The greatest club football competition in the world is back again with 8 mouth watering clashes to look forward to in the Round of 16.
MANCHESTER CITY vs BARCELONA
BAYER LEVERKUSEN vs PARIS SAINT GERMAIN
AC MILAN vs ATLETICO MADRID
ARSENAL vs BAYERN MUNICH
ZENIT PETERSBURG vs BORUSSIA DORTMUND
OLYMPIAKOS vs MANCHESTER UNITED
GALATASARAY vs CHELSEA
SCHALKE 04 vs REAL MADRID
Frankly some of these matches are worthy of being a final.
Man City vs Barca, the best in England vs the best in Spain, this is all set to be the clash of the titans as both the teams are filled with superstars, even though City will be missing their key man Sergio Aguero in the 1st leg but I am pretty sure they will put up a brilliant fight against the Spanish champions at the Etihad. Yaya Toure will look forward to beating his old team and progressing in this tournament and he will surely have to play a major role if City are to go ahead.
Leverkusen vs PSG, this in all likelihood will be a one sided match as the Paris side look too strong on paper compared to the Germans. With Ibrahimovic leading the line it won't be too much of a surprise if the french take a big lead with them into the 2nd leg.
Milan vs Atletico, another game which looking at the current form of the two teams looks set to be a one sided affair, but with Milan you never know what might happen. Two good teams with 22 capable footballers, this will be a good match if Milan are able to take the lead first up by breaching the best defense in Spain this year.
Arsenal vs Munich, a game worthy of being a Champions League Final, the defending champions taking on an in-form Arsenal team. On paper Bayern is by far the best team in Europe at the moment with the entire squad let alone the playing 11 filled with stars. On the other hand this season Arsenal have worked really well as a team and have been very good defensively if we exclude a couple of games. Bayern will be missing some of their key members and Arsenal should look to capitalize on that in the first leg. This along with the City-Barca game are the top clashes in this year's Round of 16.
Zenit vs Dortmund, battle of the underdogs of the competition, all set to be a riveting clash. The first leg being at home for Zenit can turn out to be a big advantage for them if they can manage to take a lead with them to Germany. The two forwards for their respective teams will have to deliver when it matters most. The germans will be a little worried because of their defense but hopefully will be able to win the battle in the midfield against a team like Zenit.
Olympiakos vs United, any other season I would rate this as a very very easy fixture for United but considering their form this season and Moyes' woes you never know what might happen. They will be missing their assist man Juan Mata as he is cup tied for the competition hence Moyes will have to look at someone else to get the balls into the box. But all said even with United's form this season they still look too much for Olympiakos to handle who are now without their star striker from the group stages Mitroglou.
Galatasaray vs Chelsea, Didier Drogba against the club he loves most. Drogba & Sneijder against their 'footballing father' as Sneijder said in a recent interview. The first leg in Turkey will be really crucial, if Galatasaray manage to bring a lead to Stamford Bridge then we will be in for a tremendous clash, but if Chelsea manage to get a result in the first leg then I feel it will be too tough for the turkish side to make a comeback at the Bridge. The second leg though will be important for a different reason altogether. The King returning to Stamford Bridge. I am pretty sure there's a rousing ovation awaiting Drogba at the Bridge. We still love him, we always will. But it would be an irony if he's the one knocking Chelsea out of the competition.
Schalke vs Madrid, the Germans have shown lots of grit this year to qualify for the Round of 16 but now it will be really tough for them against a star studded Real Madrid who's attack will be led by the costliest player in the world (Bale) and the ballon d'or winner (Ronaldo). It is next to impossible for the germans I feel to beat this Madrid side but they will have high hopes and with nothing to lose they will go all out for it which might just work in their favour and catch Madrid off guard.
All in all this will be a brilliant Round of 16 like always. The Champions League nights are back. Fun times.......
MANCHESTER CITY vs BARCELONA
BAYER LEVERKUSEN vs PARIS SAINT GERMAIN
AC MILAN vs ATLETICO MADRID
ARSENAL vs BAYERN MUNICH
ZENIT PETERSBURG vs BORUSSIA DORTMUND
OLYMPIAKOS vs MANCHESTER UNITED
GALATASARAY vs CHELSEA
SCHALKE 04 vs REAL MADRID
Frankly some of these matches are worthy of being a final.
Man City vs Barca, the best in England vs the best in Spain, this is all set to be the clash of the titans as both the teams are filled with superstars, even though City will be missing their key man Sergio Aguero in the 1st leg but I am pretty sure they will put up a brilliant fight against the Spanish champions at the Etihad. Yaya Toure will look forward to beating his old team and progressing in this tournament and he will surely have to play a major role if City are to go ahead.
Leverkusen vs PSG, this in all likelihood will be a one sided match as the Paris side look too strong on paper compared to the Germans. With Ibrahimovic leading the line it won't be too much of a surprise if the french take a big lead with them into the 2nd leg.
Milan vs Atletico, another game which looking at the current form of the two teams looks set to be a one sided affair, but with Milan you never know what might happen. Two good teams with 22 capable footballers, this will be a good match if Milan are able to take the lead first up by breaching the best defense in Spain this year.
Arsenal vs Munich, a game worthy of being a Champions League Final, the defending champions taking on an in-form Arsenal team. On paper Bayern is by far the best team in Europe at the moment with the entire squad let alone the playing 11 filled with stars. On the other hand this season Arsenal have worked really well as a team and have been very good defensively if we exclude a couple of games. Bayern will be missing some of their key members and Arsenal should look to capitalize on that in the first leg. This along with the City-Barca game are the top clashes in this year's Round of 16.
Zenit vs Dortmund, battle of the underdogs of the competition, all set to be a riveting clash. The first leg being at home for Zenit can turn out to be a big advantage for them if they can manage to take a lead with them to Germany. The two forwards for their respective teams will have to deliver when it matters most. The germans will be a little worried because of their defense but hopefully will be able to win the battle in the midfield against a team like Zenit.
Olympiakos vs United, any other season I would rate this as a very very easy fixture for United but considering their form this season and Moyes' woes you never know what might happen. They will be missing their assist man Juan Mata as he is cup tied for the competition hence Moyes will have to look at someone else to get the balls into the box. But all said even with United's form this season they still look too much for Olympiakos to handle who are now without their star striker from the group stages Mitroglou.
Galatasaray vs Chelsea, Didier Drogba against the club he loves most. Drogba & Sneijder against their 'footballing father' as Sneijder said in a recent interview. The first leg in Turkey will be really crucial, if Galatasaray manage to bring a lead to Stamford Bridge then we will be in for a tremendous clash, but if Chelsea manage to get a result in the first leg then I feel it will be too tough for the turkish side to make a comeback at the Bridge. The second leg though will be important for a different reason altogether. The King returning to Stamford Bridge. I am pretty sure there's a rousing ovation awaiting Drogba at the Bridge. We still love him, we always will. But it would be an irony if he's the one knocking Chelsea out of the competition.
Schalke vs Madrid, the Germans have shown lots of grit this year to qualify for the Round of 16 but now it will be really tough for them against a star studded Real Madrid who's attack will be led by the costliest player in the world (Bale) and the ballon d'or winner (Ronaldo). It is next to impossible for the germans I feel to beat this Madrid side but they will have high hopes and with nothing to lose they will go all out for it which might just work in their favour and catch Madrid off guard.
All in all this will be a brilliant Round of 16 like always. The Champions League nights are back. Fun times.......
i think this will be a barca win
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