After the draw took place on Monday afternoon, Manchester City drew Barcelona, Mourinho got his wish for a clash with Galatasaray, Manchester United pitched against MITROGLOU's Olympiakos, Schalke v Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid lurk horns with Milan, Leverkusen-PSG, Zenit v Dortmund and Arsenal-Bayern Munich.
MANCHESTER CITY-BARCELONA
Even El Mundo Deportivo didn't want Barcelona's R16 opponents to be Manchester City. When the blue army qualified in second place behind Bayern Munich, all the other group winners were gripped with fear at the prospect of being drawn against what they labelled the 'MOST DANGEROUS' 2nd placed team in the Competition. Unfortunately for the Blaugrana and luckily for football, we have a great match in prospect.
For City and Barcelona, a few ties exist.Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain who currently hold exalted positions at City, were largely responsible for Barcelona's great resurgence and domination of European and World club football for many years. Txiki, more especially, was part of the group that chose Pep Guardiola to replace Frank Rijkaard in 2008. Perhaps the bravest decision ever made and one that worked wonders. The pair are working together at City to attempt to bring success to the Manchester Club, If the task at Barcelona was tough, this is herculean. The blue moon gave a very good account of themselves in Europe this time around, after two failed campaigns under Roberto Mancini. They capped it up by defeating the much fancied Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in the last matchday of the group stages. If they manage to successfully negotiate through this phase at the expense of Barcelona, the world cannot help but take notice.
The Catalans have been very consistent in Europe since 2008. For six straight UCL campaigns, they have never been eliminated before the semi-final stage. An excellent run started by Rijkaard, continued by Pep and kept alive by Tito Vilanova. Gerardo 'Tata' Martino will be aware of this record and must continue the tradition. Thye won't have fond memories of last year's run though. A 7-0 agg loss to eventual winners, Bayern Munich was perhaps the biggest shock ever in Champions League history. The annihilation was extreme and they wouldn't like a repeat of that. Ahead lies a very tricky test v Manuel Pellegrini's Manchester City and they will know more than to take things for granted. Lionel Messi will be all guns blazing hopefully, and Neymar can continue his rich vein of form. Xavi, Iniesta and Sergio will face-off against former teammate, Yaya, Fernandinho and national colleague, David Silva.
In the end, it might come down to small tactical details. It will depend on which manager gets it right from the touchline either with the starting eleven or game changing substitutions. Barcelona and Manchester City have the best players in the World and the prayer is to have everyone fit and raring to go when the fixture starts.
MANCHESTER CITY to sail through
Seven-time European Champions, AC Milan have been drawn against high flying Liga side, Atletico Madrid in a duel between a fading European super power and an emerging European force. Maximiliano Allegri is the most worried man in the World, whereas Cholo Simeone is the happiest with the squad at his disposal and the results they are achieving week in, week out. The Madrid based side destroyed Porto, Wien and Zenit in their group en route to qualifying in style. Milan just scrapped through their section with Barcelona largely dominating it. The days when Milan struck a cord of fear in the hearts of opposition team are long gone. The time when Clarence, Kaka, Pirlo, Gattuso were in midfield and Sheva and Pippo Inzaghi led the line is now history. Now, Montolivo captains Milan with Poli, Muntari and Nocerino supporting him in midfield and an older and less imposing Kaka is trying to regain his lost swagger. The Rossoneri still boast of some fantastic players like Mario Balotelli, Stephan El Shaarawy, GP Pazzini, captain Ricky Montolivo and of course, Kaka, but as a team, they lack cohesion and are still trying to build an understanding between them. February and Los Colchoneros might come too early for them to strike the required balance.
Diego Simeone has turned Atletico Madrid into a fearless, well drilled side capable of defeating any team in the World. Their phenomenal form this season is one of the most exciting topics amongst the biggest journos on the planet. The Argentine coach is something else and when he let Falcao go, everyone thought that was the end of Los Rojiblancos. Out of the shadows stepped a certain DIEGO COSTA and the rest is sweetness and success. The Brazilian born Spanish International actually scored a respectable 20 goals last season but was always going to be overshadowed by the TIGER-FALCAO. The Colombian International's move to Monaco might be the best thing that has happened to Atletico for some time. David Villa was brought in from the Nou Camp and together with the likes of Rsul Garcia, Arda Turan, Koke, Mario Suarez, JuanFran, Felipe Luis, Miranda, Godin, and the irrepressible Thibaut Courtois, has made the Madrid based club one of the best in Europe today.
The clash with Milan means a whole lot to the ever improving Atletico. On paper, it should be one of the easiest games this season. But you never know with a club as big as AC MILAN who can give anyone a hard game when on form and all their players are fit. Kaka is getting back to that WORLD CLASS DEADLY FORM and Balotelli, with the right service can shoot down any opponent. He might no longer be the invincible spot-kick converter, but he is a special talent any day. The match should be an interesting watch for us all. Having the second leg at the Calderon favours Los Colchoneros I TIP ATLETICO to go through
Luciano Spaletti led AS ROMA nad Fiorentina brillIiantly as manager and regularly took the former to the latter stages of the UCL. Now in charge of Zenit St Ptersburg, the Italian tactician made history this term, qualifying for the knockout stages with six points, due to the collapse of Fonseca's Porto. Now they have a big, huge task on their hands. Their Round of 16 opponents? last season's finalists and one of the best clubsides in the World, Borussia Dortmund. The Russian based club know that they have to be more than wonderful to get past this stage, especially as Dortmund have been terribly in the League this season and will hope to go far in a tournament they reached the title match last time out.
