Yesterday’s semi-final draw for the Champions League put the two giants, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, against each other in a match that would have been worthy of the final.

However, Chelsea, winners two years ago, certainly should not consider Atlético Madrid an “easier” tie, even though Atlético are the only team of the last four never to have won the European Cup.

Not only did they beat Barcelona 1-0 in their quarter-final, second leg for a 2-1 aggregate win, but they also lead Spain’s La Liga ahead of Barça and Real. It shows the kind of season they are having, and Chelsea will have to be at their best to beat them over the two legs.

Teams have to be pretty decent to reach the semi-finals and I must say I have been very impressed with Atlético Madrid this season; their coach, Diego Simeone, has done a fantastic job with the team. Let’s hope this is their year.

It is hard to pick a clear favourite and any one of the four could win it, but it would be nice to see Atlético get over the line. The way they handled Barcelona this week tells you they are a good team. In fact, they could have scored three or four.

If you have watched Atlético over the season, they are a team who come at you constantly. I want to tell you this team can play: they are quick, strong and know what to do with the ball.

I was not surprised that Bayern beat Manchester United this week to keep alive their hopes of reaching another final. Definitely the better team won, even after United took the lead early in the second half.

United have had a reasonably good year, considering what they have been through after the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, their manager, who has been difficult to replace. He will go down as one of the most successful coaches around.

There will not be any Champions League football at Old Trafford next season, so there are some challenging times ahead for the club. Maybe it is time to go back to what they did years ago when they have a good youth programme, with the likes of David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs coming through at the same time. There is no substitute for bringing your own young players through, rather than spending a lot of money bring new players in. Home-grown players tend to like the crest on the chest more than some other players who come in for the ride and the money.

While United are destined for a season without a trophy, the city of Liverpool still has much to look forward to, with the Reds leading the Barclays Premier League and set to face Manchester City tomorrow in a match that will go a long way to deciding the league champions. Sergio Agüero is back for City after injury and victory for them will really make things interesting. However, if they lose, it gives Liverpool the upper hand, although they still have to play Chelsea.

At least the race is tight and one team is not winning it by 20 points like in Germany, where the league race is already over.

Everton are battling Arsenal hard for the fourth spot after beating Arsène Wenger’s side last weekend to close to within a point of them in that last Champions League place. Arsenal have been there many times before, however, and know what they have to do. If they just show more consistency, they will be OK; if not, Everton are going to pip them.

I would like to thank all those, players and fans who turned out for the Clyde Best Select v Cyrille Regis Select charity match at Somerset recently. It was a job well done and, hopefully, we can do an even better job next year. We won the match 5-4 and Zane DeSilva opened the scoring for us with a spectacular left-foot volley. I’m going to make a few phone calls to see if I can get him a multimillion-dollar contract at the Bernabéu!