Champions League Last 16 Preview

So the draw has been made to see who faces who in the first knockout round of the Champions League.  There was guaranteed to be some mouth watering clashes in this round as English heavyweights Manchester City and Arsenal only managed runner-up spots in their groups behind Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund respectively.  This meant both would have to face one of the strong group winners in the first knockout round and the draw did not disappoint.

 

The tie of the round is surely Manchester City v Barcelona.  This will be a great spectacle over the two legs as the small, agile and highly technical players of Barcelona come up against the huge, physical players in the Manchester City team.  Players like Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure, and "The Beast" Alvaro Negredo base their game on the physicality they bring and this approach will be in stark contrast to how Barcelona will aim to play. 

In the group stages, Barcelona were brilliant at home, scoring 13 goals in their three games.  However, they were less impressive on the road, losing to Ajax, drawing with AC Milan and just scraping a single goal victory over Celtic.  Manchester City should take heart from this, and look to take hold of the tie in the first leg at the Etihad.  Manchester City have been so strong at home this season. scoring for fun and there is no reason they should not believe they can score a few against Barcelona in the first leg.  Confidence should be high for the City squad after that great victory in the Allianz against the European Champions, however it is a long time to February and who knows what form the two teams will be in come then.

 

Arsenal also got a difficult draw, facing the current champions Bayern Munich.  This will be a rematch from last year when Arsenal came so close to knocking out the Germans in the second leg as they won 2-0 in Germany.  But Munich scraped by thanks to their impressive win at the Emirates and then went all the way to bring home the trophy.  Arsenal do appear to be stronger this season, reflected in their position in the premier league however the odds are surely on Bayern Munich to progress.  They have so many players who can hurt the opposition - Ribery, Robben, and Muller, with the likes of Kroos, Gotze and Shaqiri coming off the bench.  And bearing in mind all these players will play behind the menacing Mario Mandzukic who always manages to find himself in the right place in the box.  Arsenal will no doubt give this one their all, trying to go that one step further than last year and qualify at the expense of Bayern Munich. However, just like last year, I believe they will ultimately be disappointed.

 

Those are probably the most high profile of the ties but now lets take a look at how the other English teams fared.  The fairy tale of the round is surely the return of Didier Drogba to Stamford Bridge as Chelsea have been drawn against the Turkish outfit Galatasaray.  Jose Mourinho stated before the draw that he would love to get this tie and give Drogba his glorious return, and fate has appeared to grant him his wish.  This could prove a more difficult assignment than some would believe it to be as Galatasaray were impressive in the group stage qualifying ahead of Italian champions Juventus.  They done well to recover from match day 1 when they were thumped 6-1 at home to Real Madrid and there are few who could say they have not earned their place in the first knockout round.  They managed a draw in Turin and then beat Juventus in the home tie in the final match day fixture which was controversially delayed until the following day due to heavy snow.  However, Drogba's heroic return to the club which he helped win the ultimate prize in European football is likely to be in vain as the Chelsea squad should be strong enough over two legs to qualify.  When you get past the star players such as Drogba and Wesley Sneijder, the Galatasaray team is not littered with quality and although they achieved a great deal in qualifying from a group with Real Madrid and Juventus, this is surely where their Champions League adventure ends.

  

The last of the four English teams is Manchester United and they must be fairly content after being drawn with the Greek outfit Olympiakos.  Despite their domestic troubles, United have been getting the results in this years Champions League and finished top of their group with minimal fuss and indeed have an impressive 5-0 away win over the organised German side Bayer Leverkusen to their name.  Olympiakos finished runners up in group C, joint on 10 points with Benfica but sneaking through thanks to the head to head results.  The main threat posed to Manchester United will be the attacking link up between journeyman striker Javier Saviola who now operates in a deeper no. 10 role, and Greek forward Kostas Mitroglou who has impressed in this years competition and scored a great hat trick away to Anderlecht. However, they should be no match for a much stronger Manchester United and much like their group success, they should expect to progress to the quarter-finals with consummate ease.