Jorgen Klopp has not said it yet, but he knows that only a heavy miracle can prevent Bayern Munich from retaining the Bundesliga. What remains for them now is the POKAL nad the Champions League. The club was within three minutes of being dumped out of the competition until Kev Groskreutz popped up and scored the winner at the Velodrome to ensure qualification as group winners after Arsenal fell to Napoli.
Last season's mazy run was stopped by Bayern in the final and since then, they have bounced back to win four out of their six group games. The only dampener was the 1-0 loss at home to Arsenal. Even if Die Borussen don't admit it, this is the easiest team remaining in the Round of 16. It shouldn't be a problem getting to the quarter-final for the Ruhr based side. Zenit possess some good guys like Hulk, Arshavin, Kerzhakov and Danny. Dortmund have Reus, Aubameyang, Kuba, Mkhitarayan and LEWANDOWSKI. Hardly any cause for alarm then. DORTMUND TO ZOOM THROUGH WITHOUT MUCH ADO.
Before the picks were made, The 'Happy One' opined that he'll delighted if he was pitted against Gala because of his close ties with Drogba and Sneijder who ply their trade with the Istanbul outfit. He's got his wish. Galatasaray first host the West Londoners before travelling to the bridge for the second leg. A fine performance v Juventus made it certain that they will be among the remaining sixteen teams vying for Europe's biggest club honour. Dutchman, Wesley Sneijder got on a Drogba header and safely guided a sweet strike past Buffon and that was it.
Faith Terim was sacked by Gala and Mancini brought in to replace the legendary Turk. It has been a season of mixed results for the Italian ex-City and Inter manager. He will hope to go one better in this season's competition with Gala. However, Chelsea know all about this tournament and cannot afford any slip-ups now that they have better their run of last season which saw them eliminated in the group stages. Jose Mourinho is back and wants to win the competition again after successes in 04 and '10 with Porto and Inter Milan. He's had some near misses with Chelsea but never managed to reach the final. I am sure he's the manager that has reached the most semi-finals in Champions League history. NO?
Didier Drogba and his colleague, Wesley, will put friendship with Mou aside when they tackle his Chelsea team, For CFC Legend, Drogba, nothing will make him happier than to score the goals needed to send the blues packing out of the competition. In terms of player strength, Gala are nothing compared to Chelsea but the Drogba effect alone might sway the match in their favour a bit. The Ivorian knows Mou and Chelsea inside out and must have glided past Terry and his other central defensive pairings many times in training. Approaching 36 years of age, there is no sign of weakness in his game and he is as deadly as ever. Some pace might have gone though.
Mourinho will not take Gala lightly. The managerial myth always does his homework well and will hope the likes of Hazard, Oscar, Schurrle, Willian, Lampard, Ramires play their best and supply the toothless attack led by Torres. Azpi has taken the place of Ashley Cole in the team and it seems it will remain so for the time being. Jaun Mata had been on the periphery of the team since Mourinho returned. He has the ability to do things only a few others can. Surely, he'll be given a chance either home or away.
DROGBA OR NO DROGBA, I think Chelsea will edge this. 'Edge' might be putting it fairly though.
2011 semi-finalists and hosts of the 2004 UEFA Champions League final, Schalke 04 will be kicking themselves very hard for getting drawn against nine time European Champions, Real Madrid. The 32 time Spanish Champions have been looking to claim their 10th European crown since the last at the BayArena eleven years ago and it has been so long that the man whose left foot volley ensured victory that day, Zinedine Zidane, is now assistant manager to Carlo Ancelotti. The former PSG coach won the competition in 03 and 07 with Milan and so has the credentials to bring home the elusive 10th Trophy. Although a certain Mourinho tried his best, but always came up short against the teams bearing the 'B BARRIER'.
Jens Keller is something of a rookie in this competition. In comparison with Don Carlo, he is an amateur. Having only started managing a team very recently, he will come up against one of the best managers of the last twenty years in Ancelotti. The Scalke manager came second in a group involving Chelsea, Steaua and Basel and needed the magic of Julian Draxler to qualify. One of my favourite footballers right now, carried the Gelsenkirchen side alone all through the group stages. He was conspicuously absent in the 3-0 home and away loss(es) to Chelsea, but in other matches, he raised his game. The Ruhr giants go head to head with one of the best teams in the World and will require something greater than the 'miracle of Istanbul' to make any headway.
