UEFA Champions League: The Miracle in Munich

The Champions League round of sixteen is finally over after five weeks time. With last week’s winners, Benfica, Real Madrid, PSG, and Wolfsburg moving on, four more winners needed to be decided on Tuesday and Wednesday. Now, there were four big games, as PSV and Atletí took a 0-0 aggregate to Spain, whilst across Spain Arsenal looked for a miracle in Camp Nou, Kyiv looked for a comeback in Manchester, and one of the best matches from any league, an awesome game at Allianz.

First, we start from the greater Manchester area, as Manchester City hosted Dynamo Kyiv. Kyiv lost the home leg 3-1, with Yaya Toure playing a rare great game, with an assist to Aguero and a goal. City didn’t need to play their entire first team, placing Jesus Navas, Fernando, and Pablo Zabaleta into the team. City maintained their dominant center back pair to hold it down, unfortunately, Manuel Pellegrini made a poor call. Seven minutes in Vincent Kompany went down after pulling up for the second time this year after challenging Kyiv’s Oleh Husyev. Kompany’s last injury kept him out nearly two months from December to February, as well as missing almost all of November. Kompany’s injury update for this injury is more than a month, such a shame for the injury-prone defender, who scored two goals in two games to start the BPL season. It didn’t get any worse in terms of score, but soon after another center back went down, Nicolás Otamendi, after pulling something delivering a long through ball, two center defenders out before the end of the first half. City held out, and had their best chance in the 61^st minute when Toure found Navas, but the Spaniard hit the post on a shot destined for the opposite post. That was about it, City moving onto their first club Quarterfinals, winning 3-1 on aggregate, Man of the Match goes to Joe Hart for his clean sheet.

The other Tuesday game came from Estadio Vincente Calderon, as Atletico Madrid and PSV faced off in the only first leg that was scoreless. It was a winner-take-all game, and Atletico seemed up to the challenge. The La Liga side started off well, when Juanfran played Koké, who set up Antoine Greizmann in front of goal, and the Frenchman really should have done better, shot right at keeper Jeroen Zoet. PSV soon had a chance, when Luuk de Jong redirected a through ball to Andres Guardado, who sent a low cross, forcing Jan Oblak to weakly punch it, just out of the way of de Jong. Atletico soon had their best chance, when Gabi cross to Yannick Ferreira Carrasco was headed by the Belgian to Greizmann, who was denied by Zoet, even though Greizmann was offsides. PSV had a great chance to go up 1-0 in the second half, when Guardado found Jurgen Locadia, who hit it for the opposite post, but Oblak deflected it onto the post, and de Jong’s rebound was blocked by defender Diego Godín. Atletí’s final first half chance came when Fernando Torres hit one off Zoet on to the post. Added time produced nothing, the only surprise was to see de Jong come off for Luciano Narsingh two minutes before penalties. After seven rounds of converted penalties, Narsingh stepped up, but his shot cannoned off the crossbar, giving Atletico Madrid the chance to move on, which Juanfran sealed, giving Atletico Madrid a Quarterfinal place, poor choice by Phillip Cocu to bring off his striker, and he paid the price, Man of the Match goes to Juanfran.

Wednesday’s first game came from across Spain, where Barcelona, with a 2-0 aggregate in their favor, hosted Arsenal. Barcelona were not trying too hard to score, but scored when Luis Suarez played Neymar through and the Brazilian, living up to his reputation, for his 26^th in all competitions, giving Barca the 3-0 aggregate lead. Arsenal showed they could score some good goals too, in the second half, Arsene Wenger’s lone January signing, Mohammed Elneny, who had struggled with shooting, buried one top-shelf past Marc-Andre ter Stegen giving Arsenal a lifeline. That lifeline was soon snapped four minutes later when Dani Alves found Luis Suarez with an awesome finish, on the volley top shelf, freezing David Ospina, 2-1, 4-1 on aggregate. Arsenal had a great chance with ten to go, when Mesut Ozil cannoned a shot off a set piece, but ter Stegen denied him, and then Olivier Giroud from the rebound. Barcelona got one more when Neymar laid it to Messi, who chipped over Ospina, giving each MSN player a goal, 3-1, 5-1 on aggregate, Man of the Match goes to Suarez.

Finally, it was a huge matchup between two contenders, semifinalist versus finalist, Juventus at Bayern. Juve came back from 2-0 down in Turin in the home leg, and started out rolling on all cylinders, scoring seven minutes in when Manuel Neuer charged Stephan Lichsteiner making the save, but the ball deflected off Neuer to Paul Pogba, placing it home with the open net, giving Juventus the lead. Bayern had a good chance in the 27^th, when Douglas Costa found Franck Ribery, but the back post header saved by Gianluigi Buffon, but Bayern were exposed on a Juve counterattack, and Alvaro Morata found Juan Cuadrado, who slipped it past Neuer, giving Massimiliano Allegri’s side the insurance goal. Bayern’s dreams seemed to be crushed, but Pep Guardiola wasn’t ready to finish his last game, and 71 minutes in, Bayern finally put one past Buffon with a header by the Polish star Robert Lewandowski, set up by Coman 2-1 with 17 to play. Then Bayern got their equalizer before stoppage time, with a cross to the back post thumped in by Thomas Muller to send it to added time, again set up by Coman. Bayern then completed the comeback when after a good one-two with Muller, Thiago Alcantara, fresh off a two-goal game, gave Bayern their lead. Bayern then wrapped it up off a wonderful strike from Man of the Match, Kingsley Coman, 4-2, 6-4 on aggregate.

