5 talking points from Champions League action

Barcelona Players dissapointed after their 2-0 loss to Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night(FCBacelonawebsite).

 Arguably the most followed tournament in the World after the World Cup is now on its latter stages after an intensifying showdown in the quarterfinals that saw big names exit the competition. All the way from 32 teams, the race is now narrowed down to four teams. Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid lead the line from Spain accompanied by Bayern Munich from Germany and Manchester City, the only English club surviving in the tournament.

Many things were evident in the return leg matches played on Tuesday and Wednesday, however, the most shocking headline was the elimination of World and European giants Barcelona by their Spanish rivals Atletico Madrid leaving the World’s deadliest trio of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar in total despair and badly wounded. Another surprising result saw PSG axed by City while Real survived a narrow escape past Wolfsburg, thanks to a spirited show by Cristiano Ronaldo. Bayern on the other hand had to struggle to move past Benfica.

Well, how sweet is football with these surprises and setbacks? Here are some key points to note about the midweek matches.

        The curse of retaining Champions league still stands

Many teams have tried to achieve this fete but none has come to break the deadlock, maybe its meant to stay like this for long with the latest casualty being Barcelona. From the start of the season and all the way to the last 16, there was no doubt that this Barcelona team led by their triumvirate of Messi, Suarez and Neymar were on the road to break this spell.

However, the tables started turning around for the Catalans after their El Classico loss to Real Madrid. Although they pulled a 2-1 win over Atletico in 1^st leg at Camp Nou, the Vicente Calderon battle was far from their reach. A well planted defensive unit anchored by a dangerous counter attacking force was enough to send Luis Enrique’s men out the competition, loosing out 2-0 and 3-2 in aggregate. This just proves how hard it is to repeat this success and not even the World’s best player Messi could save the champions. This is undoubtedly deemed to last for as long as we live and maybe forever.

        Bayern looking below par

      Hailed as one of the tournament favorites, Bayern Munich is yet to play to its expected standard having displayed a dismal performance over Benfica. The two teams drew 2-2 in Portugal but the German giants sailed through thanks to a 1-0 home win in the first leg. Similar to the Catalans, Bayern are poor defensively something that can be exploited by an opponent like Atletico.

Without Jerome Boateng, Holger Badstuber, Benatia and Javi Martinez, Pep Guardiola need to worry much about his defensive line as they enter crucial stages in the competition. However as it stands, the German side may yet again lose opportunity to claim the title under Guardiola who is on his way out.

        Man City the unlikely survivors

Having registered poor run in the domestic competition, few would bet for City to go all the way to this stage in the Champions League. However, football never come without surprises and this season’s slot is occupied by City.

The Citizens knocked out French giants PSG with a plausible display in both legs, and now are fired up to even achieve more for their outgoing manager Manuel Palegrini before Guardiola takes over the helm at the club. Another key concern is whether this side will replicate Chelsea’s triumph back in 2012 despite being graded as underdogs.

          Real regain power under Zidane

The appointment of Zinedine Zidane as Real Madrid manager to replace Rafa Benitez received diverse reactions with several football pundits labeling ‘Zizou’ unfit for the job. Barely four months later the decision to appoint the Frenchman is now paying. A victory in El Classico, a revived hope in La Liga title with four points behind leaders Barcelona as well as close to 180 minutes to reaching the finals of Champions league were far from the thoughts of Madrid fans.

The tables are now turned around, all the smiles are now shifted to the Madrid capital from Barcelona and a slight slip in the remaining six matches will prove costly to the Catalans in what looked like a bright season for them. Lets see if Zidane will lead Real to their 11^th Champions League title this year.

 All eyes on Friday’s draw

The draw of the semi-finals of the Champions League is set to take place on Friday with football World waiting eagerly to see who meets who. There is no chance of getting a weaker opponent because none of the four is an easy run. However, none of Real Madrid, City or Bayern would like to face Atletico in the draw who to me are my favorites after knocking out the fearsome Barca.

My Predictions

Well, my picks would go Real Madrid against Bayern Munich and Man City with Atletico. I foresee a final of Bayern and Atletico with the Spanish sides eventually emerging winners for the first time in their history after coming within few minutes to claiming the glory against Real in 2014.

