Last-16 of Champions League 2020-21

 The groups stages of this season's Champions League has been weird, without spectators much of the atmosphere has been absent, and it probably has had some influence on teams that have also had cases of Corona-virus inside the club. There have nevertheless been interesting, good and surprising matches, and after the end of the group stages, these are the last-16 clashes:

• Borussia Monchenglandbach-Manchester City: The advance of the German side is a small surprise, as they left behind Shakhtar Donetsk and a poor Inter Milan side, and were close to taking the first spot from mighty Real Madrid. They will have to play their best as they face a Manchester City side that was never in doubt when winning its group with 5 victories and one tie.
• Lazio-Bayern Munich: The defending champions of Bayern Munich have been awesome with five victories and a tie, and an impressive score of 18-5. In my view, the German side are the strongest contenders to take the title. Lazio got through in an exciting final 2-2 match against Club Brugge, who was only centimeters from making it through. The Italians have not lost any matches, but gone through with two victories and four ties.
• Atletico Madrid-Chelsea: Probably two teams that did not want to face one another. Despite some difficulties in losing to Red Star Salzburg, Atletico Madrid made it through behind Bayern Munich, and remain one of the most difficult sides to face in the competition. Chelsea made it through ahead of Sevilla in a group where the only competition was about which of those two sides would win the group: Chelsea made sure it was them by an impressive 0-4 victory in Seville.
• RB Leipzig-Liverpool: Liverpool won its group ahead of Atalanta, and are looking strong despite some signs of weakness in some matches (they did not look good in any of the matches against the minnows of FC Midtjylland). But Liverpool normally rises to the occasion and will have to do it against a Leipzig side that made it through in a complicated group, behind Paris Saint Germain on goal difference, and ahead of a poor Manchester United side. RB Leipzig made it to the semifinal last season and is looking for a surprise repeat.
• FC Porto-Juventus: Although going through behind Manchester City, FC Porto also went through with style, winning all their matches except against the English side. It may be argued that it was an easy group, so their real test will come against Juventus. The Italians won their group ahead of FC Barcelona, where a 0-3 away victory was particularly impressive, with two goals by the COVID-recovering Ronaldo. The Italian side seems increasingly to depend on the skills of the Portuguese Maestro, but probably will be expecting to get ahead of Porto.
• FC Barcelona-Paris St. Germain: This is probably the most expected match. Despite five victories in the group stages (including an away win at Juventus) FC Barcelona is in crisis as Lionel Messi does not seem to be comfortable in the team any longer. This is a pity for any football fan, but also represents an opportunity for Paris St. Germain, where Neymar and Mbappe have been important in a team that otherwise struggled a bit to win their group ahead of Leipzig. This match will be hugely important for both clubs.
• Sevilla-Borussia Dortmund: Two very exciting teams face one another. Borussia Dortmund won their group ahead of Lazio, and their young Norwegian goal machine Erling Haaland has continued pouring in goals. Sevilla made it through behind Chelsea in a group where Krasnodar and Rennes did not represent the strongest opposition, and did lose 0-4 at home to Chelsea, so they will have to prove they are better against the Germans.
• Atalanta-Real Madrid: Real Madrid won their group despite struggling; they lost twice to Shakhtar Donetsk (who did not make it through) and only a last minute 2-2 tie against Borussia Monchengladbach put them in first place. But Real Madrid are Real Madrid and probably still favourites against Atalanta. The Italian side made it through behind Liverpool and against Mayern Munich, and their continued attacking but open style makes them vulnerable to better attacking sides, as their 0-5 home defeat to Liverpool is proof of.

 The last sixteen are are dominated by the big European leagues: four German teams, four Spanish, three Italian, three English, and one each for France and Portugal. The most noteworthy eliminations were probably that of an insecure and disorganized Manchester United side, and a poor Inter Milan side where Antonio Conte has not managed to get the best out of some marvelous players.