So after a suspenseful round of 16, the Champions League is narrowed to eight, Benfica, Real and Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City, Bayern, Wolfsburg, and PSG.

Champions League Round of Sixteen, Part One

The UEFA Champions League, after a month and seven days, is back. Back with it comes dramatic theme songs, racist fans, expensive advertisements, and lots of waiting from the first leg to the second leg. Annoying parts aside, the return of the CL unites the Europe’s 32 best teams and has had a fair share of surprises so far. From Memphis’ return to Netherlands winding up in a loss, to Alessandro Florenzi’s wonder goal against Barcelona, to the hat tricks by Cristiano Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski, Karim Benzema, and Olivier Giroud. The round of sixteen part one started this week, so here’s the wrap-ups plus my personal opinion on what all eight teams need to do better in leg two.

First, a rematch from last year’s round of sixteen in Paris, as Ligue Un champions PSG, hosted the BPL’s title holders, Chelsea. Last year was a disappointing crash for Chelsea, as after going 2-1 up in overtime at home, PSG crawled back through Thiago Silva’s header, putting PSG through on away goals. Away goals were something Chelsea needed, coming in as heavy underdogs due to their struggles in domestic play while PSG stands 24 points ahead of Monaco in first in France. Chelsea faced a hard task at hand, defending the front three of Lucas Moura, Ángel Di María, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and to make matters worse, captain John Terry and Kurt Zouma were both out with injuries. Baba Rahman started at left back, and he made an impact for Chelsea. 23 minutes in, Rahman found Diego Costa lurking in the box, freeing himself from ex-Chelsea man David Luiz, but keeper Kevin Trapp came to the rescue, turning Costa’s header onto the bar with his right hand. Zlatan Ibrahimovic had a chance in the 25th, but couldn’t put enough power on the header. 39 minutes in, PSG got their breakthrough when John Obi Mikel fouled Lucas just outside the box, and up stepped Zlatan, thumping a strike off Mikel, beating Thibaut Courtois, giving PSG the lead. Chelsea got their goal back just before the end of the half, when Willian’s corner went to Costa, who flicked it to Mikel, giving him his first goal since 2014, and Chelsea leveled the game. Di María was huge in this game, and nearly got PSG back in front, but his outside the box strike was denied by Courtois. Gary Cahill was also big for Chelsea, denying a point-blank strike from Blaise Matuidi. Laurent Blanc then subbed in Edinson Cavani, who scored last year for PSG in this fixture. Cavani took his chance when Di Maria put him in, and Courtois failed to cover the only place he could have gone, between his legs, putting PSG up 2-1 late, giving them the win, Man of the Match goes to Di María. It was a good game, but both sides can improve, here’s how:

Chelsea: Get Costa involved: The Spaniard has been huge for them in the BPL since Hiddink came around, scoring 9 goals in 9. Despite his chance early on, the team failed to create many other chances. Chelsea’s best two shots were Costa hitting the post, and Costa setting up Mikel. If he can be the catalyst in the Chelsea attack for leg two, they may pull it around.

PSG: Stop the cross: PSG have two of the best defenders in the air, Silva and Luiz, but struggled with defending crosses. Again, Chelsea’s goal came on a corner, and their best chance came from a cross. Otherwise, the defense held out against a Chelsea team that just put up five against Newcastle. Stop the cross at the Bridge, and PSG will advance to the quarterfinals again.

Meanwhile, in the Portuguese capital, Benfica, led by top scorers Jonas and Konstantinos Mitroglou hosted Zenit, led by Russian League assist leader Hulk and CL third placed top scorer Artyom Dzyuba and Zenit Saint Petersburg. Benfica got through as the second seed in group C behind Atlético Madrid, while Zenit won group H over Lyon, Valencia, and Gent. A first half led by close misses, Jonas missed a shot from outside the box, and Hulk just barely rolled a free-kick past the far post 38 minutes in. Zenit’s first shot on target came in the 52nd minute, when Axel Witsel struck one outside the box, but Julio Cesar was right on top of it. In the 69th, Jonas settled a cross for Nicolás Gaitán, but the first shot was saved by Yuri Lodygin, and the off-balance rebound was put over the bar. The Benfica break came in late, when Domenico Criscito fouled André Almeida for his second yellow, giving Benfica a free kick, crossed in by Gaitán to Jonas with just seconds to spare, giving Los Águias(the eagles) the win, Man of the Match goes to Gaitán. It was a dull game, but here’s what both sides can do to ensure a win in a big leg 2 in Saint Petersburg:

Zenit: Create closer chances. Zenit’s best chances all came from outside the box on unlikely shots, and this team can create better chances than what we saw. Danny and Oleg Shatov are good crossers, and Witsel, Javi Garcia, and Dzyuba are all big targets. It took Zenit 52 minutes to get a shot on goal, that attack plan needs to change if they are to move on.

