Fabregas Out 6 Weeks

Cesc Fabregas suffered a cracked bone in his fibula during Arsenal's match against Barcelona last night at Emirates Stadium. He is scheduled to be out at least 6 weeks, which could put his World Cup dreams in jeopardy this summer. This comes as a huge loss to both Arsenal, who must travel to Camp Nou next week for their 1/8 away leg, and Spain. The Euro 2008 winners are looking to triumph on the world stage for the first time.

Arsenal 2-2 Barcelona

A brace from Zlatan Ibrahimovic was canceled out by late Theo Walcott and Cesc Fabregas goals(the latter from a faux-PK call). Arshavin, Gallas and Fabregas all picked up injuries during the match. Pique and Puyol will miss Barcelona's home leg next week through suspension, as will Fabregas.

Poppa's Picks: Champions League Edition

Lyon X Bordeaux - Tuesday 2:45PM ET
Bordeaux travel east to Lyon in the first leg of the "Bataille de France."  Bordeaux have been in exceptional form, sitting atop the leaderboard domestically.  However Ligue 1 is officially the hottest race in Europe with just 3 points separating the top 6 teams.  Marseille has recently brought down both these powerhouses, eliminating Bordeaux from the League Cup last week and stripping Lyon of some much needed points.  Look for Lyon to try and capitalize at home, with a lot of attacking play.  Bordeaux won't score away. 1-0 Lyon.  Bafetimbe Gomis or Lisandro will score.

Bayern Munich X Manchester United - Tuesday 2:45PM ET
Rooney and company will be relishing the opportunity to return to England with an advantage.  This Manchester team has a chip on its shoulder after being written off with no Cristiano.  They proved this in the last fixture by destroying AC Milan 7-2 on aggregate.  Not to mention a dominate 4-0 win this weekend domestically.  Bayern is still looking for someone to really step up in the Champions League.  Their top scorer is Arjen Robben in the competition with just 2 goals.  Bayern are also coming off a major loss to Stuttgart in the Bundesliga, losing their first place standing.  Robben and the Germans will get a decent result in Munich 1-1.  Nani scores for Man United.

Arsenal X Barcelona - Wednesday 2:45PM ET
Forward Nicklas Bendtner has recently stated, "Messi can be stopped."  I beg to differ...Arsene Wenger has already expressed concern over the upcoming tie, and little Arshavin has said the Gunners aren't good enough to challenge Chelsea and Manchester for the title.  Meanwhile Barce seem very focused, and a visit to London shouldn't ruffle their feathers all that much (unless you're Thiery Henry).  Andres Iniesta has already ruled himself out for the match, but I think the Spanish side will still come away with the victory 2-1 over Arsenal.  Messi, Arshavin, Xavi the scorers.

Inter Milan X CSKA Moscow - Wednesday 2:45PM ET
Inter were dazzled by Roma over the weekend, but that shouldn't hurt their confidence all that much.  After eliminating a strong Chelsea, Mourinho's side seem to have the formula down in the late stages of the competition.  With the Russian League just getting underway earlier this month, CSKA are fresh enough to challenge the Italians.  They've won 2 and drawn once thus far domestically.  But a lack of recent competition may hurt their chances.  Inter will take their home leg 2-0 in the Guiseppe Meazza.  Two for Cameroonian international Samuel Eto'o.

Fabregas Linked to Inter

Reports are flying out of Italy that 22 year-old Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas will be joining Inter Milan over the summer.  Jose Mourinho's side have even added them to the list of players on their insurance policy according to Sky Sports.  Part of the deal will see Nerazurri striker Mario Balotelli become a Gunner next year.

Interesting move by the San Siro side, making me believe "The Special One" had something to do with this.  Perhaps Mourinho will in fact be at Inter next season.  The former Barcelona product will fit nicely in the middle with Inter's experienced players, and he has an extremely bright future ahead.  Can't wait to see the transfer fee on this one!

Check out the full story at Goal.com

Tuesday's Champions League Highlights

Porto suffered an embarrassing loss at the Emirates thanks to Nicklas Bendtner's hat trick, which made up for his dismal performance over the weekend against Burnley. Check out Samir Nasri's ridiculous goal dribbling through almost all of Porto's defense.

The most exciting match of the day also had a tally of 5 goals. A back-and-forth second half capped off by a brilliant Robben strike saw Munchen advance by the slimmest of margins. Unfortunately for Fiorentina a terrible decision in the 1st leg (an offside goal by Klose) cost them the opportunity to advance to the quarter finals.

Poppa's Picks: Champions League Edition

Today's Games

Porto X Arsenal 2:45PM ET
Porto head to London up 2-1 on aggregate after a favorable 1st leg.  However the Dragons are struggling, tying their last fixture against Olhanense and dropping a goose egg in a 3-0 loss to Sporting.  Arsenal are in much better form, but they'll miss Cesc Fabregas and Aaron Ramsey along with the players that were out last leg ( RvP, Gallas).  Porto has never won in London, losing 6 times there, including a loss earlier this Champs League season at Stamford Bridge.  Everything seems to favor Arsenal which is why I'm taking Porto today to leave England with a 1-1 tie.  Goal from Falcao, and watch out for little Arshavin.

Bayern Munich X Fiorentina 2:45PM ET
The Germans will be in Florence today after tying 1-1 to a Koln goal by former Bayern forward Lukas Podolski.  Fiorentina on the otherhand just lost a heart breaker 2-1 to Juventus.  Bayern have done very well in Italy as of late, their last result a 4-1 defeat of Juventus last season.  They also tied Fiorentina 1-1 last year in Florence in the group stage.  Not to mention the Germans have 7 wins and 3 draws in their last 13 away fixtures.  I say they hang on 1-1 in Italy, with goals from van Bommel and Gilardino.

Wednesday's Games

Real Madrid X Lyon - Wednesday 2:45PM ET
No away goals for Madrid means they need to score early and often to assure their spot in the next round.  They are definitely capable of putting away 3 or 4, as we saw this past weekend in a thrilling 3-2 win against Sevilla.  But don't underestimate this Lyon squad with the likes of Michel Bastos and Bamatimbe Gomis exploding off the bench.  I believe Real Madrid will win 2-1, but lose in aggregate due to a sneaky goal from the French side.  Scorers: Higuain, Kaka, Lisandro Lopez.

Manchester United X AC Milan - Wednesday 2:45PM ET
All eyes will be on the return leg at Old Trafford.  Will Beckham get the start?  Can Rooney keep scoring?  Will Clarence Seedorf lead another Champions League title run??  Sorry, but no.  Manchester have been solid at home this season as usual.  With a 3-2 lead going into the match, I am going to tip my hat to Sir Alex and take Manchester to hold strong.  However they will lose 2-1 at the hands of Ronaldinho and Thiago Silva goals.  Rio Ferdinand will put one in for the homeside to clinch a spot in the next round.

EPL Weekend Highlights

Arsenal 3 Burnley 1
   

Everton 5 Hull City 1
   

Manchester United 1 Wolverhampton 0
   

More EPL Highlights

Ouch: Aaron Ramsey Broken Leg

Arsenal youngster Aaron Ramsey got owned by Stoke's Ryan Shawcross.  Apparently the tackle caught the eye of Fabio Capello, so he's calling him up to the England squad for next week's game.  Video of the disaster below.

Arsenal X Stoke Highlights

Arsenal 3 Stoke City 1

Stoke City v Arsenal
by rebhami01

Stoke took an early lead, but a late penalty would decide this one.

LawLz™ Moment

I don't even want to know...

Arshavin, Eboue, Bendtner