 

So finally to take a quick glance at the other ties in the round.  There are some intriguing match ups and AC Milan v Atletico Madrid should be interesting.  I believe Atletico are going to be the surprise packages of this year's competition and if luck is on their side they could go far.  Diego Simeone has set his team up to be tight at the back and devastating on the counter, with Diego Costa in the form of his career this season and the club having a strong season in La Liga.  Milan on the other hand are simply not the team they used to be.  The star names have long gone and despite the return of Kaka and Robinho, the sale of Kevin-Prince Boateng to Schalke speaks volumes about where the club is going as they struggle economically like almost all Italians clubs at the minute..  They are under-performing domestically and are certainly there for the taking if Atlectico can perform. 

The last 16 also sees Bayer Leverkusen take on Paris St-Germain.  PSG have spent millions in the past few seasons with Champions League glory being the end result they hope to achieve, and although I don't feel this will be the year for that to happen, they should manage to qualify for the quarter-finals at the expense of Leverkusen.  Manchester United made them look ordinary in both games during the group stages and with the likes of Zlatan, Cavani and Lucas Moura at their disposal PSG should comfortably put the Germans to the sword.

Schalke meet Real Madrid in another tie where the gap between group winners and runners-up is evident.  Schalke came second to Chelsea in the group stages but were hugely unimpressive in the two defeats to the London club and are having a very indifferent domestic campaign, so it is to be expected that a Real Madrid side who are much stronger than Chelsea should have no difficulty in overcoming Schalke.

And finally, Zenit St- Petersburg will face Borussia Dortmund.  This has the potential to be an interesting tie as Dortmund are not performing anywhere near the level they did last year en route to the final, and Zenit should never be ruled out with match winners such as Hulk in their side.  However, Dortmund appear at face value to be a much stronger side, and considering this tie takes place in February when the Bundesliga will be in full flow compared to the pre season period in Russia, it should be a Borussia Dortmund victory.

 

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Consistency still eludes the Special One

The season is in full flow now as we approach the busy Christmas period, and yet Jose Mourinho must be asking himself, 'How do you solve a problem like Chelsea?'.  His arrival in the summer was met by Chelsea fans with huge support and joy that their most successful manager was returning to his footballing home.  There was a new optimism about what could be achieved this year after the departure of Rafa Benitez, who many fans did not want in charge last year but who's record was pretty solid and many fans seem to forget he led them to Europa League glory last season. 

 

So a special manager, and a strong squad.  Surely the bedrock for a successful league campaign which would hopefully end with Premier League glory.  But this has been a more difficult return for Mourinho than many fans had anticipated.  Inconsistent displays both in the league and also in the Champions League where they suffered defeat twice at the hands of FC Basle.  But is this simply a case of too much expectation on the team and the manager?  Jose was quick to play down the teams title chances this season when he took over, continually trying to say how much more difficult it is to win now compared to his first spell in charge.  He makes a fair point, as there are a number of teams at the top who are highly competitive: Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool. Tottenham, and even Everton are having strong seasons.  You may notice the absence of Manchester United on this list and I don't believe there are any fans, even the die hard Man Utd fans who could genuinely say they will be a force at the top this season.  But the point still stands that Mourinho was making - its a much more competitive league than before,

 

Mourinho must quickly learn how to develop his team into consistent performers or their chances of league success this season will quickly falter.  One main problem is his defence.  Already this season they have conceded 18 goals, which is more than they let in during the entire season when Mourinho first arrived at the club and led them to the Premier League title at a canter.  It appears to be a combination of an over exposed back line and some individual errors.  In the heart of defence, Jose still sees John Terry as a crucial figure and seems to have lost patience with David Luiz and his careless attitude on the pitch.  This has meant Gary Cahill comes in and links up with John Terry and this partnership has its limitations.  The most obvious problem is a lack of pace between them - Terry is no longer 21 and Cahill's game has never been blessed with great pace.  This centre back issue has then been combined with Mourinho's continued absence of Ashley Cole at left-back and playing Cesar Azpilicueta instead.  Nobody is sure of the reasons for this, Mourinho has said it is down to Cole not being fully fit however the player himself has made noises to the contrary. 

