Champions League Review
Tuesday, 03 March 09, 04:45 PM · Comments(0)
Champions League is here again ladies and gentlemen and, for La Liga mas especial del mundo, we've got 3 teams still in the heat of the action: FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico de Madrid. My initial reaction, a bit of optimism for Real Madrid against a slowly sinking Liverpool side, a bit of pessimism as the head-cases at Atleti are hard pressed as ever to find consistent form in La Liga, let alone in the pressure cooker of the Champions League and finally, as RCD Espanyol just pointed out last round in league play, Barca are very vulnerable in and around goal and will concede if a team manages to break through that wall of talented midfielders that they have.
Predictions? My first reaction was that over both legs, Real Madrid would open it up and attack Liverpool at the Bernabeu as the faithful madridistas would have it no other way, and I figured 3-1 for the team in white, and in the return leg at fortress Anfield, European nights and all that rubbish, Madrid would not be intimidated and would have gone through on a one all draw. Obviously that's all out with the loss at home from Benayoun's late goal for the 'Pool but it is still on if Madrid can nick an away goal early and draw Rafa out of his shell and that's exactly what I think will happen.
In the less glamorous matched: I thought that Atleti would suffer a bit when they finished their series at the Dragao next week as they were let down immensely by their very porous defense allowing a 2-2 draw at home at the Vicente Calderon. Despite the two goals, Kun Aguero was not scoring, and it seemed he was distracted with the birth of his Maradona baby, but this past weekend's Barcelona match changed that I believe. He's an emotional kid, fueled by confidence, and the club reflects that in the way they play. They'll have to attack early and hope that their defenders won't be caught by the Porto counter-attack, and while I don't usually believe that bombs-away teams like the colchoneros do well in these competitions I think they've drawn an inferior opponent quite frankly and they'll go through. For Villareal it's a different story. Conceding an away goal isn't usually a death knell if your club can break down an opponent like Villareal can, Guiseppe Rossi is the true heir to the proud lineage of the Azzurri #10 shirt that Antonio Cassano only wishes he were, but while they are also facing an experienced European side with a quality manager, Atletico Madrid only have to travel to Portugal while the Yellow Submarine have a fierce trip to Athens to look forward to, and much more experienced and deeper squads than Villareal have lost in the Eastern Mediterranean before. I'm not sure, but I expect Panathinaikos to advance.
Which leads me to the FC Barcelona match at Lyon. They have been on some rather indifferent form, coasting for much of the year in Spain, and a thin squad to begin with (as Guardiola doesn't like big squads or vary too much in his rotation) is even thinner with injuries and suspensions to key players like Puyol or Marquez. Losing to last place Espanyol in a derby match at home was an indication that they had their heads elsewhere (maybe in France, maybe on Madrid) but this past weekend's collapse against Atletico Madrid losing not one but two leads to an inferior rojiblanco squad that they had pummeled earlier in the year 6-1 was a sign that all is not well at the Nou Camp. I think that if this match were in any other place but at home, Barcelona might continue to struggle, but all they really need is a draw (as that crucial Thierry Henry away goal carries alot of cache) and they'll advance with ease. This is a clear indicator that not only is there definitely a league campaign still on for the blaugrana but no one is going to merely hand over the Cup with the big ears to them.
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forzafutbol
Los Angeles, US
A better lens into the World's Game. We talk about UEFA Cup, Champions League and International matches, especially when they intersect with teams in Spain and Italy, we talk transfer rumours, gossip and everything else that revolves around the world's greatest game.
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Mando said:I think you can get 3 for the price of what you'd pay for Kaka and Ronaldo. Aul...
trooper said:here is my squad list:
GK - iker casillas & codina
DEFENCE: maicon,ramo...
Keftbubpoet said:I don't like the colour.
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