PSG's first Champions League final

Paris St. Germain had learnt from its mistakes against Atalanta, and with Kylian Mbappe and Angel DiMaria in the starting lineup they never looked back. Angel Di Maria, besides scoring the second goal, set up both other goals, headers by Marquinhos and Juan Bernat, and Neymar, except for the fact that he should have scored a goal, is concentrated and participating in the buildup. Paris looks like a team that really wants to win the title, and whoever they meet in the final will have to control their outstanding attacking players.
Except for the fact that PSG played a great match, there is not much to say about RB Leipzig. They seemed a bit nervous and overwhelmed by the occasion,  and made some mistakes in defense that PSG promptly punished, in particular in Juan Bernat's goal, where the German side appeared naive. They have been a refreshing side in this season's Champions League, but today surely did not show that they should belong in the final.

Historical RB Leipzig

Only 11 years after the club was founded, RB Leipzig just made it to the Champions League semifinals after defeating Atletico Madrid 2-1.
Atletico Madrid are hard to like because of their defensive awaiting style that almost seemed a bit sad today as Leipzig moved the ball around and was really the only creative team on the pitch. In the second half Dani Olmo finally brought the Saxon side ahead, which forced Atletico Madrid to wake up. The young Joao Felix entered the pitch and he gave Atletico Madrid some "happiness" ("alegria", as Mario Kempes said, commenting the match on ESPN), and he was also the architect of the equalizer, as he scored on a penalty against himself. Atletico Madrid continued pressing against a Leipzig side that looked tired, but on a counterattack three minutes before the end Tyler Adams was a bit lucky to have his shot deflected into a 2-1 lead and eventual victory.
RB Leipzig will face Paris St. Germain, and the French side will be favourites. But RB Leipzig have certainly shown they are a competitive side and will play without pressure, so they should certainly not be discounted yet!
I will be supporting them!

Champions League 2019-20 Quarterfinals

I must admit that I hugely enjoyed watching the round of 16 matches the past week, and watching Europa League and Champions League quarterfinals and semifinals for the next two weeks will be great. And as they are only played as one match knock-outs, on a neutral venue, there should be extra excitement!
The quarterfinals are as follows:

• RB Leipzig-Atletico Madrid: Both of these teams knocked out last years' finalists, Tottenham and Liverpool respectively. Atletico Madrid shocked the defending champions, and will be looking for yet another shot at the title that has always eluded them despite three finals.
• Paris Saint Germain-Atalanta: Atalanta are probably the surprise side in this years' CL, but have in my view not really been tested against one of the best sides. We should expect this to happen now as PSG has their eyes firmly set finally being able to have a shot at the title; they have only been in one semifinal (1995), and their last previous quarterfinal was in 2016. I would bet on them making it to the semifinal, at least.
• Manchester City-Olympique Lyon: Two teams who have a decent Champions League record over the last 20 years, but have never been in a final, but each have been in one semifinal each (Manchester City in 2016 and Lyon in 2010). Manchester City took out mighty Real Madrid, highly deserved, while Lyon eliminated the elderly Juventus side (and cost the Bukowski- loving banker, Maurizio Sarri, his job). Manchester City has always had ambitions to get a CL title, and will see this as a great chance. At the same time a young Lyon side will play without pressure in a surely exciting match!
• FC Barcelona-Bayern Munich: This is certainly the match most people are waiting for. FC Barcelona has not had a good season, and will look to redeem itself in the CL. Lionel Messi was again outstanding in the 3-1 victory over Napoli, and people seem to expect him to carry the side. In the meantime, Bayern Munich totally cruised to the final via Chelsea, and are perhaps slight favourites to make it to the quarterfinal. However, with Messi and in a knock-out, anything can happen!

Be sure to have some beers if you, like me, are watching these matches alone and locked down at home!

Comeback week

With Roma's comeback and Juventus' close comeback (arguably halted by a referee decision) it was now the turn of the Europa League, where we got another amazing comeback when Red Bull Salzburg was behind 2-4 against Lazio. Ten minutes into the second half Lazio went ahead 0-1, and there you might have thought that Salzburg was done for. But no: after an equalizer, Salzburg scored three goals in three minutes to win 4-1 and make it to the semifinals of the Europa League.
Less impressive comeback was that by Olympique Marseille, who, trailing Red Bull Leipzig 0-1, won 5-2 and also made it to the semifinals. CSKA Moscow was up 2-0 against Arsenal, with hopes of another amazing comeback, but Arsenal scored two and progresses to the semi-finals. Finally, Sporting Lisbon managed to defeat Atletico Madrid 1-0, but that was not enough after having lost the first match 0-2.