Champions League : Playoffs

The first leg of the Champions League playoffs has been played, and some teams are looking quite comfortable before the second leg that will be played in three of weeks from now.

The only big surprise so far has been Barcelona`s terrible form in Paris. Cavani, Di Maria, and Draxler were in top form and made breaking up Barcelona`s defensive lines look very easy. Losing 4-0 to Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona has the worst possible starting point for the second match played on Camp Nou the 8th of March. Even if Barcelona is known to dominate the pitch in their home games, it is hard to believe that PSG would give up four goals against them, especially if they keep pressing Barcelona high like last week in Paris. Discussion about whether or not PSG has what it takes to be a successful club in Europe has been going on for years now, and winning against Barcelona with four goals proves that they are capable of advancing far in this competition, perhaps even all the way to the final. Barcelona has to improve their game a lot for the second leg if they want to fight for the Champions League title this year.

PSG have been the dark horse of this season (Source:Reuters)

 In the other match last Tuesday, Benfica defeated Borussia Dortmund 1-0 in a game where the Germans should have done better. Borussia Dortmund failed to score despite their 14 attempts, including one missed penalty-shot, and Benfica managed to score from their only shot on target by Kostas Mitroglou in the 48th minute of play. If Dortmund can turn their luck around for the second leg, they should be able to advance from this match pair, although Benfica will surely make it very difficult for them in Germany two weeks from now.

Arsenal seems to have a curse upon them, being matched up against Bayern Munchen for the third time at this stage of the competition, and never managing to advance. The 5-1 victory for Bayern Munchen in the first leg forces The Gunners to make Champions League history and make a comeback from a four goal disadvantage to the second leg if they want to make it to the next round. The London club will most likely not advance from this match pair, and Wenger`s crew can start focusing on the Premier League title race instead.

Lorenzo Insigne managed to surprise Real Madrid early in the first leg between Real Madrid and Napoli, scoring after only eight minutes of play for Napoli. Los Blancos quickly recovered from this and Benzema scored the equalizer in the 18th minute. Despite Napoli`s good effort and attacking style of play in the first half, Real Madrid managed to turn the match around in second half, prevent the Italians from scoring again, and the final result at Santiago Bernabèu in Madrid was 3-1 to Los Blancos. The second leg in Naples will be an interesting match to watch, Napoli will not surrender without a fight in the second encounter.

Leverkusen, the pharmaceutical team formed by Bayer in the early 1900`s hosted Atletico Madrid. Atletico`s deadly counter-attacks resulted in two goals already in the first half, giving Diego Simeone`s crew a safe looking lead towards the second half. Bayer Leverkusen managed to score early in the second half but Atletico responded with two more goals and the final score 2-4 does not raise up much hope to the Germans for the second leg in Madrid. Atletico should easily advance to the next round, and with their effective counter-attacks, they are one of the favorites to win the Champions League title this year.

The most goals in the first leg were scored in Manchester as City hosted AS Monaco. The visitors lost their lead twice and City won the game 5-3 after a dramatic and eventful football night. Radamel Falcao, formerly playing for Man. United returned to Manchester and scored twice against City, and missing one penalty shot. The home team`s trusted striker Sergio Aguero showed no sign of being benched lately, he scored twice as well and was a big contribution to City`s victory over Monaco. The second leg between these two teams could be just as interesting as the first one, Monaco scoring over 100 goals this season needs to score at least twice on their home pitch if they want to knockout City from the competition. Can Pep Guardiola with his experience of the European competitions lead Manchester City through to the next round?

Porto made it really difficult for themselves to advance to the next round already in the first half of their home game against Juventus. Porto`s Alex Telles got sent off the pitch after 28 minutes of play after two bookings. Porto did not manage to create too many chances playing with one less man on the field, and Juventus super-subs Marko Pjaca and Dani Alves scored one each late in the game, and the final score 0-2 gives Juventus a two goal advantage to the second leg. Porto needs a miracle in Torino if they want to continue their Champions League run.

In Spain, Sevilla dominated Leicester City who have had a terrible form lately in Premier League, not being able to score at all this year. Kasper Schmeichel performed great guarding the visitors' goal, making eight saves including one saved penalty shot. The final score 2-1 to Sevilla is a big disappointment for the home team, they could have scored at least four goals in the game. Jamie Vardy`s away goal gives Leicester a chance to advance to the next knockout round if they play wisely in the second leg.