Champions League

[Per]

So, we're down to the round of sixteen, and four of the matchups have already begun:

Leverkusen vs Barcelona 1-3
Lyon vs Nicosia 1-0 (embarassingly narrow win)
Zenit vs Benfica 3-2
Milan vs Arsenal 4-0 (sic!) I expected Milan to win, but not by this much!

I'd be surprised if the teams that win the first leg aren't the ones to move on.
OK, I give Benfica a fair shot at turning this around, but I think Zenit looked hungrier and will prevail.

The other four matchups will play their first leg on the 21st and 22nd:

CSKA Moscow vs Real Madrid
Napoli vs Chelsea
Marseille vs Inter
FC Basel vs Bayern Munich

I expect all four teams that start on the road to move on to the quarters.
The Russians are getting better every year, but still - it's Real Madrid!


http://soccernet.espn.go.com/league/_/id/uefa.champions/uefa-champions-league?cc=5739

[Per]

Wow! 1-1 for the Moscovites against Real... equaliser in injury time by Wernbloom.
Impressive, but can they repeat that in Madrid? I stick with the Madrileños as projected winners.

Chelsea, Chelsea, Chelsea... what was that? A 1-3 loss against Napoli?
Now, I do tend to think that English football is overrated, but Chelsea is a powerhouse! And Napoli is not.
I predicted Chelsea to win this matchup, but they'll have a tough time doing it now. Sure, 2-0 at home will suffice, but a one goal victory is not enough, nor is winning by 4-2. 3-1 will take them to overtime.

And more fun to look forward to tonight!

[Per]

The Gunners really came out firing on all cylinders last night! They had a 3-0 lead by half time already, and it almost looked like they could overcome the 4-0 loss in Italy. In the second half things changed though and Milan looked more in control, Game ended 3-0 in Arsenal's favour, which means close, but no cigar.

Milan on to the quarter finals.

And in other news Benfica beat the Russians 2-0 at home.

Benfica on to the quarter finals.

Who's next?

[Bret H]

Barcelona, not to much surprise. Have to say that it was somewhat unexpected Messi would score five though

Apoel on the other hand... quite a surprise. But when it got down to penalty shots the pressure was on Lyon, and Apoel was suddenly the favorite to win it.

Ahhh... can't say that I care that much anyway... but I do think it's a bit funny that whenever Ibrahimovic leaves a team, the same team seems destined to win it all, and his new team is eliminated early on. Too bad Arsenal could score one more yesterday, van Persie had a huuuge opportunity in the second.

[Per]

Ahhh... can't say that I care that much anyway... but I do think it's a bit funny that whenever Ibrahimovic leaves a team, the same team seems destined to win it all, and his new team is eliminated early on.

Well, when it comes to the Champions League, yeah, but he ALWAYS wins the national championship...

2004 Dutch league (Ajax)
2005 Italy Serie A (Juventus)
2006 Italy Serie A (Juventus)
2007 Italy Serie A (Inter)
2008 Italy Serie A (Inter)
2009 Italy Serie A (Inter)
2010 Spain La Liga (Barcelona)
2011 Italy Serie A (Milan)
... and Milan are favourites to win in 2012 as well, four points ahead of the second place team.

The man hasn't finished the season without winning a national championship since 2003!
(and he actually won with Ajax in 2002 as well)

I actually saw a journalist describe Serie A as a league where all teams play each other twice, and then whoever has Ibrahimovic on the roster wins il Scudetto.

Champions league on the other hand.....

Yet I hear he's the only player to have scored goals in Champions League for five different teams.

[Per]

So, it was expected that the Bavarians reach the quarters, but Marseille eliminating Inter was more of a surprise imho.

Now they've drawn the lots for the quarter finals, and we find ourselves with these matchups:

Apoel Nicosia - Real Madrid
Mourinho must be pinching himself. Then again, Belarus looked like an easy enough opponent in the 2002 Olympic hockey quarter final...

Marseille - Bayern München
The Germans have a tendency of marching all over France, and I expect them to do so again.

Benfica - Chelsea
Benfica were better than expected against Zenith and Chelsea worse than expected vs Napoli, but I still think Chelsea will prevail.

Milan - Barcelona
Wow. It happens again. Zlatan against his former coach Peps Guardiola... And in the end Messi prevails.
Milan has great offense, but I doubt they have a defense that can handle the Argentinian midget.