Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Champions League - round of 16 ready. Let the real tournament begin!


So we are done with the club friendlies, I mean the Champions League group stages...we know which teams will be in the knock out stages the break out and which teams can be drawn together:

Group winners
A: Tottenham Hotspur FC
Can play: Lyon, Valencia, København, Roma, Marseille, Milan
With Harry's luck this season they will draw Kobenhaven, but would love to see them go against one of the Italian sides.

B: FC Schalke 04
Can play: Inter, Valencia, København, Roma, Marseille, Milan, Arsenal
Only easy draw...Kobenhaven. But I think German side could surprise any of the potential teams they can be drawn with. Might be the dark horse of the knock out stages.

C: Manchester United FC
Can play: Inter, Lyon, København, Roma, Marseille, Milan
Knowing SAF fortune...MUFC will draw the Danish club. Although a date with Rafa and Inter would be very interesting to watch the Spaniard squirm facing one of his EPL boogeymen.

D: FC Barcelona
Can play: Inter, Lyon, Roma, Marseille, Milan, Arsenal
No easy draw for Spanish side, for fans of beautiful football a Barca v Arsenal might be a symphony of passing and the beautiful game. Plus Cesc can use it to "scrimmage" against his future squad.

E: FC Bayern München
Can play: Inter, Lyon Valencia, København, Marseille, Milan, Arsenal
Bayern versus Marseille would be an interesting tie, have former OM player Ribery go back to the Velodrome.

F: Chelsea FC
Can play: Inter, Lyon, Valencia, København, Roma, Milan
With Chelsea's current form...schizophrenic....no team should fear the Blues. A match up against Lyon would be interesting for the Malouda angle.

G: Real Madrid CF
Can play: Inter, Lyon, København, Roma, Marseille, Arsenal
Ah, the Special One, facing either Inter and Rafa or Arsenal and Wenger, both would make for great build up. In the end I think seeing Mourinho head up against his former club Inter and the manager he might respect less than Wenger, Rafa would be too good to be true. What if Inter can beat Real as well???

H: FC Shakhtar Donetsk
Can play: Inter, Lyon, Valencia, København, Roma, Marseille, Milan
Might be the Qatar of 2022...the weakest head of table, then again Shakhtar could beat the Qatar national side! Any club that gets drawn will feel they have more than a good chance to go through. Would be nice for Lyon or Marseilles to get this draw, give Ligue 1 a chance to pass to next round.


We will see in a week which teams will be draw to face one another. Let the real tournament begin!

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