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| (Courtesy of Ben Sutherland) |
Galatasaray v Schalke
First out
of the runners up pot were Turkish champions Galatasaray and they drew the
German side Schalke, who managed to beat Arsenal to the top of Group B. Given
the other possibilities neither side will be too disappointed with this and
will both feel they have a decent chance of progressing. Owing to the fact that
Galatasaray only just made it here and Schalke had a for more accomplished
group stage the Germans will certainly be the favourites but we shouldn’t
discount Fatih Terim’s side. As Manchester United found out in the group stage,
The Ali Sami Stadium is a cauldron of fierce support and the home fans will not
make it easy for the Germans in the first leg. That being said I think
Schalke’s quality, as shown by their unbeaten run in the group stage, will show
through. Aggregate Score: 2-4
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| Neil Lennon has a big task ahead of him to topple Italian giants Juventus(Courtesy of celticphotos - Flickr) |
Celtic v Juventus
The first
British side to be drawn were Celtic, getting a very tough tie in the shape of
Italian champions Juventus. Although the footballing giants from Turin only made it
through the group on the final day they eventually beat Shakhtar to top spot
and even knocked out reigning champions Chelsea. Players such as
Arturo Vidal, veteran Andrea Pirlo and promising youngster Paul Pogba are all
ones to watch for Celtic as they try to cause another upset and make it through
to the last 8. Let’s not forget that Charlie Mulgrew and Fraser Forster both
performed extremely well in the group stage, culminating in the upset to top all
upsets, a 2-1 home win against tournament favourites Barcelona. Having said all this, it is a
massive ask for Celtic to not only get a win at home, but then to also defend
that win in Turin so, because of this, I’m going to have to tip Juve to go
through. 1-4
Arsenal v Bayern Munich
In the
first ‘big draw’ of the round we have Arsenal, finalists in 2006, and Bayern,
last year’s runners up. Neither team were particularly convincing in the group
stage, especially away from home, which should make for an interesting tie.
Bayern only made it into the winners’ pot on head-to-heads with Valencia and
away from home they only managed a win, a draw and a loss. Arsenal’s away
record was the same and their poor home defeat against Schalke was enough
to see them into second position. In terms of domestic form Bayern are having a
much better time of it than Arsenal. Die Bayern are top of the league and
currently unbeaten in 8 where as Arsenal have only managed 7 points from the
last available 15. Of course this could all change between now and February,
but I personally don’t think it will. 2-4
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| Jurgen Klopp will hope that he has something to smile about come March (Courtesy of asiajoanna.de) |
Shakhtar Donestk v Borussia Dortmund
Here we see
two teams who overcame tough groups to qualify. Not many people, even knowing
how strong Shakhtar are, would have given the Ukranians much chance of getting
through in a group with the European champions and the Italian champions, much
less almost come top. They completely deserved it though, their combination of
Brazilian attacking flair and Ukrainian defensive solidarity saw them get a draw
with Juve and beat Chelsea
and they will now be filled with confidence going into February’s games. The
same can be said of Borussia Dortmund who, while very organised, will even
themselves be surprised that they managed to get a draw and a win against both Man City
and Real Madrid to come top of the “group of death.” Jurgen Klopp's tactical nous seems to be behind the majority of Borussia, as he is quickly becoming one of Europe's top managers. We musn't forget wonderkid Mario Gotze who pulls the strings in the playmaker role, and sought-after striker Robert Lewandowski who is always good for a goal or two. On balance this is an incredibly even tie but the fact that the Germans were unbeaten in a group featuring Real Madrid and Man City means that, for me, they should be able to see of the formidable opposition of Shakhtar. 2-3
AC Milan v Barcelona
This one’s
another biggie, perhaps not as big as it would have been 5 or 10 years ago but
big nonetheless. The last time that AC progressed past this stage was in 2007
when it took them until extra time in the second leg to overcome Celtic, which
isn’t terribly encouraging, although they did then go on to win the tournament.
