Guest Jeffery S. Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 Champions League draw, games in February, first team plays 1st match at home; Chelsea v Juventus Villarreal v Panathinaikos Sporting Lisbon v Bayern Munich Atletico Madrid v Porto Lyon v Barcelona Real Madrid v Liverpool Arsenal v Roma Inter Milan v Manchester United Best draws for Bayern and Barça, and perhaps best of all for Barça as Bayern comes off a winter break which is always a risk vs. a team that will be more on form. But both should go through. Toughest to call are probably any of the English match-ups, though playing at home 2nd leg la Juve and Liverpool have it tough, the latter in part because they are losing points at home this year, and because RM will be on better form in a few months. Man U has to face an Inter side that is well-coached and does not give up many goals. The match ups Villarreal v Panathinaikos and Atletico Madrid v Porto guarantee two clubs that are not favourites in the final 8, I am sure all four are happy with their chances vs respective rivals. As a Barça fan I am happy as it is clear at least 4 really quality teams will be out by next round, which will also feature at least 2 more accessible sides. But the games have to be played and our biggest worry right now is overconfidence, as the team is flying very high right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 Injuries are Barca's main worry I would say. But Lyon is not at the same level they were 3-4 years ago. I expect Madrid to reach the quarters as they can focus 100% on CL now while Liverpool will be distracted by their involvement in the Premiership title race for the first time in ages. They should probably re-name this tournament the England-Spain Challenge cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 quote:Originally posted by amacpher Injuries are Barca's main worry I would say. But Lyon is not at the same level they were 3-4 years ago. I expect Madrid to reach the quarters as they can focus 100% on CL now while Liverpool will be distracted by their involvement in the Premiership title race for the first time in ages. They should probably re-name this tournament the England-Spain Challenge cup. Injuries? We have exactly one player from the entire squad, including occasional youth, who is on any sort of permanent injury right now. Healthiest team I have seen in years here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 quote:Originally posted by Jeffrey S. Injuries? We have exactly one player from the entire squad, including occasional youth, who is on any sort of permanent injury right now. Healthiest team I have seen in years here. Yeah, but CL doesn't begin for another two months. And Messi is highly injury-prone as you know. Something happens to him and Barca are completely screwed (they might still have enough to beat Lyon but not any of the big clubs)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted December 20, 2008 Share Posted December 20, 2008 quote:Originally posted by amacpher Yeah, but CL doesn't begin for another two months. And Messi is highly injury-prone as you know. Something happens to him and Barca are completely screwed (they might still have enough to beat Lyon but not any of the big clubs)! Barça with a front line of Eto'o, Henry and Bojan, or with Iniesta up a wing, would still get past Lyon in normal circumstances. Though Barça, for my taste, should sign a strong left-footed wing with a decent free kick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masster Posted December 20, 2008 Share Posted December 20, 2008 I watched the draw live. Great drama. I'm really intrigued to see the EPL vs Serie A match-ups. People always like to argue about the best league in the world. This round could assist one side or the other in that argument. I think the EPL will win 2 of those 3 ties (Chelsea and Arsenal). I'm a little disappointed that there are so many big name matchups in this round. I would have liked to see those later in the tournament. We are going to have one of 'Villarreal v Panathinaikos' and one of 'Atletico Madrid v Porto' in the quarterfinals. It is hard to say that they are among the best 8 teams in Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 quote:Originally posted by masster I'm a little disappointed that there are so many big name matchups in this round. I would have liked to see those later in the tournament. We are going to have one of 'Villarreal v Panathinaikos' and one of 'Atletico Madrid v Porto' in the quarterfinals. It is hard to say that they are among the best 8 teams in Europe. The winner of Villarreal v Panathinaikos would most certainly deserve to be in the last 8 though. They've impressed me a lot more this season than some of the more popular clubs (Real Madrid, Arsenal and Roma come first to mind). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VPjr Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 ^ I can't speak intelligently about Porto as I haven't seen more then 10-15 minutes of any of their matches this year. I feel comfortable saying that Atletico Madrid is a VERY high quality side and would not be out of place at all in the Final 8. A team with Furlan, Aguero and Maxi Rodriguez up front can score goals with any team. They can be very dangerous if they tighten up on D a little bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 quote:Originally posted by VPjr ^ I can't speak intelligently about Porto as I haven't seen more then 10-15 minutes of any of their matches this year. I feel comfortable saying that Atletico Madrid is a VERY high quality side and would not be out of place at all in the Final 8. A team with Furlan, Aguero and Maxi Rodriguez up front can score goals with any team. They can be very dangerous if they tighten up on D a little bit. I think Atletico has gone 15 matches without a loss now in all competitions, though there are a few ties in there. And I would also argue that they would have deserved to be first in the group, Liverpool was a gifted an outragious penalty late at Anfield that gave them an unmerited draw. As for whether they are undeserving of the last 8, or Porto who won the competition a few years ago (2004), or Villareal, who were semi-finalists recently, I am not so sure. But I agree the classic experienced sides are usually more dangerous in the big competitions, which precisely why I am happy some of them will be out by next round. Better for my boys (I have a feeling Barça is going to win the Champions this year, I can just feel it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 ^^^And from a neutral POV, I am also happy that we have some big clubs clashing in the round of 16. After such a boring group-stage how can you not be happy to see Juve v Chelsea, Man Utd v Inter ,etc next round!??! Besides, if Inter Milan got some cake draw they probably would've choked yet again and we neutrals would've been cheated out of a "titanic clash". Of course, it will be better next season when the round of 16 is played-out over 4 weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.