Analysis of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 (part two)
- James M.
- Dec 22, 2016
- 4 min read
Atletico Madrid were paired against Bayer Leverkusen in their round of 16 match.
Rodger Schmidt must be cursing the draw for it landed his Bayer Leverkusen team in the lions den that is Atletico Madrid.
Despite some disjointed displays in the Bundesliga, Leverkusen has some bright prospects in Julian Brandt, Karim Bellarabi, Javier Hernández, Hakan Çalhanoğlu and the now aging Stefan Kießling.
However, they come nowhere near the likes of Ze Roberto, Michael Ballack, Lucio, Oliver Neuville, Yıldıray Baştürk and Dimitar Berbatov who played for the club during the early 2000s.
On the other hand, Atletico Madrid has never been short of firepower even after vending off their prized assets.
The club has an insatiable knack for replacing quality players with even better ones.
That actuality is truer in the striking department; Atletico seem to have an endless conveyor belt of lethal forwards.
When Fernando Torres made the switch to Liverpool, Atletico fans thought nobody would replace him.
Argentine wonder kid Sergio Aguero stepped up and El Nino was quickly forgotten.
After Aguero made a big-money move to Manchester City, Radamel Falcao made his presence felt at Vicente Calderon.
The Colombian hit man couldn’t stay for long as he ditched Madrid for the lavish Monaco.
Instantly, Diego Costa made the fans forget about Falcao.
Not forgetting that David Villa and Diego Forlan as well made cameos during this period.
Pair these thoughts with the knowledge that Antoine Griezmann can make any defence self-destruct every time he touches the ball and you have yourself a genuine reason to watch the match between Atletico Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen.
PSG vs. Barcelona re-unites Patrick Kluivert (PSG’s director of football) with his former team - it is instructive to note that Kluivert forged a successful partnership with Rivaldo while at Barcelona.
The Catalan giants entertain Les Parisiens in a 180 minute duel that will be played in Paris and in Barcelona.
Led by the feared South American triumvirate of Neymar, Suarez and Messi, any team would be wary of Barcelona.
However, Luis Enrique knows that PSG offers a different challenge in Europe from the likes of Eibar and Malaga in the Spanish La Liga.
Managed by Unai Emery – a man who famously led Sevilla to three consecutive Europa League triumphs, PSG have a squad depth that can match Barcelona.
The only problem would be consistency from the French outfit as they can frustrate when least expected and triumph when you have placed odds against them.
Bankrolled by affluent individuals, PSG will hope to land a killer blow on Barcelona.
A combination of Angel di Maria, Edison Cavani and Lucas Moura upfront for Les Parisiens should send chills to Barcelona defenders.
Cavani, who wont replace Ibrahimovic’s stature at the Eiffel Tower, is not PSG’s hidden weapon; PSG’s midfield and defence should worry Enrique – what about having Thiago Motta, Marco Verratti, Thiago Silva, Blaise Matuidi and Adrien Rabiot?
What about having former French President Nicolas Sarkozy as your ardent fan?
Even Ronaldinho and Jay Jay Okocha once played for PSG! All in all, expect a juicy fixture at Nou Camp, and an even juicier clash at Parc des Princes.
Real Madrid vs. Napoli reunites Raúl Albiol and José Callejón with their former teammates at the Santiago Bernabéu.
That becomes even juicier when you remember that Napoli as well signed Gonzalo Higuaín - the then Real Madrid’s poacher.
Diego Maradona once played for Napoli after he ditched Barcelona – that seems to be the only attribute that ensures Napoli is placed on the global map as regards football legends (with all due respect to Gianfranco Zola, Dono Zoff and Fabio Cannavaro).
However, that should not be construed to mean that Napoli can’t pull a surprise – in reality, the football cathedral at Naples has witnessed some giant-killing actions in previous matches and therefore Zidane has his job figured out.
On the other hand, Real Madrid represents the enigmatic and colossal status enjoyed by superpowers.
Spurred by Florentino Perez, the Madrid-based side may be itching to become the first club to successfully defend the Champions League and in the process surpass their La Decima haul.
The Los Blancos have the ideology of winning imprinted in their minds – and their manager, Zinedine Zidane, knows that too well having been a former player who lined up alongside fellow Galacticos; Ronaldo, Luis Figo, Raul Gonzalez, David Beckham, Roberto Carlos, Robinho and Iker Casillas.
Who would even forget the second spell of Galacticos; Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema and Xabi Alonso and lately Gareth Bale! While the clash between Napoli and Real Madrid seem to represent a chasm in class, we are in for a real treat here.
Essentially, Napoli may just be a slight speed bump in Real Madrid’s progression to the quarter finals, but the Spaniards are advised not to underestimate the capabilities of Marek Hamšík, Dries Mertens, Jorginho, José Callejón and Roberto Insigne.
Sevilla are proven winners in the Europa League (they have won it the most times) although they have never managed to conjure the same magic in the Champions League.
In Leicester City, they face a team that is performing poorly in the domestic league but exceeding expectations in European competitions.
Both matches at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán and in Midlands at the King Power Stadium promise to be lively.
This is for the reason that Sevilla may not really be a big team in the competition while Leicester City debut may not take them into Champions League’s uncharted lands.
However, the exciting thing with this fixture is the relative balance between both teams in terms of depth and form.
The Old lady of Turin smiled when Juventus was paired with Porto in the round of 16.
Well, not so fast Turin – the Bianconeri would be grossly wrong to underestimate the outfit from Estádio do Dragão!
The good thing with the Porto vs. Juventus fixture is that we shall have another chance to see some of the finest goalkeepers of this generation go head to head – Gianluigi Buffon vs. Iker Casillas is always a good pairing!
All in all, expect Juventus fans to tell you that they will clobber Porto, and in extension legitimize their nickname of La Fidanzata d'Italia which translates into “The girlfriend of Italy.”
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