Since then Barcelona have vastly grown as a European force and consequently are
this season’s favourites to win the Champions League, owing to their phenomenal
domestic form more than anything else. Looking back at the group stages and the
fact that Milan, now missing two of their best players in Ibrahimovic and
Thiago Silva, looked barely better than average as they limped home in second
place. I find it hard to believe that even the considerable goal-getting ability of Stephan El Shaarawy will be hard-pressed to pull AC through this one. Barcelona’s qualification was hardly plain sailing; they had to come
from behind to beat Spartak Moscow and Celtic and then lost to Celtic in the match
after that. Despite this I really can’t look past Barcelona to take this tie. 1-6
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| Mourinho and Ferguson are to renew acquaintances(Courtesy of Austin Osuide and apasciuto - Flickr) |
Real Madrid v Manchester United
This is the
biggie that every neutral was hoping for and that every big team was hoping to
avoid. There are no doubts that this is going to be a phenomenal two legs; not
only Ronaldo going back to Old Trafford but Mourinho in England is always an
event. As to who is going to win, that is a tough question. Real had the
tougher group by far but even so they would not have been happy to have
finished second. Only getting a point from two games against Borussia Dortmund
will have been classified as a massive underachievement and now they have to do
it the hard way. Manchester United on the other hand will be cursing their bad
luck, having been rewarded for qualifying first from the group stages by
receiving the toughest draw; such is life. This one is going to be won on attacking ability, as neither side have been defending particularly well this year especially United. This is just as well because, if you take Barcelona out of the mix, we have here the best two attacking teams in Europe. Ronaldo, Rooney and Van Persie on the same pitch is a mouth-watering prospect and all three have grown since May 2009, the last time they were all on the same pitch in the Champions League, when the trio got 3 goals and 2 assists between them in a 3-1 for Manchester United over Arsenal. Out of all of the draws this is
probably the most difficult to predict but, owing to United’s woeful defending
this year, I’m going to tip the Spaniards to just edge it. 5-4
Valencia v Paris Saint-Germain
This is also
going to be a very interesting tie, here we have a team who only just came
second facing a team who only just came first. Valencia will consider
themselves very unfortunate to have lost out on first place to Bayern on head
to heads, having been ahead of the Germans for quite a while. The Spaniards
played some ruthlessly effective football in the group stages and are desperately
unlucky to qualify in second with 4 wins and a draw from 6 games. PSG on the
other hand leap-frogged main group rivals Porto on the final day of the group
stage with a win over them in Paris. The front 2 of Ibrahimovic and Lavezzi,
both signed from Italy in the summer, supported by Argentian playmaker Javier
Pastore is an attacking threat to be feared and this, more than anything else,
is the reason that I’m going to go for the French side to make the
quarter-finals. 3-4
Porto v Malaga
Much like
the tie above this is going to make intriguing watching; Malaga, while
performing extremely well in the group, had a below par AC Milan as their main
opposition, and Porto could have been in the winners pot too had it not been
for a last-day slip up in Paris. Probably the second hardest tie to predict
behind the whopper (Real v United) much of this depends on what version we see
of Porto. There were times in the group stage that the Portuguese champions
looked as efficient as they had been under the Special One (the 1-0 home win
against PSG), and other times looked as if they had allowed me to take over the
reins for the week (the 0-0 draw against Dinamo Kiev). Let’s not forget Malaga
went through the group stages unbeaten and, while newcomers to this tournament,
deserve just as much respect at this point as their past-winner opponents. Much
of the Spaniards’ fate lies in the hands of talented winger Joaquin, one of the
players who didn’t jump ship when the money ran out. He provided a lot for
Malaga in the group stage and will have to do so again if they are to make the
quarters. Owing to Malaga’s unbeaten run in this tournament and Porto’s
inconsistency I’m going to have to say Malaga to make it through. 2-3
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