Club Continental Football

2015/ 16 UEFA Champions League groupstage

2015/16 UEFA Champions League

 

The Chaaaaaaamppppionnnnnnssss………

 

‘Group A’ went according to plan. The teams that were expected to advance from the group did so. And they did it with very little doubt. Leaving no possibility for the predicted rejectees to dream of an advancement out of the group.

Having 10 trophies to their name is a nice even number, but Real Madrid will love to go for a prime number of 11 in this year’s tournament. Real Madrid did what was expected of them, and made the rest of group know of their dominance in Europe. Even to their closest competition in the group, Real Madrid showed their dominance. Paris Saint-Germain were lucky to secure a point at home against the La Liga giants.

Real Madrid will meet AS Roma in the Round of 16. It will be almost a requirement for Madrid to recreate the success that their arch rivals FC Barcelona had against Roma in the ‘Group E’ match at Camp Nou.
Paris Saint-Germain will meet Chelsea (again). Chelsea was eliminated from the competition at the same stage last season by Paris Saint-Germain. The year before that, Chelsea eliminated Paris Saint-Germain at the quarter finals. So it was only right to get a tiebreaker. Who is taking it this time around. Season form will say Paris Saint-Germain. But Champions League never cared about your form in your domestic leagues.

Shakhtar Donetsk can be proud to avoid conceding less goals than Malmo FF. That is what kept the in a continental competition. How far they will go in Europa League is still questionable. Coming up against a team like Schalke 04 is not a lucky draw. Schalke led their group in the Europa League, Shakhtar Donetsk can’t say that.

In ‘Group B’, Manchester United blew a perfect opportunity to get into the Round of 16 of the 2015/16 UEFA Champions League. Their legacy might say otherwise, but we have come to the realization that the current Manchester United side is not a top team. On their return to the competition after missing a year, United was fortunate to have fallen in a group that eluded them from the likes of Bayern Munich, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and co. As low as the team has been in recent seasons, this was a group that was not beyond their current standard. Manchester United became the only team from the premiership that failed to qualify.

PSV Eindhoven and Wolfsburg advanced from Group B. PSV Eindhoven had proven to the rest of Europe why they were the Dutch champions. Wolfsburg showed the world that there is still more to Bundesliga than FCB and BVB.

The difference in this group was down to number of games the top 3 teams couldn’t win. They lost the same amount of matches, two. But some teams drew in more matches than others. Wolfsburg topped the group because they avoided draw and PSV Eindhoven couldn’t. Manchester United fell behind PSV because of one more draw. United’s inability to beat PSV in the return match at Old Trafford cost them their advancement out of the group stage. Wolfsburg was no doubt deserving of their top position in this group

CSKA Moscow registered one win. It was in their home match against PSV Eindhoven.
In the round of 16, Wolfsburg is paired with Gent. While PSV Eindhoven has a tougher opponent with Atletico Madrid.

In ‘Group C’, Atletico Madrid wasn’t going to miss out on the Round of 16 action. They were pre-tournament favorites. And they did not disappoint. They are part of the three strong La Liga sides that are still in contention. Atletico will meet PSV Eindhoven, and despite PSV being the reigning Dutch champions, the La Liga team will be perceived by most as favorites.
Benfica made it out of this group and will meet Zenit St. Petersburg. This should be a will contested match. There is enough quality on both sides to pull a win over the other.

In ‘Group D’, Last season finalist come in second. Juventus was under the radar last season, until the world picked them in the final 4 as the weakest quarter. They almost walked away with the trophy. Never underestimate the ability of Italian team to win competition. Look back at World Cup 2006.
With every season, Manchester City is letting the World know that they are here to stay. Now that City is a big boy, the search for a trophy like the UEFA Champions League is key. UEFA Champions League trophy is the big boy’s tattoo
Sevilla gets a ticket to join Europa League. Sevilla is half of the La Liga teams that did not qualify for the round of 16.

Monchengladbach needs as much focus on the Bundesliga as possible. They can do wonders this season with focus.

In ‘Group E’, the defending champions are still in contention to defend their title. Undefeated in their group, Barcelona heads into the Round of 16 to face Arsenal. There are very few occasions that a team with Messi on board will not be considered a favorite to win. However, Arsenal defeated Bayern Munich, a team that is considered to be on identical levels with FC Barcelona. With that in mind, we should expect a cracking match. The record is against Arsenal. Arsenal has fallen out of the competition at this point in 5 consecutive season. Since 2011. It will be a task not to make it a sixth. If history has taught as anything, this will be an FC Barcelona win

Serie A has always been a force to reckon in the UEFA Champions League. This is not something fans of the league will want to lose any time soon. Juventus appearance in last season’s final gives hope, but Juventus can’t do it alone. The league needs more that one team to represent for it in European tournament. Roma needs good results in the last 16.

Unfortunately for AS Roma, they did not get lucky in the Round of 16 drawings. Real Madrid is not the team to meet this early in the season. No matter how their domestic form might be,this is the competition in which Real Madrid maintains their dominating record. Real Madrid will be favorites in this matchup.
In ‘Group F’, FC Bayern and Arsenal are going to the Round of 16. In this group, Bayern might have the better record,but Arsenal is the most impressive of the two. Arsenal had to turn things around, after a very terrible start for a team that was a pre-tournament favorite in the Group. Their ability to snatch the second place from Olympiacos at Karaiskakis Stadium is something that demanded the best out of the team. It is not a regular thing to find a solution to a 2-0 deficit.

Arsenal is facing a possible 6th Round of 16 exit out of the UEFA Champions League. Unfortunately for Arsenal, they’ve been paired with FC Barcelona in the Round of 16. This is exactly what Arsenal fans didn’t want. Is this going to be another Round of 16 exit for the Gunners?

Bayern has been handed last season’s silver winners to play against in the Round of 16. Juventus will not be an easy side. Being an underdog might be exactly what the Serie A giants need to overcome the bundesliga giants.

Olympiacos will go to Europa League to face Anderlecht. And they will have themselves to blame if they don’t make it out of that match.

‘Group G’ was a tighter group. It was a 3 horse race. Chelsea topping their group comes as a shocker, considering the fact that the team has had a bad start to their domestic league. Chelsea won all their home matches. Chelsea’s only loss came in an away game to Porto.
Dynamo managed to edge Porto. Beating Porto away and drawing them home definitely helped. They went undefeated at home. Took advantage of playing home.

Dynamo Kyiv will have a tough opposition in the round of 16. Manchester City will be looking forward to extending their run in this competition. This will be Manchester City’s match to lose. To many fans, Manchester City had the best draw in the Round of 16.

Maccabi Tel Aviv were not in contention. They lost every match they played in the 2015/16 Champions League.

In ‘Group H’, Gent and Zenit proved that they were league winners. Zenit topped the group confidently, as they advanced out of the group with Gent.

The Ligue 1 and La Liga side in this group did not advance in the competition. As crazy as it might sound, a lot of expectation are given to teams that are coming out of the traditional top leagues in Europe. To see Valencia and Lyon not making it out of this group is regarded as an underachievement.
Gent goes into the Round of 16 to meet Wolfsburg. Zenit is paired with Benfica.

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