Article 96 — Review of Champions League Round of 16 & Preview of the Quarter-Finals
Real Madrid, the newly crowned Spanish champions and the record holders of the Champions League, crashed out of the Round of 16 for the second season in a row. I wouldn’t mind their elimination if not for the identity of the team that knocked them out, my English rivals, Manchester City. Raphael Varane, a defender that I rate highly made two terrible mistakes to gift City the goals scored by Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus. Karim Benzema had momentarily equalised for his team in between the howlers. Real had chances to score but didn’t take them.
It’s amazing that a team historically known for their attacking talent got unstuck in a crucial match due to the absence of their team captain, central defender, Sergio Ramos. Not sure what Ramos could have done for the goals they conceded though. It’s a reflection of this Real team, in transition with several young players, some experienced players that remain and some disharmony in the ranks as well. They are desperately lacking the star quality of a Cristiano Ronaldo and the weight is on Eden Hazard’s shoulder to deliver. He hasn’t done so this season and would have the pressure intensified on him for next season.
Manchester City meanwhile progressed to the quarter-final as England’s sole representative in the Champions League. They won 2–1, a mirror of the first leg score to win 4–2 on aggregate. They also became the first English team since Liverpool to knock Real Madrid out of the Champions League with wins over both legs. A season ago, there was an all-English final in the Champions League but this season, only one team remain. Things change quickly as does perception. City would feel confident that maybe this could be their year to finally win the Champions League. After losing the league title by a landslide margin and only winning the League Cup, winning the Champions League has been looked at as the big objective for this season.
In the quarter-final, City will play against surprise qualifiers, Olympique Lyon. Lyon was one of the teams the big teams would have loved to face as they were looked at as easy meat. However, they stunned everyone to knock out one of those big teams, Juventus. Lyon had a slender 1–0 first-leg lead but the world has been turned on its head since then. The first penalty was awarded in favour of Lyon and I felt it was harsh as Rodrigo Bentancur looked to have tackled and got the ball. Not sure what the referee saw in that but he awarded a penalty and Memphis Depay returning from the anterior cruciate ligament injury duly converted.
Juventus then got an equally fortunate equaliser. A free-kick by the departing Miralem Pjanic was blocked by Depay in the wall. He had his hands close to his body but the referee applied the letter of the law to award a penalty and Cristiano Ronaldo converted. Ronaldo then scored a typical worldie to give his team the lead on the night but it wasn’t enough as they slipped out of the tournament on away goals. Another season, another one met with disappointment for Juventus and glee for their haters in Italy. It just reinforces the point that Juventus can only cut it domestically and not in Europe.
Manchester City vs Lyon at the moment looks like its 90% certain that City will win and progress to the semi-final but in the new format, there could be some surprises in store. City always gives their opponents space to attack and if Lyon is clinical in the space and with the chances they get, who knows what might happen. Lyon is surely going to clam up and let City have most of the possession. It’s fascinating but on paper, City looks like the stronger side.
Barcelona too progressed to the quarter-final after they beat Napoli 3–1 on the night and 4–2 on aggregate. I was quietly confident of Napoli’s chances to spring an upset more so due to the absences of some key players in the Barcelona team and the tension behind the scenes in their team. Napoli was also approaching this match in better form and spirit than they did in the first leg. It was not to be though. An inexplicable decision by the referee to allow Clement Lenglet to open the scoring after replays showed he pushed Diego Demme as he climbed to head Barcelona into the lead.
Before that, Dries Mertens hit the woodwork with a shot. If that had gone in, the game would have been different. Barcelona raced into a 3–0 lead in the first half. It could have been 4–0 but a Lionel Messi goal was disallowed for handball on the VAR. Upon viewing the replay, I can’t quite see where it hit Messi on the arm. Napoli scored from a penalty of their own at the end of the first half to give some hope for a comeback in the second half. They actually ended the game with more shots on goal and more possession but it’s goals that win you matches and that was what was missing.
It sets up a heavyweight quarter-final between Barcelona and German champions, Bayern Munich. Bayern made light work of Chelsea, beating them 4–1 after a 3–0 first-leg lead to sweep them aside, 7–1 on aggregate. It was Chelsea’s worst-ever aggregate European defeat. Bayern clearly enjoys playing against London clubs after a remarkably one-sided 27–6 score against them in their last three encounters against teams from the English capital. It’s anyone’s game as it is commonly said in the Singapore/Malaysia football circle for the quarter-final between Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Either team could win it but I would marginally tip the Germans to get past Barcelona.
Atalanta, Italy’s sole representative in the Champions League, in their debut in the tournament are up against one of the teams that desperately wants to win the tournament, Paris Saint-Germain. Who would have that the only team left in the tournament to represent Italy would be Atalanta? Atalanta is not one of Italy’s traditionally big clubs but is in a golden period in their history. They have ended the Serie A season as the highest scorers in the league, without any star names in the team and are playing some really good, attacking football fearlessly.
Paris Saint-Germain on the other hand, have dominated French football since they became newly rich. Like Juventus, they too are desperate to translate that domestic dominance into continental triumph. Like Manchester City, another club that started winning big trophies since they became newly rich, they want to justify the huge outlay on the club since the first Euros of Arab money started pouring into the club. They are favourites to beat Atalanta who have nothing to lose. I am with the underdogs for this game because they are the only representative of Italy left and because they are an underdog. It is pleasing to know as well that they play well.
The final quarter-final will be between RB Leipzig and Atletico Madrid. Two teams that play in contrasting styles. It is a battle between the third-placed team in Bundesliga and the corresponding team in La Liga. Atletico under Diego Simeone has been known to play in an aggressive, robust, defensive way with gamesmanship to match. They got to the quarter-final in thrilling fashion knocking out the reigning holders of the Champions League, Liverpool. They have got to two Champions League final in the previous decade which also included a La Liga triumph. The team has experience of being at this stage of the tournament and that would make them favourites to go through.
Leipzig will be expected to play in an attacking style taking the game to their opponents. This is the furthest they have gone in this competition. They got to the quarter-finals in the Europa League in 2017–18 too but were eliminated at that stage by Marseille. It will be interesting if they can get through to the semi-final as an underdog that plays good football. It will be intriguing to see how both teams are physically and mentally when they take on the pitch. Leipzig last played a league match in late June while Atletico last played 3 weeks ago. I would reckon that Atletico would have more of an edge going into this game and would be surprised if they were eliminated instead.
