12 England caps who can operate wide left or right, but too many of them have slipped by him and his sorry cohorts.

Sunderland are only one point above the bottom three despite O'Neill investing faith and large sums of money in recruiting Johnson, Steven Fletcher, Danny Graham and Alfred N'Diaye. Short's disillusionment is said to have taken hold during a 3-1 defeat at the Premier League's bottom club Queens Park Rangers last month.

Patience is fine, but Short had every right to ask O'Neill: What is in this for me?

Compared to O’Neill, Di Canio, 44, is a maverick. He was an attacking player of some renown with clubs such as Lazio, AC Milan, Celtic and West Ham United. His career was defined by incident, but he has done next to nothing in the coaching game to suggest he can be Sunderland's saviour.

He won League Two in his first assignment at Swindon Town last season. Sunderland are hoping his passionate and slightly chaotic approach to life can have some sort of cocaine-induced effect on a squad that is sleepwalking its way to the Championship.

There was more spirit during Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow than there is among this current lot. They certainly need a buzz.

Di Canio's arrival is already making waves. It last night prompted the departure of club director and Labour's former foreign secretary David Miliband from the board due to the man from Rome's admiration for Mussolini amid some well-aired political views. “I’m a fascist, not a racist,” said Di Canio back in 2005.

Politics don’t really come into it for Sunderland. They would hand the job to Nigel Farage or Shagger Norris if it guaranteed survival. Di Canio has nothing to lose. If Sunderland go down, Di Canio can blame it on O’Neill’s recruitment policy. If they stay up on his watch, he will not be shy in extolling the benefits of his healing touch.

The wisdom in Sunderland's decision to sack O'Neill will only be seen if relegation is avoided. Short will be left short-changed if his club miss out on the suitcases of cash coming the way of the Premier League's prospective residents.

The Premier League sold their TV rights for £3 billion last summer which will mean at least £15m more for each club next season. The team finishing bottom of the table a year from now is set to be awarded more than the £60.6m Manchester City collected for snaring last season's title.

Money talks. Sunderland have done the maths. O'Neill's returns didn't add up.

He won seven of his first 10 Premier League matches in charge of Sunderland, but only nine of the last 45. They have failed to win any of their last eight matches. Not because they are unfortunate, but because they lack the necessary quality to compete with any degree of certainty at the elite levels.

Their run-in is fraught with danger. They face Chelsea and Newcastle away from home in the next fortnight followed by a home match with Everton on April 20. A visit to Aston Villa is followed by home matches with Stoke and Southampton before they visit Tottenham on the final day of the season.

Much has been made of the ankle injury that Sunderland's Scotland forward Fletcher suffered against Wales last Friday that will see him miss the rest of the season. Fletcher is the club's top goalscorer having scored 11 of their 33 league goals, but Sunderland were struggling with him in the side.

When O'Neill's Celtic lost 3-2 to Jose Mourinho's Porto after extra-time in a gripping UEFA Cup final a decade ago, he was tipped as a possible successor to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. He was linked with Liverpool and apparently verbally accepted the Leeds United job from Peter Ridsdale in 2003, or so Ridsdale claims, before that fell through.

When Steve McClaren was dismissed at England manager, he was interviewed by the FA before Fabio Capello was appointed. But he never quite landed the whopper of a role his motivational techniques hinted at. And now at the age of 61, he is again without a job.

O'Neill's stock has fallen with his failure at Sunderland. He will return. At the moment, it is difficult to see where. Brian Clough, a figure he played under during Nottingham's Forest's rise to two European Cups in 1979 and 1980, was sacked after 44 days at Leeds United before discovering a treasure trove in Nottingham.

O'Neill established Leicester in the Premier League and coached them to League Cups in 1997 and 2000. "Anybody who can do anything in Leicester but make a jumper has got to be a genius," Clough once said of O'Neill. Unfortunately, Sunderland is a long way from Leicester. And 2013 far removed from the year 2000.

Sunderland are short on time and their owner short on patience. O'Neill’s sacking may yet lead Sunderland to the palace of wisdom. They have replaced Mr Motivator with Mr Motivator.