Benfica: Get an early goal. It’s easier said than done, but an early away goal could spell the end of Zenit’s Champions League run. Piter Arena, Zenit’s home, is a rough place to play, led by loud supporters and a 30% chance of flares. Pizzi may be the man that needs to be involved, with Criscito suspended, he will need to use the left side to get some crosses into Jonas or Mitroglou, which proved very effective against Zenit in Lisbon.

Wednesday’s best game came from Rome, as Roma, who sneaked through their group, hosted top team, Real Madrid. The big task would be to stop Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, who had a combined 19 goals in the group stages. The first half was, like the Benfica game without a shot on goal, the best chances coming from Marcelo on the volley in the 33rd, just wide of the post. The game consisted of many penalty shouts, with a handball in the 52nd minute not given, a deliberate shove on James Rodriguez not called, and a Keylor Navas foul on Stephan El Shaarawy, who was through on goal. Real broke through when Ronaldo was sent through, and with help from an Alessandro Florenzi deflection, beat Wojciech Szczesny into the far corner, Ronaldo’s first away goal in 2016, and what a time, 1-0 Madrid. Roma pushed hard, and nearly got one back when Edin Dzeko passed it to William Vainqueur, who blasted it from outside the box just past the post. Madrid may have put both legs away when substitute Jesé Rodriguez was given all the space in the world by defender Lucas Digne to put it home, 2 away goals for Los Blancos(the whites) as they would go on to win 2-0, Man of the Match goes to Raphael Varane, who kept Roma’s attack at bay. Though it very well may be over, here is what both teams need to do at the Santiago Bernabéu:

Real Madrid: Defend the wings: Though it didn’t show, El Shaarawy and Mohammed Salah had a field day on the full backs. Marcelo and Carvajal often didn’t get back, leaving Sergio Ramos to try to limit the pace of the wingers. To ensure a win, both full backs have to stay back and not give any room for Roma to strike.

Roma: Take your chances: One of the most frustrating things to watch all game was Roma in the box. Salah and El Shaarawy created chances, but simply couldn’t pull the trigger when the time came. The best example was when Salah blew past Marcelo and Varane, but took too heavy of a touch, forcing the ball out of play, rather than just shooting it. The team was able to keep Real at bay, but if there are no goals to show for it, their run will end.

The final game came in Gent, as surprise Belgium side KAA Gent hosted underachieving Bundesliga side Wolfsburg. Not a lot of people expected Gent would move on, and even fewer thought they stood a chance in the round of sixteen. After holding out for a while, Gent let up before the half when Julian Draxler turned free of defender Thomas Foket, and after a lovely give-and-go with Vieirinha, the German slotted it past Matz Sels, 1-0 Wolfsburg. Draxler then got the second after a defensive turnover to Draxler, who nutmegged Stefan Mitrovic, and then chipped Sels for one of the most disrespectful goals of the competition, 2-0. The Bundesliga side then got their third away goal after Christian Trasch found Max Kruse for a wonderful aerial finish. Gent pulled back near the end when Sven Kums got his second of the tournament, taking a deflection off keeper Koen Casteels into the net 3-1. Gent then got one more back when substitute Kalifa Coulibaly headed one past Casteels’ near post, 3-2 would end up being the final. What seemed to be a dead Gent side after an hour of play pulled it back, to make it a much more interesting game at Volkswagen Arena, here’s how both sides can advance:

Wolfsburg: Do not underestimate Gent: As Darth Vader once said, “I find your lack of faith disturbing.” Wolfsburg rested Naldo thinking this would be an easy game, which for the most part, it was, but conceding two goals in the last 15 minutes has turned leg 2 on its head. If Wolfsburg held out, Gent would have to win 4-0, now, they only have to win 4-2, or win 3-1 and go to penalties. I believe that Wolfsburg can hold out, but slacking like they did put Gent back in the game, and could wind up killing them.

Gent: Repeat last game’s attack: Though it took them 79 minutes to score, 60% possession and 6 shots on goal against better opposition isn’t bad. The formation they ran was a 5-2-1-2, which seemed likely to help them defend. Now, they need to switch it up to something like a 4-4-2, with the midfield in a tight diamond to push play through the middle. Make sure the defensive midfielder is one who can make strong passes to turn a defensive possession suddenly into a counterattack, Gent are in a tight hole giving up 3 away goals, but if they play like they did, you never know what might happen.

So that concludes the first set of leg 1s in the round of sixteen. The second set of the leg 1s is Tuesday, as four title contenders battle, Arsenal host defending champs Barcelona, and defending runner-ups Juventus take on Bundesliga’s leaders, Bayern Munchen in Italy. The day after, Dynamo Kyiv plays host to struggling Manchester City, and everybody’s favorite underdogs PSV square off against Atlético Madrid. FA Cup action takes place this weekend, and the BPL returns next weekend. The second leg for the eight that played this week is on March 8th and 9th.