The group stage of this seasons Champions League came to a close not too long a go and the first upsets are already here. One of them was actually the greatest upset in the history of the Champions League itself! But we'll get too that a bit later. First off let's see which teams qualified to the next round. We have: Paris Saint-Germain, FC Porto, Schalke 04, Arsenal, Malaga, AC Milan, Dortmund, Real Madrid, Juventus, Shakthar Donetsk, FC Barcelona, Celtic, Manchester United and Galatasaray SK. Did anyone notice someone's missing? I thought so.
We'll take this group-by-group. In both groups A and B there was no real competition. All teams (PSG, Porto, Schalke and Arsenal) lived up to their expectations and made it through to the next round. The only surprise, if you can call it that, was the fact that Schalke topped their group ahead of the gunners. But the Ruhr-river side team has shown great defensive ability and teamwork throughout these first six games, so no real shocker there.
Despite what many were saying about them and their financial instabilities, Malaga managed to finish top of group C and knock out Russian giants Zenith. And why wouldn't they when they have the likes of Demichelis, Toulalan, Duda, Buonanote, Kameni and so many others to back up their efforts! AC Milan also clawed their way through, but their future in this competition doesn't look too bright.
We had a major upset in group D. Manchester City managed to not only get knocked out of the Champions League, but the Europa League as well! That's right, the Premier League champions will not be playing European football in February! They were able to hit rock bottom of their group. Dortmund, on the other hand, seem to have learned a lot from last season's lesson and managed to take first place, with Real Madrid following them in second.
And if anyone was looking for Chelsea in the teams that qualified, they should stop. Because the Champions League title-holders didn't make it through! Apparently they were too busy switching managers or whatnot but the fact remains that this is the first time ever that a Champions League champion doesn't make through the group stage. And with all that money spent... I wonder what Abramovich is thinking right now. Juventus and a splendid Shakhtar Donetsk side sent Chelsea plummeting to the Europa League.
In the final two groups there were nail-biters only for the second places. Both Barca and United secured their qualifications from early on, leaving Benfica and Celtic in Group G and Galatasaray and Cluj in Group H to battle it out. In the end, it was the Scots and the Turks who celebrated.
As for predictions in who will play with whom in the next round, first off we have to know who can play with who as there are certain rules:
-Teams from the same country cannot be paired against each other.
-Teams from the same group cannot be paired against each other.
-The teams have been divided into two groups. Those who qualified as first in their group and those who qualified as second. Teams that finished first in their group or teams that finished second in their group cannot be paired against each other.
That being said, I would like to see a Juventus-Real Madrid or a PSG-AC Milan just so we can reminisce about the old days when these teams would play against each other and it would be a really big deal. But in my opinion, this next round will feature a lot of david-vs-goliath matches that will guarantee even more action in the quarter-finals. Anyhow, this is my prediction for the draw:
Barcelona-Arsenal
Manchester United-Celtic
Schalke-Real Madrid
Bayern Munich-Galatasaray
Juventus-Porto
Malaga-Shakhtar Donetsk
Paris SG-Arsenal
Dortmund-AC Milan
So there you have it. I predict there will be one or two crowd-pleasers, like Dortmund vs AC Milan, but nothing too massive. Let's not forget that football is also a lot about advertising. We'll check back here on 20/12 to see how right I was. Till then...
We'll take this group-by-group. In both groups A and B there was no real competition. All teams (PSG, Porto, Schalke and Arsenal) lived up to their expectations and made it through to the next round. The only surprise, if you can call it that, was the fact that Schalke topped their group ahead of the gunners. But the Ruhr-river side team has shown great defensive ability and teamwork throughout these first six games, so no real shocker there.
Despite what many were saying about them and their financial instabilities, Malaga managed to finish top of group C and knock out Russian giants Zenith. And why wouldn't they when they have the likes of Demichelis, Toulalan, Duda, Buonanote, Kameni and so many others to back up their efforts! AC Milan also clawed their way through, but their future in this competition doesn't look too bright.
We had a major upset in group D. Manchester City managed to not only get knocked out of the Champions League, but the Europa League as well! That's right, the Premier League champions will not be playing European football in February! They were able to hit rock bottom of their group. Dortmund, on the other hand, seem to have learned a lot from last season's lesson and managed to take first place, with Real Madrid following them in second.
And if anyone was looking for Chelsea in the teams that qualified, they should stop. Because the Champions League title-holders didn't make it through! Apparently they were too busy switching managers or whatnot but the fact remains that this is the first time ever that a Champions League champion doesn't make through the group stage. And with all that money spent... I wonder what Abramovich is thinking right now. Juventus and a splendid Shakhtar Donetsk side sent Chelsea plummeting to the Europa League.
In the final two groups there were nail-biters only for the second places. Both Barca and United secured their qualifications from early on, leaving Benfica and Celtic in Group G and Galatasaray and Cluj in Group H to battle it out. In the end, it was the Scots and the Turks who celebrated.
As for predictions in who will play with whom in the next round, first off we have to know who can play with who as there are certain rules:
-Teams from the same country cannot be paired against each other.
-Teams from the same group cannot be paired against each other.
-The teams have been divided into two groups. Those who qualified as first in their group and those who qualified as second. Teams that finished first in their group or teams that finished second in their group cannot be paired against each other.
That being said, I would like to see a Juventus-Real Madrid or a PSG-AC Milan just so we can reminisce about the old days when these teams would play against each other and it would be a really big deal. But in my opinion, this next round will feature a lot of david-vs-goliath matches that will guarantee even more action in the quarter-finals. Anyhow, this is my prediction for the draw:
Barcelona-Arsenal
Manchester United-Celtic
Schalke-Real Madrid
Bayern Munich-Galatasaray
Juventus-Porto
Malaga-Shakhtar Donetsk
Paris SG-Arsenal
Dortmund-AC Milan
So there you have it. I predict there will be one or two crowd-pleasers, like Dortmund vs AC Milan, but nothing too massive. Let's not forget that football is also a lot about advertising. We'll check back here on 20/12 to see how right I was. Till then...
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