Champions League Update: 4/3/2014

After the first round of games, you could be forgiven for being underwhelmed by the teams left at this stage. Barcelona and Atletico Madrid finished level 1-1 as did Manchester United and Bayern Munich. However, they were well-played matches all around with serious implications for the respective second legs. In the first match-up, despite having more than four times as many opportunities as their opponents from Madrid, Barca only scored through Neymar in the 71st minute - trailing for a good fifteen minutes after Diego struck Atletico ahead early on in the first half. Despite the number of yellow cards, Atletico may well feel optimistic about welcoming the Catalan side on April 9th as their home performance against AC Milan in the last round demonstrated: a 4-1 victory over anyone at this level of competition should raise some eyebrows. At the same time, Barcelona have traveled decently in the competition, winning 0-2 away at Manchester City. In the other pairing, United will be happy about salvaging a draw though they really should have scored at least a second. Bayern meanwhile were not on their game at Old Trafford, but still managed to draw even through Bastian Schweinsteiger in the 67th minute after Nemanja Vidic gave the English a lead in the 58th minute. The loss of Schweinsteiger will be hard felt in the German camp after he was sent off, but they are the kind of quality side that can persevere through such obstacles.

Yesterday we saw another kind of game. Paris Saint-Germain trounced Chelsea, though PSG may rue conceding the 27th penalty which Eden Hazard converted. Zlatan Ibrahimovic's injury may prove problematic, however Ezequiel Lavezzi and Javier Pastore should prove enough to counter anything the Blues throw at the French side. David Luiz's own goal in the 61st minute surely helped the French side, suffering from a lack of confidence as Chelsea's counter-attacking style proved deadly. Hopefully Salvatore Sirigu can continue his good form in goal and his defense stays strong against a talented Chelsea side. In Spain, Real Madrid were dominant to no one's surprise as Borussia Dortmund were without significant players and clearly unable to cope. Gareth Bale got the ball rolling for the Spaniards, striking in the 3rd minute to shatter the Germans' concentration. Midfielder Isco performed admirably, tacking on a second goal in the 27th minute to put Madrid in a great mood going into the break. If Dortmund had perhaps focused more on goal scoring and less on card collection, they may have performed better with 42 % of possession and a decent 14 attempts against Iker Casillas. Cristiano Ronaldo struck in the 57th minute to make it 3-0 and essentially hammer in the final nail of the Dortmund coffin. I don't expect the Spanish to surrender their lead, even if Dortmund get all of their players at 100% fitness. Have a great weekend and expect a Europa League update in the near future!

Next Round of the Champions League! 3/21/2014.

With the quality sides in at this stage of the competition, there were always going to be some mouth-watering match-ups! This year did not disappoint as we will see Barcelona versus Atletico Madrid, and Real Madrid against Borussia Dortmund. Of these two ties, I would think Barca and Madrid would be the two sides making it into the Semi Finals. In the latter, I think that injuries alone will cause the Germans to rue what could have been. As for the showdown between Barca and Atletico, it will undoubtedly be much closer. While I would tip the Catalan side to claim victory, that isn't to say that Atletico will just roll over. In the same way as Juventus' match-ups in the Europa League with Fiorentina were a heated contest, only decided by an Andrea Pirlo free kick, I believe Barca will edge their domestic rivals. Moving on now, Paris Saint-Germain will be taking on Chelsea while Bayern Munich will face Manchester United. In the first game, I would love to see Chelsea lose to their French opponents and I think it is possible. If PSG can explode out of the gates in their opening home match, I think they have the goal-scoring talent and defensive consistency to show the Blues the way out. Having said that, if the team from London - the last English representatives at this stage of the tournament - can get the likes of Ashley Cole and David Luiz, and perhaps even Marco Van Ginkel, back into the squad, it will be a very tight affair. Bayern's match with Manchester United will depend heavily on whether or not United can make some magic at home in the first leg. If they perform with the same spirit they showed coming back from a 2-0 deficit in the first leg to win 3-0 over Olympiacos, they may very well head to Germany with their heads held high. I think Bayern might just have too much for the Red Devils though; particularly with the injury to Robin van Persie. Make sure to check back for updates on the matches!

