Deportivo - Juventus Oporto - Manchester Utd. Stuttgart - Chelsea R. Sociedad - Olym. Lyon Celta - Arsenal Bayern Munich - R. Madrid Lokomotiv - Monaco Sparta Praga - Milan Well, we had bad luck. We had four options: Sparta Praga Lokomotiv Stuttgart Bayern And we will play agaisnt the most dificult team, Bayern. Bayern is not playing good, but they are a big team with great players, they can be very dangerous. And If they recover their form in the next two months we will have to play very good to win them. Also the style of play of Bayern isn't one of the favourite of the RM players. In the last 5 years, we have played 4 years againts Bayern. Sometimes winning and sometimes losing. The last time we won, winning that year the CL. I hope that we could repeat the history. Anyway, the two games will be great games, with all the ingredients of the big classic CL knock-out rounds. Totally different to Sparta - Milan. A really easy round for Milan.
I didn't like the match-up with Bayern this early either. Of the last 14 games we've played against them I think we're 4-1-9. Not good. Bayern could blow up in the next two months. Haven't really played up to their best and this is always dangerous. Always confident though so as always Hala MAdrid!!!
Obviously, this is not the best situation Real could have hoped for, but I don't think this is going to be that bad. Bayern, I believe, aren't playing so well in the BL, and the distraction of having to play catch-up there, not to mention Diesler's depression situation, should work in Real's favor. If we can steal a or two goal at the Olympastadion, maybe grab a draw, we should be able to make it through. Hopefully Raul will find his scoring boots soon (besides the classy flick with the head v Atletico), we can avoid major injuries, and Bayern don't suddenly wake up. I think we are a more talented, more threatening team then they are, and I think we should go through.
BTW what are the chances of at least one leg being shown on ESPN2? This is definitley the marquee matchup of the stage...
You can almost guarantee at least one leg will be on ESPN2, maybe both. It should be good TV. Bayern/Real usually are great games.
the first game will be on a tuesday, when espn2 normally shows a champion's league game - I would bet a good chunk of money that game will be on. definitely the best matchup of this round. Bayern was very lucky to escape the group stage. I watched their game in Glasgow and frankly I felt Celtic were dominating them, but just couldn't get the goal they needed. No question for me that they're not on their best form at the moment but a lot can obviously happen between now and February. Interesting draw overall. Depor will have to be their best to defeat Juventus, who won 7-0 in their last champion's league match. Celta have a tough matchup with Arsenal, who although they are perennial underachievers in Europe, showed what they are really capable of with a smashing 5-1 in Milan. Sociedad gets a bit of a break facing Lyon, although it's obviously not an easy matchup, it could have been a lot worse for them. It would be great for them and their fans if they could go through, as their having such a rough go in la liga this year.
basically, I followed a few teams in football. Bayern is one of them. This is what I think of them. 1) Lack killer instinct. At times, they dominated, but failed to produce decent chances. 2) Weak in defense. 3) Makaay, Ballack, Santa Cruz out of form. Kahn is actually still very good. He is definitely not the bad keeper the press has been describing. 4) The players appeared to be a frustrated team. They made silly mistakes.... for example, giving stupid fouls, receiving unnecessary cards, messing up their chances with poor selection of passes or shoots(see #1).