Champions League Draw - Round of 16
Revenge time for Barca as they are pitted against Chelsea in the round of 16. I am happy to see Real drawn against Arsenal...i will be happy to see either team crash out. AC have to fight it out with Bayern. It is too early to predict the winners since the next round doesn't start until the end of February...the form of the teams then will determine who will go further. As ever, expecting a few major upsets too.
The Draw...
Chelsea v BarcelonaThe Draw...
Real Madrid v Arsenal
Werder Bremen v Juventus
Bayern Munich v AC Milan
PSV Eindhoven v Lyon
Ajax v Internazionale
Benfica v Liverpool
Rangers v Villarreal
Ties to be played Feb 21/22 and March 7/8.
posted by Lucas @ 5:12 AM
6 Comments:
Atleast one amongst Arsenal Or Real, one of them goes to Quarters. Good. Really good. It is better to see one team going a long way rather than both progress and stumble at the same point which has happned the last two years. Particualrly, An Arsenal win would boost their confidence tremoundously and after that, it will not take long to see them back at their fluid best.Just the competitive attitude is the difference I see as the gap between Arsenal and say ,Barcelona.
I would like Barcelona, the favourites going thru this time around.They badly need to mend their European record of a solitary triumph to justify all the accolades they are getting at the moment.
Sad to see that one among the traditional powerhouses Bayern or AC Milan will be ejected early.
Liverpool, Juventus shud have an easy outing.
Cole shud be back by then too.That ll be a boost.At least that way we wudnt have to play Lauren or cygan at left back.I feel that one of the main reasons why the gunners have struggled this season is bcos the pires-cole partnership has been non existent bcos of the cole injury.BTW, the guardian has stated that Cole might move to Real next season.A swap with baptista ..apparently.It wont be a bad deal considering the fact that we need aerial ability.
Boy, i have been waiting for this game fo so long.2 seasons back, it looked likely that they d meet in the semis ,only for chelsea and monaco to ruin that.
Go Arsenal go!
Yes, Baptista is really good in the air, in fact up there among the best. But it is a pity that Arsenal is not at all good when it comes to crosses. Henry, Reyes, van Persie, whoever takes a corner they are not expert at landing the ball at the precise spot.You'll need good crossers as well. I bet if Julio comes to Arsenal in the swap deal Wenger would want to use him more in the holding midfielder position curbing his attacking isntincts to some extent.Unless the team improves in the aspect of playing the ball in the air and utilizing the wider areas, there will be a problem.Another thing is there are not many good left backs around. It'll take some time for Clichy to emulate Cole.Maxwell of Ajax,maybe a possible replacement..
I am not sure abt Baptista being played as Anchor man...there have been suggestions that Lauren might play there.I think that this can be a back up plan and gunners can go get Castalan at right back.He s super!
Abt the left back situation,Clichy is great..just a little error prone.What abt Rothen for left back?
And all this talk abt Arsenal not having a Plan B is trivial..as far as i am concerned.Gunners always create chances,its a matter of putting them away.Thats why i feel Arsenal shud have brought owen when he was available.
Aren't Romeo Castelan and Jerome Rothen wingers?Baptista brings that much needed robust-look to the midfield.Moreover with van Persie and possibly ,Abeyie & Lupoli coming up, what is the need to play him up front(maybe if Henry leaves it might happen..otherwise...I've my own doubts). Any team .. it is good to have a Plan B. Not that we would like to see Arsenal winning ugly like they won against ManU in the FA Cup final.It was a plan B.But it did not suit the team playing sole striker. The players need to be more adaptable to tough conditions and must stop whining against opponents getting physical once their fluid passing play is blocked by rough playing opponents.
Saw Castalan Playing against England few months back..played right back then.As u say,there is a need to toughen up.lets see what happens.With Campbell not being his dominant self and paddy gone..no wonder we look fragile.
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