Champions League 11/5/2013

Some delightful matches taking place today as Plzen host Bayern Munich; Juventus v.s. Real Madrid; Kobenhavn take on Galatasaray; Paris St. Germain against Anderlecht; Shakhtar Donetsk face-off against Bayer Leverkusen; Olympiacos greet Benfica; Real Sociedad invite Manchester United to Spain; and Manchester City welcome CSKA Moskva to Northern England. I predict that Bayern will seize victory in the Czech Republic while Juve may meet their match in Real Madrid - it'll be a close game but the Spaniards might just have too much fire-power. Kobenhavn - Galatasaray will likely be a tight affair though the Turkish side should claim victory despite the home field advantage of the Danish hosts. PSG v.s. Anderlecht should be a straightforward match with the French side outgunning and outmaneuvering their guests. Shakhtar Donetsk's game with Bayer Leverkusen will be close, I could see the two sides ending level though there should be at least one goal. As Olympiacos face Portuguese side Benfica, they will likely miss the presence of Michael Olaitan up top though their defensive stalwarts remain in place to squeak out a tense draw with the visiting Portuguese club. The fact that Olympiacos is the make-or-break point on Benfica's title hopes was not lost on their players - the two sides are level on 4 points with PSG well clear in the group. The game-changer will arguably be Kostas Mitroglou: if he can add to his goal tally, the Greeks may very well pull clear. On the other hand, if the Portuguese can shut him down and get their strikers in order, it may be a feeding frenzy. Manchester United should secure an additional three points in their game at Real Sociedad despite the long list of injuries for the Red Devils. Last but certainly not least, Manchester City's game against CSKA Moskva should be another instance in which a Manchester side delivers the three points. The number of injuries on both sides suggest that the team with the greater depth will move forward. At the same time, I would love to see Rasmus Elm turn-on for the Russian side. Enjoy the games!

Champions League highlights.

Well we are up and running again with international club football as there were some huge surprises in the opening round of fixtures! Playing at home to Chelsea in England, one would be forgiven for assuming that the Blues would crush the Swiss competition put on by FC Basel. You'd be wrong of course as the minnows - though Europa League semi-finalists last year - stunned the home side with a 2-1 margin. The almost unknown talents of Mohamed Salah and Marco Streller put the Swiss side on the right road despite the fact that the London side had scored the only goal of the 1st half through Emboaba Oscar with a clean right-footed strike. Elsewhere, Swedish-born Johan Wiland arguably had the best game of his career as Danish side Kobenhavn managed to salvage a point from their match-up against Italian giants Juventus. Thanks to Nicolai Jorgensen's 14th minute goal the Danes got off to a fantastic start though they eventually succumbed to Fabio Quagliarella's deadly foot in the 54th minute. Over in Greece Olympiacos were thrashed badly by their French opponents PSG though they did not go quietly. While the phenomenal Edison Cavani got the scoring started in the 19th minute, Vladimir Weiss' equalizer for the Greeks in the 25th minute was a thing of pure beauty. Bypassing two defending players on his way to goal, his eventual strike was just about as sweet as the build-up to it. Nevertheless, PSG had shaken off their shock by the 2nd half as Thiago Motta struck twice - in the 68th and 73rd minutes - before Marquinhos tacked on a 4th in the 86th minute of play. While not a 4-1 victory, Manchester United's 4-2 win over Bayer Leverkusen was also entertaining besides the fact that it was the game where Wayne Rooney struck his 200th goal. It took 22 minutes for the goal tab to be broken but finally it was with Rooney volleying through off of a nice cross from Patrice Evra. Capitalizing on United's failure only moments before, Leverkusen managed to equalize in the 54th minute through Simon Rolfes after a sweet layoff from Son Heung-Min. 5 minutes later the red devils were again on a high though as Robin Van Persie sliced home from a golden opportunity courtesy of Antonio Valencia. By the 70th minute things were looking even rosier for United as Rooney struck once more following a long goal kick from De Gea and an interesting header from Emir Spahic. Only to rub salt in the wounds, Valencia proceeded to make it 4 for the good in the 79th minute after an amazing breakthrough with pace. For Leverkusen's pride, defender Omer Toprak did get them a 2nd in the 88th minute following lousy defending on United's part.