Showing posts with label Champions League. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Champions League. Show all posts

Saturday, April 22, 2017

Champions League semi-finals

The most prestigious competition in club football Champions League has reached the semi-final stage. Four big European clubs remain in the race for the trophy, among them is one club who has surprised a lot of football fans this season. Climbing their way up to the French Ligue-1 just a few years back from now, AS Monaco FC has shown great talent and willpower by reaching the semi-finals this season, already eliminating two big clubs from the competition in the playoffs so far. Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund were no matches for the Monegasques who scored a combined amount of six goals in the first and second legs against both teams. Scoring as many goals as Barcelona this season, Europe`s top scorers Monaco has shown us some very entertaining football throughout the season, and they should be considered as a serious contender for the Champions League title.

Friday, March 17, 2017

Monaco thump City in an epic comeback

The Champions league round of 16 was held in Nyon the 12th December last year. Finishing second in group C, Manchester City was to face one of the group winners. Pep Guardiola was surely very happy about the draw result. The Citizens would face the French club AS Monaco FC avoiding bigger clubs such as Barcelona and Juventus. With his experience of the European competitions, the expectations from Pep leading Manchester City to the Champions league glory this season were quite high. 

Monaco, on the other hand, had lots of ups and downs in the last 15 years from their last appearance in Champions league finals in the 2003-04 season. They got relegated to Ligue 2 six years later. The club's fortune changed when Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev bought the majority of the club in 2011. Just two years later, Monaco earned their promotion back to Ligue 1 with Claudio Ranieri as their new manager. In 2013, Monaco spent roughly £140 million on the transfer market to strengthen their squad (including the transfer of Radamel Falcao from Atletico). However, there were not many high expectations from the team due to their inconsistency and considering the amount of money pumped into Manchester City squad after they were bought by Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008.

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Camp Nou miracle sees Braca in quarters

The first four teams advancing to the Champions League quarter-finals have been confirmed, and the remaining four round of 16-fixtures will be played next week on Tuesday and Wednesday. Arsenal`s Champions League campaign ended once again at this stage of the competition in a humiliating way, as they lost 10-2 on aggregate to their rivals from Germany Bayern Munchen. The second fixture between these clubs looked promising for The Gunners as Theo Walcott scored for the London club in the first half, raising hope for Wenger's squad towards the second half. Only ten minutes in the second half Arsenal`s captain, French center-back Laurent Koscielny tackles Robert Lewandowski in the penalty area and receives a red card. Lewandowski does not waste the opportunity and scores from the penalty shot, tying the game. With the one man advantage on the pitch, Bayern Munchen dominates the second half, scoring five goals behind Arsenals goalkeeper David Ospina. Winning both the first and second leg 5-1, Bayern Munchen proves that they are still one of the best clubs in Europe, and rightfully take the first spot in the top 8 of this year's Champions League. 

Friday, February 24, 2017

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)

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

UEFA Champions League - The favorites

The most prestigious competition in club football, the UEFA Champions League is down to the last 16 teams, and the playoffs stage starts this evening. The defending title holders and one of the favorites to win the cup, Real Madrid, holds the record of most titles, winning the competition 11 times,  Los Blancos did not play very convincingly in the group stage, winning only three of their six games, but with a squad including Christiano Ronaldo, you can expect this team to advance all the way to the final again if they can knock out their opponent Napoli from the competition. Napoli lost just one game in the group stage, and are well equipped to challenge Real Madrid. Last year's runners-up tea, Atletico Madrid will face Bayer 04 Leverkusen, and should most likely advance to the next stage from this match. Winning five of their six games in the group stage, Atletico should find it easy to get to the quarter-finals.

Real Madrid would be looking to win the title for record twelfth time (AFP)