StanaCard: Schalke Shocks Inter in UEFA Champions League; Two Giants Clash

Today is a big day for football fans worldwide, as it’s the second day of the 2011 UEFA Champions League quarterfinals, and Chelsea and Manchester United–two of the most storied clubs in the world–met today. For many American’s, the sheer amount of leagues alone is confusing, but all football fans around the world, and certainly in Europe, know the importance of the Champions League. For me, the Champions League is by far the most thrilling, as teams from all over Europe that rarely meet are able to play each other, and many times the team from the lesser-league comes out ahead, as the German squad Schalke did yesterday.

For lack of a better comparison, the Champions League is like the NCAA tournament, in that it gathers the best from all different leagues, whether they play in the powerhouse leagues like the Premiership, La Liga, Serie A, or the Bundesliga, or smaller leagues in countries all around Europe such as Sweden, Albania, Isreal, and Armenia among many others. Football fans were as thrilled to see Schalke shock defending champs Inter Milan yesterday as basketball fans were to see small-conference VCU take down Big 12-giant Kansas on-route to the Final Four.

This year, 52 countries were represented in the league, while teams from 13 different countries made the 32 team group stage, and at the beginning of the quarterfinals we are left with five different countries being represented. Yesterday was a surprising day and certainly a very disappointing one for Tottenham and defending champion Inter Milan. Milan went down in front of its home crowd to huge underdog Schalke by a humiliating score of 5-2, while Ronaldo and Real Madrid easily shut down Tottenham 4-0. Because of the goal differential format, both losing teams would need a miracle to advance to the semifinals.

Today’s action was a bit more predictable, as Barcelona ran all over Ukrainian side Shakhtar, playing to a final score of 5-1. Rooney put away an early goal and Manchester was able to hold off Chelsea to win on the road 1-0. Chelsea will now have to come back strong with a high scoring win when they play at Manchester’s Old Trafford this coming Tuesday, which–judging by today’s performance–seems unlikely at best. With all the other matches being completely one-sided, this epic matchup between powerhouses Chelsea and Man U will be easily the most anticipated quarterfinal fixture.

Football is certainly the sport that brings the world together, and UEFA is a unique way to unite an entire continent with the spirit of competition. Now is as good a time as any to check in with your friends and family back home, whether it be to gloat about your team topping theirs, or just to catch up. With StanaCard, you can simply dial a local number to reach anywhere in the world, and when you tell a friend about our service, we give you both $10. Enjoy the rest of the football action!