“UCL Quarter-Final Draw Analysis” Real Madrid-Borussia Dortmund (The revenge battle) The rematch of one of last season Champions League semi-finals tie, a tie that was punctuated with Lewandowski putting four passed Los Blancos. The memory of exiting the competition for the third consecutive time at the exact same stage to a Robert Lewandowski inspired Borussia Dortmund is still fresh in the memories of Real Madrid players, which means getting the chance to atone for their drubbing at the Westfalen Stadium (The stadium that vibrates) is something they have longed for. During the first-leg of the tie in Germany, Jurgen Kloop outsmarted Mourinho both tactically and technically to guide his side to a surprising 4-1 victory over the whites.. In the reverse fixture at the Bernabeu, Real Madrid tried to overturn the deficit, but a 2-0 victory wasn’t enough to take them to Wembley. That said, destiny has seen to it that they have been paired with the same opponent that denied them the chance of achieving their La Decima dream last year. It has been 11 months since that happened and there have been transitions in the two environments: At Madrid, they had a change in manager and at Dortmund they lost their creative genius Mario Gotze to Bayern Munich. That said, Real Madrid has improved significantly under Carlo Ancellotti and far from a one-man CR-7 team they used to be under Mourinho; while B. Dortmund has suffered a huge dip in form due to injuries to key players couple with the departure of Mario Gotze to Bayern that have weakened them. That said, being a Madridista aside, looking at both teams current form and drawing from an apple-to-apple comparison of their defense, midfield and forward, I think Real Madrid will progress to the semi-final of the competition. At the moment, they are just too strong for the Germans, and if care is not properly taking, a drubbing at the Bernabeu for Dortmund is inescapable. Manchester United vs Bayern Munich (The best team vs the worst) Statistics has it that Pep Guardiola is an expert at beating Manchester United in the CL: In two Champions League finals (2009 and 2011) meetings, the Spaniard guided his all conquering Barcelona to her 3rd and 4th CL titles against the Red Devils. Fast forward to 2014, his Bayern Munich squad has been drawn in the quarter-finals of the UCL with the worst Manchester United team in the last five years under the supervision of David Moyes; which birth the question can this United squad put an end to Pep winning streak? This Bayern team is playing arguably the best football at the moment in Europe, and getting a tie with strugglers Man-U who had to sweat blood to overturn a 2-0 deficit incurred in Greece two weeks ago may be a bonus for playing well. However, any team is beatable in football. Any team is beatable in football is true, but my doubt is whether this struggling Man-U side can expose the weak-points in this invincible Bayern squad? I say no, nearly impossible. To back up my answer, the facts are all around and glaring to see that Bayern are streets away from this Man-U team that lacks confidence and enthusiasm. Pep Guardiola has transformed Bayern into a creative empire backup by an admirable off the ball work-ethics. I respect Man-U a lot; she has been one of the most consistent teams in the tournament of recent except for the last two CL campaigns. But we should call a spade a spade. Man-U is not prepared both quality and psychologically wise to upset Bayern right now. I will use the two finals Man-U played against Barca to support my points. In the two finals with Barca, the Catalans had weaknesses and weak-points, but Man-U inability to access the ball to expose those weak-points led to them failing to win one of the two finals. That said, Bayern is arguably in the exact same position as the Pep Guardiola Barca that out-played Man-U in those finals. On top of this, this Bayern team has too much quality across each department as compare to Peps Barcelona. The addition of Thiago Alcantara to their mid-field has provided extra lubricant for their fluent game. And lest we forget, it was actually the passing and creative geniuses of Xavi-Hernadez and Andres Iniesta that destroyed United in those finals back-up by the balance provided by SB. Bayern has assembled their own Xavi-Iniesta in Thiago and Gotze. Therefore, it takes a well-organized and compact team to upset this Bayern squad, which I dont think Man-U is near. It just hard to argue on paper that Man-U can progress to the semi-final of the competition ahead of Bayern. I am not saying it will be a walk in the park for Bayern, but they will progress. I wish you guys could have gotten B. Dortmund. RIP Man-U. Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid (Tournament favorites vs the dark horse/ a domestic battle between two rival regions teams) There have been three draws from three meetings already between these two teams. That said, Atletico is a complicated test for Messi and Co; whereas Barca is becoming a familiar exam for Diego Costa and his colleagues. If Atletico can maintain their intensity, hard-pressing and decisive counter attacks, they may get lucky and progress. On the other hand, if Barcelona can emulate their home-and-away form against Manchester City over the two legs, Simone and his troops will be saying goodbye to battlefield Champions League. The tie is open, but Barca has an edge considering the Messi factor. PSG vs Chelsea (The billionaires clash) On paper this tie looks like an open one, meaning any of the two teams can progress to the next stage of the competition. On one hand, Jose Mourinho is hoping to make it to his 4th successive CL semi-finals; while on the other hand, PSG is hoping to make it to her first CL semi-final in its history. That being said, of the two teams with the exact same ambition to progress to the next stage of the competition, only one can progress because the competition is in its knock-out stage. It’s difficult to predict a favorite for this tie: In term of richness and ingredients in squad, PSG is ahead of Chelsea, but experience and tactics wise the Pensioners is streets away from the Parisian club. PSG boast the second most fearsome striking force in the whole of Europe in Zlatan-Cavani-Lavazi only second to the BBC. In midfield, they are assembling a creative industry in Johan Cabaye, Thiago Motta and Javier Pastore, and in case of emergency or back-up they can call upon Marco Veratti (The new Pirlo of Italian Football) and Blaise Matuidi. In defense Laurence Blanc can rely on Thiago Silva, Jallet, Maxwell and the former Chelsea man Alex for stooping the floodgates from opening. For Chelsea, the project is still in its formative stage.. Blending young talents with experience players takes time. However, the team has put in some solid performances against top opponents: Manchester City, Man-U, Liverpool and Bayern Munich can all give testament to this assertion. That being said, in these games, it was actually Jose Mourinho mind games and tactics that carried the team through. Jose Mourinho aside, Chelsea is an ordinary squad and that is one of the reason for which the team best player Eden Hazard is yet to win the Barclay Player of the month award. With this in mind, if Larance Blanc can outsmart Mourinho and ignore his pre-match mind games and concentrate on the match, PSG may get lucky and play their first CL semi-final in its history. The reverse also holds true, if Mourinho can get into the heads of Laurence Blanc and his staffs, making them to feel superior and complacent before the match, Chelsea will make it to the semi-final. 50-50. My two cents. Thanks for reading….
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 15:41:00 +0000