I received a lot of criticism on the preview of the first knock out round of this season's Champions League particularly because of my stance on England's sole surviving team and the eventual outcome. A lot is based on stats, form and player/team selection as well as tactical execution by the respective managers, my assertions are mainly based on my personal opinion and cannot be classified as an exact or actual science.
The first knock out round did not experience any major upsets, asides the continued progress of Apoel Nicosia in this year's competition which remains a delight for most neutral fans. My score card with respect to my predictions was somewhat mixed, a 50% scorecard is quite encouraging and that sets me back to the role of fortune teller with a number of tasty games to occupy all football lovers.
AC MILAN V BARCELONA
Without a doubt, this is the tie of the round; it is common knowledge that Barcelona are the best team in the world and arguably one of the best club teams ever. Milan on the other hand are a team of solid European pedigree; 7 Champions League trophies is no mean feat, second only to Barcelona's eternal rivals, Real Madrid.
Milan continue to dominate Serie A despite the number of injuries that has plagued the team in recent weeks, of significant importance will be the absence of Thiago Silva (the best defender in the world) due to an injury sustained over the weekend, also the loss of Mark Van Bommel via suspension may also be pivotal; but the Milan have the returning Kevin Prince Boateng; who has been quite pivotal this season; of course the Great Zlatan Ibrahimovic who is in the form of his life (29 goals this season). Zlatan can be ranked amongst the best players in the world after Messi and Ronaldo; he has a point to prove to the catalans after an unhappy one year stint at the Nou Camp.
Milan are winless in their last six encounters against Barcelona and they held their own quite well in the two encounters during the group stages; however, most Milan fans and the wolves that would occupy San Siro on the night will point to the last time a Barcelona team was highly favoured to steam roll Milan; Milan came out on top in flying colours. Milan most get their tactics spot on; maybe some other antics like the one with respect to the pitch against Arsenal will be employed to stop Barcelona playing their fluid style of football, be that as it may; the catalans are overwhelming favorites, the form of Lionel Messi, the intelligent use of Xavi this season and the bright young prospects from La Masia has kept Barca in poll position to retain the champions league emulating the Milan side of 89/90 seasons.
Verdict
I believe the outcome of this game is not dependent on any major tactical deployment, but will be determined by how much Milan want to win this (as the much talked about blue print would have us believe). Three Months is a long time in football, Barcelona are also in impeccable form and do not have any major injuries going into this game; it wont be easy and may not be so pretty, but if Milan can get a good result at the San Siro, they have a good chance; but without Thiago Silva, its a long shot. Barcelona progress to the semis.
APOEL V REAL MADRID:
Apoel, the Cinderella story. This small team from Cyprus have the pleasure of welcoming the famous Real Madrid to Nicosia; the game is sure to be a sell out and i expect them to play with out fear, Ailton has been in good form for Apoel in the UCL, but the juggernaut called Real Madrid are looking ruthless and menacing, forget about the two straight draws in La Liga; when Real have the meat between their teeth, they go for broke.
Verdict
The fairy tale ends here, it was fun whilst it lasted, Real are way to strong to lose this, Real Madrid go through easily at home.
BENFICA V CHELSEA:
The Lisbon club has already seen off English Champions Manchester United, so will approach this match with great confidence. Both teams approach this game after both securing goalless draws in their domestic leagues, distraction you say? Benfica have injury concerns on Ezekiel Garay and have Pablo Aimar returning from suspension; Aimar on his day can be a match winner; Chelsea's problem mainly lies upfront as the choice of either Drogba and Torres remains a major headache for the manager, I would rather go with Drogba for the away leg as he can hold up play well; Chelsea have to watch out for the movement of Oscar Cardozo and tricky Manchester United target Nicolas Gaitan.
Benfica have only lost once at home this season and are undefeated in their last 11 games in the Champions League, a tough proposition awaits Chelsea, but i believe its quite winnable for the London side. Chelsea should employ grafters in their midfield to stifle Benfica's impressive approach play in midfield from the likes of Aimar and Witsel and hope to break well with Mata and Sturridge; Ramires and Luiz will cherish a return to their old stumping ground.
Verdict
Chelsea showed good team spirit to get to this stage in the game against Napoli and i strongly believe this same team spirit may get them through; but that's not to say it will be easy, Benfica will give a good account of themselves, but with the second leg going to Stamford Bridge, I think Chelsea will win the return leg especially after getting a draw away at the Estadio D' Luz (The Stadium of Light), one thing is for sure we will have a lot of goals. Chelsea to progress.
MARSIELLE V BAYERN MUNICH:
If there ever was a ruthless team in European football currently, its Bayern Munich. They have been in red hot form lately scoring 20 goals in 3 matches including their destruction of Basel in the last round. Marseille on the other hand put up a late show at the San Siro to knock out Inter Milan; Mandanda will be missing via suspension and Loic Remy is still a huge doubt; Marseille's form has been quite poor as they are currently 9th in Ligue 1. Bayern may name an unchanged team from the team that tore Basel apart, although they still miss Bastian Schweinsteiger; the Bavarians have shown that they are well equipped to progress to the Semi Finals with an eye on the finals in their own stadium, the Allianz Arena.
Verdict
Bayern will progress and will won both legs of the tie, there's no stopping the Bayern Munich train right now, their superior ammunition gives they a huge advantage.
Conclusion
Enjoy the matches and lets know what you think, hopefully i'll get a better than average prediction rating.
Adeyemi Adesanya
Tactics IQ Limited
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