CHAPTER 238: Predicting the Champions League last 16 [2008-2009]

“ I figure you have the same chance of winning the lottery whether you play or not. ”
- Fran Lebowitz

The draw for the knockout stages for the Champions League is coming up, so I’m gonna post my predictions regarding the draws of the teams. I’ll make two set of predictions: one is my preferred draw (what I would like to see, the match ups that I think would be great) and the other set is the draw that I think could played out (not taking my preferred matching or biasness).

My Preferred Predicted Last 16

• Barcelona – Lyon (out of the four potential opponents for Barça, the French perhaps would be the easiest rival)
• Manchester United – Real Madrid (simply due to the whole Cristiano Ronaldo affair over the summer, if this match gets made, it’ll be very ‘interesting’, haha. Besides, last time these two met we had excellent display of football in both legs – as pain as I had to say it)
• Liverpool – Inter Milan (they’ve met last season, they could meet again next year. Plus Mourinho’s now at Inter, there’s the possible rekindle)
• Panathinaikos – Sporting Lisbon (the battle between the least strong teams left in the competition)
• Juventus – Arsenal (they’ve met before, and Arsenal beat them. Juve got Ranieri in charge now, and I reckon he’ll be up to the challenge as he got EPL experience. Besides that, Ranieri’s Chelsea already beat Wenger’s Arsenal in the quarter finals of the Champions League back in 2004)
• Bayern Munich – Chelsea (An Anglo - German clash)
• Porto – Atletico Madrid (Spanish – Portuguese clash for an enticing duel)
• Roma – Villareal (a match of perhaps two underrated squads vying for Champions League glory. Maybe one of these teams could be the team to go out a long way and be a real hassle for any of the bigger teams. And Roma will have a point to prove, considering that their ground is going to host the final in May).

How I Think The Draw Is Going To Turn Out

• Barcelona – Inter Milan
• Manchester United – Sporting Lisbon
• Liverpool – Villareal
• Panathinaikos – Lyon
• Juventus – Atletico Madrid
• Bayern Munich – Arsenal
• Porto – Chelsea
• Roma – Madrid.