 

The midfield has the potential to be strong but it could be argued Jose's insistence on playing Frank Lampard is holding them back.  This is obviously a controversial statement but having watched Chelsea on a regular basis this season it has become apparent he now has little to offer the team playing week in week out.  He is no longer the box to box midfielder he once was and is now asked to play a deeper role along side either Ramires or Mikel to protect the defence.  However, Lampard is simply not suited to this position.  He is not strong at tackling, nor does he have the ability to follower a runner from deep if the opposition are attacking.  He finds himself being in an area of the pitch without ever really affecting the play.  I am not for a second forgetting the massive success Frank has brought to the club over his time there, but Mourinho must consider what is best for the team and perhaps leaving Frank on the sidelines more often is just the answer.  Mikel's game is naturally to hold and cover his defenders and this combined with Ramires' tough tackling and energetic box to box play could be a powerful mix. 

 

Looking ahead of the defence and the two holding midfielders there is much to be optimistic about.  Despite the lack of goals from Torres, Ba or Eto'o the attacking play has been extremely pleasing on the eye and they have torn teams apart at times with the skill and movement of the three playing behind the main striker.  Hazard seems to be finding his form again this season, Oscar has been playing well, both scoring and providing assists for the team and Schurrle appears to have quickly found his feet in the Premier League.  The only question to be asked is why Mourinho simply doesn't fancy playing Juan Mata.  The Chelsea Player of the Year for two consecutive seasons has found game time limited this season, apparently due to his lack of work when Chelsea are not in possession.  For the minute, Chelsea fans are not overly happy with this decision but will accept it so long as Mourinho has the club performing relatively well.  If they suddenly drop out of the title race or have a poor Champions League campaign, the calls for Mata will surely surface themselves once again. 

Weekend Preview

Hello everyone and its that time again to look ahead to my Game of the Weekend in the upcoming round of Barclays Premier League fixtures.  This weekend it is a simple choice to make as Manchester City take on Arsenal. 

 

Man City v Arsenal

There is no doubting the importance of this game for both sides.  Firstly, for Arsenal it is a chance to finally prove to the doubters that they are serious title contenders this season.  Currently five points clear coming up to Christmas and still there are so many people in the football world who believe the Gunners will choke and slip up.  One argument that continues to get thrown at them is that they haven't played any of the so called big teams away from home.  The defeat earlier in the season against Manchester United didn't do much to dispel the claims and last weeks dropped points at home to Everton mean that Arsene Wenger will want his team to make a real statement about their title credentials this weekend.  For Man City, this is also a crucial game in their season.  They are desperate to claw pack the gap to Arsenal and maintain their wonderful home form this season, and with the current patchy away form these home days take on even more importance. 

 

So which team will be happier come close of play on Saturday afternoon? Something has to give as the team with the best home form in the league takes on the joint best away team this season.  To me however, I feel victory is a step too far for Arsene's men and believe Man City will take the win and reduce the gap to three points at the top.  City have been frighteningly good at home, scoring goals for fun and only conceding two at the other end.  This was epitomised by their 6-0 romp of Tottenham and by putting seven past Norwich.  The attacking style of play and a strike force of Aguero and Negredo could be too much for the Arsenal defence which there are still doubts lingering about. I believe Arsenal will happily take a point and that may be the best they can hope for as tiredness could affect the squad due to the short turn over between their disappointing result to Napoli on Wednesday night and this early kick-off on Saturday.  Man City will be keen to win this one, while Arsene Wenger has spoken of the importance of not losing, suggesting a point will suit him.  However, the efforts of his Arsenal team are likely to be in vain if Man City play anything like they have done all season so far at home. 

Verdict: Home Win

 

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