Champions League Round of 16 Review | 2nd Leg | Part 1

Champions League Round of 16's part 1 is over. After the 2nd leg Real Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester City and Juventus have qualified for the quarterfinals. While Basel, Porto, Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain are knocked out and must dream for next year's Champions League. Liverpool and Manchester City looked set for the quarterfinals after their 1st legs 5-0 and 4-0 victories away from home. While Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Tottenham and Juventus had all to play for in the second leg. Rather than discussing each of the four matches separately, it is better to do them in one go.

Talking points Champions League Round of 16 | Part 1 

5) Porto and Basel escape embarrassment

After a 5-0 and 4-0 loss at home Porto and Basel escaped embarrassment in the 2nd leg. Liverpool and Manchester City. While City started with a weak attack , Liverpool played nearly with full strength. Porto was able to hold Liverpool for a 0-0 draw and Basel somehow defeated a weekend Manchester City 2-1. These two teams would have been happy with overall Champions League campaign but an embarrassment was avoid by them. They held on their own in the 2nd leg and somehow left with a good result. Basel more importantly defeated City and that would give them lot of confidence in their own league. They might have lost the tie on an aggregate of 7 or 8 goals, but to the credit of these two teams they avoided it and that will do good to their confidence.

4) Paris Saint-Germain prove just spending money can't guarantee success

Since the start of the season PSG was hailed as the favorites for the Champions League. With the accusation of Neymar and Mbappe they looked to wipe out competition and win the Champions League. Their league form along with the victory against Bayern Munich in the group stages made people feel they will reach at least the final. What followed next against Real Madrid was nothing but embarrassment. They lost 3-1 at Madrid and again lost 2-1 at home to get knocked out of the competition. To soften the blow they can say they lost their main man Neymar before the 2nd leg but in football 1 player is never enough to win a complete tie. If it was the case of Neymar, then with him they lost 3-1 at Madrid.

The problem with PSG is that they have bought players but have not made them into a proper team. In a weak French  league they might find results with a group of individuals playing for glory, but in big European competition only a team can win. Real Madrid played as a team while PSG had a group of individuals trying to win the match on their own. This current model of PSG  is a testament to the fact money can't just guarantee success. They need a team to win it and have to build one to compete in this big European competition.

 3) Juventus proves experience is very important in this competition

Juventus vs Tottenham was the tie of the Champions League so far. It was a match between an experienced team and a exciting football playing team. Juventus gave a 2 goals lead in Turin and Tottenham earned 2 valuable away goals. At Wembley it was all in favor of Tottenham. They needed just minimum of a goalless draw  to advance.At the 39th minute in the 2nd leg Tottenham scored a goal by Son Heung-min and looked like Juventus was going out of the competition. Juventus needed 2 goals to win the tie from that point onwards. In the second half the substitution of Asamoha and Lichtsteiner was the game changer. They provided more pace to Juventus and finally that was the answer. Within 5 minutes of the substitutions Juventus scored 2 goals and lead the game by 2-1 and 4-3 on aggregate. Higuain scored the first goal at the 64th minute and with a brilliant hold up play he assisted Dybala for the 2nd goal.

After that it was always going to be Juventus. They are one team in the world who after having a lead are hard to defeat. Overall in the 180 minutes in the tie Juventus played good for around 20 minutes and won it. It happened simply because of the experience that Juventus had in the competition. Soon after getting the 2nd goal, Juventus shut the shop and defended with their lives and won the game. What Tottenham did was good to the eyes, but not practical. After getting the 1st goal and a valuable lead, then did not defend and trusted on attack. That did not help them as they kept on attacking and Juventus took right opportunities to win the game. Juventus in the end in just 20 minutes of good football provided, how much experience is important in this game. 20 minutes of good football by an experienced team was enough to win the game.

2) Real Madrid cant be taken lightly in Champions League

All the hype around this round was because of Madrid and PSG tie. Madrid the current champions and PSG the favourites to win it. It was expected to be a easy win for PSG after that kind of season Madrid was having. Falling behind their league and finishing 2nd in the group stages meant that PSG was going to wipe out Madrid. But something happens to Madrid in this competition. Their star player even having a horrendous form can turn up for this competition and they just did that. Cristiano Ronaldo who was having a bad season from his standards, turned up for this tie and scored 3 goals to win it for Real Madrid. 

Whoever faces Madrid next should not look at their league form as the team is a different animal in Champions League. 

Ronaldo looks like have regained confidence and that is more than enough reason for any team to worry about Madrid. Real Madrid are the real deal and they can again win the Champions League as they have only hunger for this trophy. The fact that it is the only trophy they can win this season, plays an important role in their desire to win it. Real Madrid are in the quarter and no team will be safe from them.

1) Manchester City are the favorites, while Liverpool are the dark horses 

After PSG being knocked out of the Champions League , Manchester City are the clear favourites to win the competition. With being 16 points ahead in the league Pep's city can have full concentration in the Champions League. Apart from a bit questionable defence, their is no reason why they can't win the competition. Pep's team usually have a questionable defence but the fact that they have the ball all the time helps them. They are clearly the favorite to win it as they have an experienced team and a champions league winning manager. Every team will like to avoid City as defeating them over two legs is a daunting task. 

Liverpool on the other hand are clearly the dark horse of this tournament. Klopp's team has a simple formula of high pressing and attacking football. They are the only team in the competition who thinks that if opposition scores 2 they will score 3. This is a risky set up but Liverpool are looking in this way. The fact that they defeated Manchester City 4-3 earlier this year in the league, is the prime example of it. Their front three of Mane,Firmino and Salah are major threat to any team, as they look like they can score against any team. Their main weakness if the defence but ever since Van Dijk come in they look alot better. The only way a team can defeat them is by exploiting their defence and by defending throughout the 90 minutes against them. They look so threatening with attack that it is impossible to not take them seriously. They are truly the dark horse of this tournament and wont be a very big surprise, if they win the competition.

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