The Catalan Review: 4 things to take from the weekend El Clasico

 Barcelona Striker Luis Suarez reacting after missing a chance in Saturday's El Clasico match against Real Madrid. Barca lost 2-1 in the tie (Photo Courtesy /BarcelonaWebsite).

Nothing pains a Catalan or Barcelona faithful than losing an El Clasico tie to their Arc-Rivals Real Madrid, the same would go for the opposite side. Perhaps one would trade a Clasico win with the title simply because it brings pride and dominance over the other. Of course this does not exclude the long rivalry between the club’s best attackers (Messi and Ronaldo) who have for almost decade made headlines sparking debates of who is the best between the pair. 

The 231^st edition of the historical encounter went in favor of the visitors who made their first Clasico win at Campo Nou since Mourinho achieved the same fete furing his tenure. Gerard Pique who has always found himself on the wrong side with Madrid fans brought the away fans to silence with a fine header. Everything was heading towards Barca’s favour before Karim Benzema slotted home the equalizer. However, the usual assassin for the Catalans, Cristiano Ronaldo slotted home the winner five minutes to time shocking the home crowd in the turn of events.

Let us look at key points to take from the match.

Zidane breaking the hoodoo

No Real Madrid manager has won their first Clasico debut since 2007, something that had left Catalans riding in high hopes that the French man would be no different with the others considering their coaching experiences. Juande Ramos was the first victim of the curse receiving a 2-0 beating at Camp Nou in 2008. Current Manchester City boss Manuel Palegrini followed in the line with a 1-0 loss at Camp Nou. Next in the list came ‘the special one’ Jose Mourinho who met a merciless Barca side led by Pep Guardiola orienting him with a 5-0 thrashing. La Decima winning manager Carlo Ancelotti later queued with a 2-1 loss before the latest casualty Rafa Benitez collected four goals at Santiago Barnabeu in the first leg.

Zinedine ‘Zizou’ Zidane entered the game having lost once and drawn twice in his 11 matches in charge of the Los Blancos. ‘Zizou’ knew very well about the catastrophe that has met his five predecessors but his reactions from the stands clearly showed how determined he was to pull something different. Although Real looked more defensive (at least that’s how to stop Barca) posing less threats to the Catalans upfont, the strategy did pay off at later stages of the game. Forget the three points or Clasico head-to-head record, Zidane’s reasons to be happy is probably breaking this curse. Have real found what they have been missing in Zidane? Well, plenty of more to come to prove that.

Enrique’s miscalculated subs

 Another mistake and three points are thrown, what a hard lesson to learn from your won mistake? The two teams were tied at 1-1 with Barcelona dominating most of the game. With the atmosphere growing wild as Real started showing signs of recovery, Enrique took off Ivan Rakitic and brought in Arda Turan. This was arguably a wrong decision by the manager having in mind the intensity of the game and that being Turan’s first Clasico debut. The Turkish could not pick up as quick as expected which allowed Real utilize his weakness to press Barca more to the wall. It took patience for The Los Blancos to find the winner despite being reduced to 10-men following Sergio Ramos’ send off.

A similar decision was made against Villarreal, bringing in Jeremy Mathieu who helped the hosts come from 2-0 down to draw level while Marc Bartra and Vamalean were available. Enrique however defended his decision later having in mind Rakitic had picked a yellow card and maybe he would have joined Ramos in the dressing room. But why choose Turan rather than Sergi Roberto much was much fit and available considering his experience in attack and tracking back? Some lessons for the big boss to take.

Madrid’s league title still alive

The win however left Real at third spot with 69 points, one adrift of second placed Atletico Madrid with 70 points. Barca still lead with 76 points with seven matches to go. Mathematically compiling the statistics, there are 21 points to trade for, a smaller margin that can turn the tables as it stands. A little slip on the way will prove costly to Barca and all they need now is concentration and continue with their job. 

It is with no doubt that the players feel the same burden as fans do and this is why Dani Alves passed a message of peace through the social media and well with some writings in his shirt before the match to calm down their fans spilling beats of hope. ‘PEACE IN THE WORLD PLEASE’ read the writings on the Brazilian shirt.

What remains to be seen is whether Zidane will lead Madrid to the league title as well as the Champions league where Wolfsburg awaits them in the last eight. Barca meanwhile need to forget the night and focus on Atletico Madrid, another huge test for Enrique, maybe even worse at this point where they are nursing injuries.