World footballer of the year elect, Cristiano Ronaldo is a man on a mission. Haven seen Lionel Messi hoist the Ballon D'or trophy in the last four years, he is set to claim the globe's biggest individual football prize yet again. The Portuguese captain has in the last two months, done incredibly amazing things. He is the highest goal scorer in the Champions League with nine goals-breaking the group stage record of Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Pippo Inzaghi in the process. He also almost single-handedly qualified Portugal for next year's World Cup Finals. This season, he has notched 26 goals in all competitions-more than any other player in Europe. The enormous and unenviable task of keeping him quiet will be given to Beedikt Howedes and Joel Matip. Players who couldn't stop the aging Eto'o and faded El Nino. Such as the arduousness of the challenge ahead. Apart from Ronaldo, there are the likes of Bale, Benzema, Modric, Di Maria, Alonso, Isco and others to think about. It will be an uphill battle for Die Knappen. Something they will most likely lose.
Keller can boast of the likes of Draxler, Szalai, Meyer, KPB, Fuchs, Uchida, Jones and Howedes...but they are hardly WORLD CLASS. Real Madrid can assemble the best players in the WORLD in one single file. No stress. LA DECIMA is driving them raving mad and this is the best opportunity yet again to win it.
I can' see beyond a REAL MADRID dominated affair.
Sami Hyypia has taken Bayer04 beyond their own imagination. Despite the 5-0 home loss to Manchester United, he rallied the team to seal qualification to the knockout stages of the competition. Well, the reward for hard work is often more work. Now, the hurdle between this stage and the quarter-final is a certain Paris st Germain complete with MR ZLATAN. While Leverkusen stuttered, le Parisien effectively walked the pack in their group thanks to the Taekwondo expert and fantastic Swedish maestro, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The giant attacking genius scored 8 goals on the way yo leading the French Champions to the round of 16 for the 2nd season running. Defeat at the Luz was academic as they had already qualified as group winners. It will be really tough for Bayer to get past them.
Players like Stefan Keisling, Son, Rolfes, Lars Bender and Sidney Sam are capable of springing a surprise or two, although the PSG ladder might be too tall to climb. Ziki Lavezzi, Lucas Moura, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani, Marco Verratti, Thiago Motta, Thiago Silva and co want to go one better than last season. Leverkusen will have it all to do to stop them from even equalling that achievement.
PSG all the way.
Arsenal v Bayern Munich again. Wenger must be cursing his side's luck in the CL. Barcelona, Barcelona, Milan, Bayern, Bayern. Holy Christ. Is this Life? Well, to be the best, you must beat the best. the gooners have been storming through the EPL with reckless abandon and currently sit atop the League, staring down at the rest with pride. They came out of the toughest group in the GS and now have to face the best team in the World and one who's breaking all the records in Germany and Europe. There are some positives from their meeting with the Bavarians last year as they only went through on away goals after exerting revenge on the German Champions. This time around, there will be no time for lapses as this Bayern seem to be better than the ones who won the TREBLE last season. They are now more flexible and adjustable.
Pep Guardiola has slowly and steadily instilled his own ideas and philosophy in an already excellent side, with Philipp Lahm now used to playing as a defensive midfielder. The Germany and Die Roten skipper has been hailed as the most intelligent player he has ever worked with by his new manager and there are evidences to show why he deserves the encomiums. The former Barcelona manager has led the treble winners to more success this season, breaking records along the way and setting new ones almost immediately. The Arsenal game will be their toughest yet and they are aware of that fact. Mesut Ozil has always been admired by Pep and he knows what the German superstar can do when on song. Big timers like Santi Cazorla, Flamini, Per, Kos and now Aaron Ramsey love special occasions too.
Bayern will know better than to make the same silly mistakes of last season when they laid back and allowed the gooners in on them at the Allianz. Dante is looking less assured and Jerome Boateng is error prone. Arjen Robben should be fit for the tie and that is a welcome development for the reds. The ROBBERY gang is the deadliest in the World and the other half of the gang is vying for the 2013 Ballon D'OR. Franck Ribery is a fantastic footballer and comes up with his A-game almost every time.
Arsenal will unlikely get past Bayern, but you never know.
BAYERN to go through.
Kostas Mitroglou is another footballer I love so much and his team have been chosen to contest the ROUND OF 16 with Manchester United. The much talked about decline of the red army has been blown out of proportion by the press. The Greeks finished 2nd behind PSG and played some good football along the way. Penalties aplenty were awarded in their last game and they converted only one. Javier Saviola and Dominguez are playing great as well as on loan Arsenal forward, Joel Campbell. Superb team. Roy Carroll also returns to Old Trafford. The Northern Irishman kept goal for four years, making 49 appearances in the League.
Hopefully, Robin Van Persie will be back fit in time for the encounter. United have to travel to Greece before hosting their opponents at the Theatre. Wayne Rooney is in exceptional form and players will be brought in next month to bolster the squad. The midfield is crying for new/fresh legs and that problem has to be solved. Easy as the fixture may seem, there are some players who can cause trouble for the red army.
I fear MITROGLOU but United have great players to stiffen the threat he poses.
It has been a superb Campaign until now. From here on , it is lose and get lost. The better it gets.
Ohireime P Eboreime
@ohiskaka1990
