Champions League Winner Predicted, Using Science!
Posted on April 17, 2012 1:09 am
Champions League semifinals begin this week, with Bayern Munich hosting Real Madrid on Tuesday and Chelsea hosting Barcelona on Wednesday. How to pick a Champions League winner from these four great teams? Form? Unreliable. Logic? Overrated. The only surefire way is the patented and highly scientific Total Soccer Show method.
Here’s how it works: Each of four Total Soccer Show co-hosts is assigned a team to represent. We then argue it out across seven comparative categories. Some serious: like best goalkeeper, some not so much: like best city landmark. After each co-host makes the case for his team we vote, and the team with the most votes takes the point. The team with the most points once we’re though with seven categories is our pick for Champions League winner.
You have to listen to the podcast to find out who emerged as our Champions League winner, but you can see our nominations in each category below:
(Josh got Bayenr Munich, Albert got Real Madrid, Peyton got Chelsea and Daryl got Barcelona)
Most Important Player
Bayern Munich: Mario Gomez
Real Madrid: Cristiano Ronaldo
Chelsea: Juan Mata
Barcelona: Xavi
Jersey & Sponsor
Bayern Munich: Solid red / T-Mobile
Real Madrid: Pure white (or used to be) / Bwin.com
Chelsea: Alternating shades of blue / Samsung
Barcelona: Blue and red stripes / Qatar Foundation
Goalkeeper
Bayern Munich: Manuel Neuer
Real Madrid: Iker Casillas
Chelsea: Petr Cech
Barcelona: Victor Valdes
City Landmark
Bayern Munich: Oktoberfest
Real Madrid: Royal Palace of Madrid
Chelsea: Trafalgar Square
Barcelona: Sagrada Familia
Coach
Bayern Munich: Jupp Heynckes
Real Madrid: Jose Mourinho
Chelsea: Roberto Di Matteo
Barcelona: Pep Guardiola
Stadium
Bayern Munich: Allianz Arena
Real Madrid: Estadio Santiago Bernabéu
Chelsea: Stamford Bridge
Barcelona: Camp Nou
Best Ever Player
Bayern Munich: Franz Beckenbauer
Real Madrid: Alfredo Di Stefano
Chelsea: Gianfranco Zola
Barcelona: Johan Cruyff
Before you listen to the podcast, who would you pick to win using the above criteria? If it helps you decide, here’s a handy cut and paste of the categories so you can share your winners in the comments:
Most Important Player:
Jersey & Sponsor:
Goalkeeper:
City Landmark:
Coach:
Stadium:
Best Ever Player:
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Lol at Messi being not Barca’s “most important” or “best ever” player…
We had a rule that the “Best Ever” player could not currently play for the team, just to make sure we got some club history in there.
As for current most important player, I think there’s a very genuine case to be made that Xavi is more important to the way Barcelona play. It’s just not quite the same when he’s not there.
Spain with Xavi but no Messi = World Cup Win
Argentina with Messi but no Xavi = World Cup fail.
I think the scary thing for Chelsea (and everyone else) is that Barcelona can field both at the same time!
Sapin with Xavi but no Messi = World Cup win
Argentina with Messi but no Xavi = World cup fail