Andrea Pirlo and Milan have match-up problems with Manchester United's midfield, right flank. (Photo: Newscom)

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It's nice to have the UEFA Champions League back.

After more than two months off, the world's premier club competition starts its knock-out stage in less than three hours, putting the competition's two most successful clubs in action:  Milan and Real Madrid.

Milan host Manchester United in what has become the most anticipated tie.  Such is the power of David Beckham, who Leonardo has confirmed will start.  For the first time, he will be facing Paul Scholes.  He will be facing Rio Ferdinand, with whom a played for one season.

One player he won't be facing is Ryan Giggs, who is out with a broken arm, but more than his old teammates, Beckham will need to be most concerned with Patrice Evra, who can take the now venerable star out of the match.

But here we are, in this post's seventh sentence, and we haven't even mentioned the match's most important player.  How does Milan contain Wayne Rooney, if that is even possible, at this point?  And if Manchester United gets strong wing play from Nani or Antonio Valencia, can Milan get the needed wide support from players like Massimo Ambrosini given Leonardo's formation becomes stressed if you can force them to play that wide?

Tactically, per the match-ups, this game is incredibly compelling, and I could go on all day about aspects like the impact of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar playing in place of Marco Boriello, but I wanted to leave this match with one match-up to focus:

Consider the midfield trios of each team.  Milan will likely start Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso, and Ambrosini - a great trio most clubs would be happy to have, but I wonder how that threesome will match against Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher and Paul Scholes, whose ability to control a match we saw on display two weeks ago at the Emirates.

I would like Milan's chances more if they had a bit more strength and athleticism from their world-class trio.

Lyon, Real Madrid, after the jump.

Early in this season's Champions League, Olympique Lyonnais held many of the hopes of those hoping a club outside Spain, England, or Italy could win the title.  Even with the sale of Karim Benzema, they had made the right moves to equip themselves for Europe - specifically, the acquisitions of Lisandro López, Michel Bastos and Aly Cissohko.

But now Lyon's group (which had Fiorentina and Liverpool) doesn't see as strong, and their continued struggles in Ligue 1 have engendered doubts.  The hopes they previously carried have shifted to Bordeaux, leaving a litany of confounded analysts in their wake.

In contrast, we have Real Madrid, who - in an entirely different way - have disappointed as much as Lyon.  That's because expectations still remain high for los Blancos.  Consider this weekend, where Real Madrid posted a 3-0 away victory against Xerez, a result many have considered a disappointment (if one that's been overshadowed by Barcelona's loss).

But while Madrid may not be meeting expectations, they are still getting results.  They won their Champions League group despite struggling with Milan, and they have won 17 of their 22 matches in Spain, posting the second-best points ratio of any club in the big four leagues.  The only team that's been better is in the Primera:  Barcelona.

Real Madrid's skeptics seem to be hanging their hat on that fact:  they're not in first place, and they're not meeting the lofty expectations cultivated in summer.  But aren't those fancy ways of saying that they're not Barcelona?

Real Madrid deserves to be harshly judged against Barça considering they bring on the comparison (such the the nature of their rivalry), but let's take a step back and consider los Blancos objectively.  While they aren't Barcelona, there is a large distance between them - possibly the second-best team on the continent - and a Lyon side that has struggled all year to keep pace.  In Ligue 1.

With a player like Lisandro and the absence of Pepe, Lyon has a puncher's chance.  A 1-1 result today at the Stade de Gerland would not be surprising.  Of course, that would be a disastrous outcome, and not only because it's the same route they covered in being eliminated by Barcelona last season.

Lyon needs a win.  They need to keep Madrid to as few goals as possible, but they way Claude Puel's side has been playing, only their talent says that these results are possible.

But this year, Madrid has Kaká.  Former champion.  Madrid has Ronaldo.  Former champion.  And Madrid has Pellegrini, and if there is one thing Pellegrini has done, it has instilled a backbone that makes an upset to Lyon far less likely.