Like himself, Di Canio has suggested Mussolini was misunderstood. "His actions were often vile. But all this was motivated by a higher purpose. He was basically a very principled individual."

Di Canio’s higher purpose is keeping Sunderland aboard the life raft.

With Di Canio overseeing the coach trip, Newcastle away in a fortnight’s time could be full of mayhem. Just how Paolo likes it.

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Ruiz and Enoh face fitness tests

Fulham boss Martin Jol will give striker Bryan Ruiz (hamstring) and midfielder Eyong Enoh fitness tests before naming his squad for Today's London derby against QPR.

Ruiz is struggling with an injury he picked up playing for Costa Rica in midweek.

Meanwhile, midfielder Mahamadou Diarra, who is out of contract at the end of the season, will not play again before then after it was discovered his troublesome left knee will require a third operation.

Jol believes Fulham, on 36 points, require two wins to guarantee survival and expects a fierce scrap with QPR, who lie second bottom and are fighting for their Premier League lives.

Jol said: "This is a home game, a derby game, they are desperate for three points and we can use them as well."

The Fulham boss believes the form of goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer could prove vital and insists he can keep going for at least another two years in the Barclays Premier League.

Schwarzer, 40, has been instrumental in Fulham securing a mid-table berth with eight matches remaining this season and Jol sees no reason why he cannot continue to do a first-rate job at Craven Cottage.

The form of the Australian veteran, who is set to go to Rio de Janeiro for the World Cup with his country next year, is the reason David Stockdale is on loan at npower Championship side Hull and Jol accepts that he might have to let the 27-year-old go permanently.

"David wants to be a number one," said Jol, whose side take on relegation-threatened QPR tomorrow night in a west London derby which has huge significance, in particular, for Harry Redknapp's side.

"I'm always looking for a good goalkeeper. I've got another good goalkeeper who's 23, Neil Etheridge, and he's very talented but he needs to play.

"So maybe we will put him on loan. Stockdale is already on loan; so I have a problem. We need one or two goalkeepers. Hopefully we can get competition for places because that's the ideal."

QPR manager Harry Redknapp has Bobby Zamora fit.

Zamora, the former Fulham striker, used the international break to overcome an ankle injury and a dose of the flu to be in contention for the west London derby.

Redknapp reported a clean bill of health following the international window and he must decide whether to recall the mercurial Moroccan Adel Taarabt to the side.

Redknapp insists the defeat at Aston Villa last time out has not knocked his belief that the club can clamber to survival, and says his side's performance in the 3-2 loss gave him extra confidence.

Redknapp said: "Obviously ourselves and Reading are in a difficult position but there are seven or eight other teams involved in it.

"I still feel we can get out of it and nothing has changed my belief. We played so well at Villa we could have come in at half-time three or four up.

"We've got to go on a little run now and get the results we need.

"If we were in bad form we'd be more worried. We're playing very well, we're in a good form so it gives us a chance.

"At least we're going into the last eight games knowing we're playing well. If we were going into it playing very poorly I'd be more worried. I still think there are four or five wins left in us."

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Liverpool duo Carragher and Reina fit for Aston Villa clash

Liverpool first team coach Mike Marsh has confirmed that Jamie Carragher and Pepe Reina will be back in contention to face Aston Villa on Today.

Carragher missed out when Brendan Rodgers' squad traveled to Southampton earlier on this month, while Reina has been unavailable for selection for the last two games due to a calf complaint, but Marsh revealed both are now back in the fray.

"They're both available for selection, so it's a possibility," Marsh told the club's official website.

The first team coach admitted that he was anxious over the fitness of Liverpool's international stars in the past two weeks, and was thrilled that none have reported problems ahead of their return.

"I've got be honest, I'm watching the games and hoping that the players come back fit and well," he added. "Although you do want the players that are representing their country to get a positive result, I'm more concerned that when they come back to Melwood [Liverpool's training complex] that they're fit and ready to play at the weekend.

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