The final games in the UEFA Champions League group stage were played earlier this week, thereby concluding the group stages of the tournament. After a winter break, the teams that made it to the round of 16 will play a knockout stage as either one of eight sides that finished first in their group, like Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, or as one of eight sides who finished runners up in their respective groups, which includes Arsenal, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Roma and Valencia.
The fixtures for the round of 16 are decided by a random draw that will take place at the UEFA headquarters on December 17th. Group ranking is critical to a team's hope of European glory, as one group's winner plays against the unseeded runners up in another group. Country protection is in force during this round, which means that clubs from the same nation cannot be drawn against each other. This year, that would mean that the four English teams, the three teams each from Spain and Italy, the two French and two German teams will not draw their domestic league rivals in the next round. I wonder what the European Union has to say about UEFA's take on national protectionism! With the threat of playing the fiercest teams in Europe looming large, clubs placed second in their groups will await the results of the round of 16 draw with bated breath, as will a multitude of prayers. Most sides will hope to land lesser experienced clubs that finished first, like Shakhtar Donetsk or Schalke. However, both sides won five of their six games to qualify at the top of their groups and are currently having a dream run in the Champions League. This fact should sound the warning bells for most teams that neither will be a particularly easy draw.
In the normal European scheme of things, a tie against Tottenham would be one most teams in Europe would salivate over, since most of their familiarity with European football has been acquired as a result of playing in the Europa Cup. This year, as Inter and Gareth Bale fans will testify, all bets are off at White Hart Lane as the Spurs qualified for the round of sixteen as leaders of their group ahead of defending champions Inter Milan. It comes as little surprise that Milan qualified behind group leaders Real Madrid from what was widely called 'the group of death,' while Roma and Arsenal had to wait till their final matches in the group stages to cement their qualification for the round of 16. The remaining runners up from the group stages, include Marseille, Lyon or FC Copenhagen.
Man U could draw either of the three Italian clubs, the two French sides or FC Copenhagen. There are no prizes for guessing whom Sir Alex Ferguson and United fans are hoping they draw; a trip to Denmark would be the least challenging fixture they could land. Interestingly enough, Real and Barca could face any of the same teams with the added bonus of freezing in North London to play Arsenal. I'd like to think that Arsene Wenger is excited about the possibility of the Catalan side calling at the Emirates to hand out fitting punishment for trying to wrangle his captain. In reality, I'm sure Arsene can hold off on retribution for future acts of player-poaching and is hopeful that Santa can help the Gunners land either of the German teams to clinch their spot in the quarter finals. Inter, Roma or Milan may also play Barcelona, Chelsea, Man U or Schalke (Inter and Roma could land Real, Milan could face Tottenham). If I were supporting either of these Italian sides, I'd ready myself for some disappointment in the New Year.
And as for the clubs with the most unexpected campaigns in Champions League football in 2010, I wouldn't be half surprised if Schalke, Shakhtar Donetsk or Harry Redknapp's Tottenham side pull an upset like Liverpool circa 2005 and win the tournament this season!
No comments:
Post a Comment