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UEFA Champions League (Official Thread)

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Final 8 matchup predictions?

Mine are:

(1)Barca-(8)OM

(2)AC Milan-(7)APOEL

(3)Bayern Munich-(6)SL Benfica

(4)Real Madrid-(5)Chelsea

Wouldn't be surprised to see AC Milan against Chelsea next round either, just wouldn't see why they'd match Milan against an EPL squad for two consecutive rounds. So, by process of elimination, Real Madrid was my #4 team.

Yes, I honestly think Milan and Bayern are better than Real Madrid... Shoot me.

*()= my rankings of the remaining teams
 
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Merih;2126307; said:
Barcelona vs AC Milan

Chelsea vs Benfica (YES!)

On the other side:

Real Madrid vs APOEL

Bayern Munich vs Marseilles

So a Madrid-Barca final is a real possibility. Come on Chelsea! Great draw for the blues.
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Real-Bayern will be an incredible pairing...and either of them in the final against Barca would be epic.

Of course Chelsea will spoil everyone's party and win the whole damn thing.

:sneaky:
 
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HINYG8;2126336; said:
Real-Bayern will be an incredible pairing...and either of them in the final against Barca would be epic.

Of course Chelsea will spoil everyone's party and win the whole damn thing.

:sneaky:
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Good matchups for everyone except Milan... Time for Pato to play the two best games of his life.
 
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TooTallMenardo;2126413; said:
Good matchups for everyone except Milan... Time for Pato to play the two best games of his life.
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Well he did score in like 45 seconds at the Camp Nou in the group stage earlier this season. Abidal is done for the season with another Liver surgery so that means Adriano is going to have to fill in at left back. Barca don't even use a right back anymore now that Dani Alves has been turned into a right winger & with Pique playing awful of late this sets up as well as it could for AC Milan going against Barca.
 
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I thought Milan played Barca extremely well in the group stages. Plus Ibrahimovic has been playing lights out since. Robinho and Pato can take anyone of Barca's defenders for pace. The problem lies in midfield. Nocerino and Emanuelson are both liabilities without the ball. Milan will need to play midfielders who can give total effort to containimg Xavi and Iniesta, forcing them to play the ball wide where Milan can deal with Barca's crosses simply enough. Can't let them play through the middle.
 
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Smudger;2126423; said:
Well he did score in like 45 seconds at the Camp Nou in the group stage earlier this season. Abidal is done for the season with another Liver surgery so that means Adriano is going to have to fill in at left back. Barca don't even use a right back anymore now that Dani Alves has been turned into a right winger & with Pique playing awful of late this sets up as well as it could for AC Milan going against Barca.
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25 :wink:

I'm still not confident with their situation at LB. Mesbah is a downgrade from Taiwo, considering he's really a LM. I'd rather see Antonini or Zambrotta out there instead of Mesbah.

It's all going to rely on what kind of form Aquilani and Boateng are in for the two games. Milan desperately needs their midfielders to play as well as possible.
 
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Merih;2126445; said:
I thought Milan played Barca extremely well in the group stages. Plus Ibrahimovic has been playing lights out since. Robinho and Pato can take anyone of Barca's defenders for pace. The problem lies in midfield. Nocerino and Emanuelson are both liabilities without the ball. Milan will need to play midfielders who can give total effort to containimg Xavi and Iniesta, forcing them to play the ball wide where Milan can deal with Barca's crosses simply enough. Can't let them play through the middle.
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Nocerino plays well when he has Boateng on the pitch. His lack of defense isn't as big a liability when KPB is on the field. Emanuelson won't see the field as long as Aquilani is healthy.

I'd also rather see Seedorf playing in the midfield over Emanuelson. He's much better at keeping control of the ball, and maintaining possession.
 
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I was just about to point out how Milan should be able to fair well against Barcelona's backline considering how awful they were today, but then I saw that Milan lost to Juventus in extra time in the Coppa Italia semifinals.

It's astounding how awful Gerard Pique has been all year. But then there's been recent articles written about how him & Guardiola have had a falling out after numerous escapades with his girlfriend Shakira in the past year. Not to mention his utter drop in form. With Puyol losing a step as he's gotten older, Milan should not be afraid to go right at the center of there defense as it's been there weakness all season.

Then there's Daniel Alves at right back, or as he has essentially been all season, a right winger. He conceded two penalties & got sent off against GRANADA! at home no less. With Adriano being taken off at half-time, there might be an injury concern for him at left back as Mascherano had to come on for him and Puyol had to fill in there. Needless to say, Barcelona's defense was outright terrible today despite the 5-3 win.

And of course, there's Lionel Messi. He just scored his 8th hat-trick of the season and his 17th goal in his last 7 games for Barcelona (20 goals in 8 games if you count the Argentina-Switzerland friendly). He became the clubs all-time leading scorer while doing so as well as scoring his 54th goal of the season (surpassing his record of 53 goals set last season) in only 45 games.

I think this will be a very entertaining tie with Barcelona being so weak at the back yet so lethal on offense with there ball control and unstoppable midfield possession and vision. I'm very much looking forward to next Wednesday's 1st leg at the San Siro.
 
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Starting lineups for today's massive 1st leg from the San Siro:

AC Milan: Abbiati, Nesta, Mexes, Antonini, Bonera, Ambrosini, Boateng, Seedorf, Nocerino, Ibrahimovic, Robinho

Barcelona: Valdes, Mascherano, Pique, Puyol, Alves, Busquets, Keita, Xavi, Iniesta, Sanchez, Messi

Pretty surprised Fabregas didn't get the start but he should definitely make an impact coming on as a sub later in the game. Kick off is at 2:45 on Fox Soccer Channel
 
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Smudger;2133618; said:
Starting lineups for today's massive 1st leg from the San Siro:

AC Milan: Abbiati, Nesta, Mexes, Antonini, Bonera, Ambrosini, Boateng, Seedorf, Nocerino, Ibrahimovic, Robinho

Barcelona: Valdes, Mascherano, Pique, Puyol, Alves, Busquets, Keita, Xavi, Iniesta, Sanchez, Messi

Pretty surprised Fabregas didn't get the start but he should definitely make an impact coming on as a sub later in the game. Kick off is at 2:45 on Fox Soccer Channel
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Fuck.
 
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Benches for the game:

AC Milan: Amelia, Aquilani, Mesbah, Emanuelson, Lopez, Yepes, El Shaarawy

Barcelona: Pinto, Fabregas, Pedro, Tello, Thiago, Muniesa, Montoya
 
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Smudger;2133623; said:
Benches for the game:

AC Milan: Amelia, Aquilani, Mesbah, Emanuelson, Lopez, Yepes, El Shaarawy

Barcelona: Pinto, Fabregas, Pedro, Tello, Thiago, Muniesa, Montoya
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If Robinho plays how I think he will play, Maxi Lopez may be on shortly after half. Same with El Shaarawy. He looked REALLY quick against Roma.
 
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