Champions League - 3/12/2014

The Round of 16 is slowly progressing towards its conclusion with defending champions Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid making it through to the next round! For the Germans, they were able to coolly manage their second leg encounter in Munich against Arsenal with a 1-1 draw after claiming a 0-2 lead in England. Germans were the goal-scorers as Bastian Schweinsteiger struck for the home side in the 55th minute. Just two minutes later though, Lukas Podolski leveled the affair. And that is really how the game ended, Bayern proceed with a 3-1 aggregate score while Arsenal are left to rue what might have been and concentrate on their lackluster domestic performances of late. Over in Spain meanwhile, relative minnows Atletico Madrid maintained their impressive run of form with a comprehensive 4-1 victory over AC Milan. Diego Costa struck the first and last goals of the match, in the 3rd and 85th minutes respectively, while Arda Turan and Raul Garcia tacked on goals after Kaka equalized for the Italians in the 27th minute of the 1st half. The fact that the Spaniards were able to go away from the San Siro with a 0-1 victory in the first leg was probably a sign that they were going through as the Italians never really looked like winners. Up next? Barcelona host Manchester City while Paris Saint Germain greet Leverkusen. At the risk of stating the obvious, the Germans will have a rough time of it in the latter fixture: they lost 0-4 at home and cannot be expecting much better travelling to Paris. With that fixture done and dusted, I would expect PSG to play an exacting game, defending any lead they earn and generally killing the match. As for the Barca-City encounter, both sides are coming off of truly embarrassing losses so don't be surprised if they play to win. City know they have to claim victory with a considerable advantage - preferably without conceding any goals - while Barcelona will have their eyes transfixed on the next round so a possession game is likely. Enjoy the games and make sure to drop a comment!

Champions League Latest: 2/19/2014

Brilliant games today with the away sides winning once more! A ten-man Arsenal were put to bed in the 2nd half of their match against Bayern Munich as Toni Kroos slotted home in the 54th minute for the Germans while Thomas Muller made it 0-2 in the 88th minute. The two missed penalties in the first half and the sending off of Wojciech Szczesny made for a very tense half-time with the home side dreading the next 45 minutes while the visitors felt reasonably confident of their chances. Bayern's domination of possession and opportunities is understandable in this light. As for the match-up in Italy, Milan were bested by a spirited Atletico Madrid who held on through Milan's slight majority of possession and goal-scoring opportunities. They were both fantastic matches - Diego Costa was the man who struck Atletico's winner in the 83rd minute - and I am sure you are looking forward to the second legs! I see no reason why Bayern and Madrid can't secure their progression to the next round while playing at home. Thibaut Courtois was the well-deserved man of the match after keeping out all of Milan's chances and I would anticipate a similarly crucial role in the return fixture. Keep your eyes open for more games in the next couple days!

Champions League 11/26/2013

What a brilliant round of fixtures we saw today! With goals in all but one of the match-ups, let's get right down to business! In the first game of the day, Zenit St. Petersburg were able to tie Atletico Madrid 1-1 in a tight affair in Russia that saw the hosts dominate their guests in terms of possession with 62% of the ball. Zenit also had more opportunities than Atletico though all in all it was a very good game. Atletico continue their unbeaten run as Zenit must wait until the final match of the group-stage to achieve their qualification hopes. Probably the most surprising result was Basel's 1-0 victory in Switzerland over Chelsea to deny the English side a place in the knock-out round at least for today. The hosts waited until the dying minutes of the match to strike through Mohamed Salah in the 87th minute setting up a nail-biting final minutes as the Blues tried to equalize unsuccessfully. The 0-0 draw between Steaua and Schalke in Romania, however, means that any of the top three teams in Group E can make it to the next round depending on the results of the final group games which will poise Schalke against Basel and Chelsea welcoming Steaua to England. Wrapping up Group G really quickly, Porto tied 1-1 with Austria Wien meaning the Austrians have no hope of progressing while Zenit and Porto will be eying one another for the 2nd position spot into the next round. Up in Scotland, Celtic essentially banged their head into a wall for 90 minutes as attempt after attempt went wanting and AC Milan struck three times to sink the B'hoys. In the other Group H fixture, Ajax were surprising victors over Barcelona in an affair in Amsterdam that ended 2-1 for the Dutch. In the process, Ajax knocked Celtic out of contention and set-up a mouth-watering final match with Milan-Barca and Ajax-Celtic deciding who will make it out of this contentious group. Last but certainly not least: Group F. With the likes of Arsenal, Dortmund, and Napoli, it was always going to be a close one and it has proved nothing less! As Marseille continued their dismal form, going 5 games without securing a single point in the table, Arsenal completed a 2-0 match-up against the French side. In the other match-up, Dortmund and Napoli put on a grand display with the Germans securing a 3-1 victory over their Italian competitors. The result means that Arsenal take poll position at 12 points as Dortmund and Napoli each have 9. Depending on how the last set of games go, any of the three teams may well make it through. Given their terrible form thus far, Dortmund should feel confident going to Marseille on December 11th while Napoli will hope that they perform better at home when they host Arsenal on the same day. Keep an eye out for the games coming tomorrow!