Friday, December 17, 2010

Round Of 16 Draw Doesn't Fail To Disappoint

We found out today the fixtures for the round of sixteen in the Champions League. There are a few, with no disrespect, "mickey mouse" matches such as Copenhagen v Chelsea, which should be one sided in the favour of Chelsea. You also have Valencia v Schalke, which isn't necessarily a "mickey mouse" match but I won't really be paying much attention to it. On the plus side, we have some tasty matches. Tottenham will be facing AC Milan, Inter Milan host Bayern Munich in the first leg, and of course, Arsenal v Barcelona.

If Arsenal fans thought it was ok that their team could only achieve second in their group, they'll think again as the Gunners got none other than Barcelona. We have seen how good Barca can be this season, with the perfect example being their performance against Real Madrid, thrashing the renewed "Galacticos" 5-0 at the Nou Camp. However, we have seen the brilliance in Arsenal's attack. With both attacks second to none, I am really hoping for a classic over the two legs.

A week or so ago, I was discussing about whether or not it was better to get second in the group stages because a few top sides had failed to impress such as Arsenal and Inter Milan. But it seems that Inter are better off than Tottenham, who of course were both in Group A, as they managed to get Bayern Munich while Tottenham have to face Inter's arch rivals AC Milan, even though Spurs managed to get top spot. I don't know about you, but I would prefer to face Bayern Munich rather than AC Milan, even though I would fear facing the German giants.

Typical Man United and Chelsea, but more so Chelsea, got it easy as Man United got Marseille and as I already mentioned Chelsea got the Danish side Copenhagen. I think if Ancelotti fails to get his side through to the quarter final it's bye bye to the Italian. I don't expect them to fail to progress, but you never know with the Chelsea as of late. 

The first set of matches will be played in the week of the 15th/16th of February and the second set the week after. Whatever happens, big names are guaranteed to get knocked out, whether it be Arsenal or Barcelona or, Tottenham or AC Milan. Both matches shouldn't be missed.

I would love to hear any comments you may have.


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