WOW ! Some great match-ups including a repeat of last season’s final with Inter Milan facing Bayern Munich. The match-up that will likely garner more press is the Arsenal v Barcelona. The two clubs play similar styles though Barcelona is still the better side for my money. It’s not impossible to think Arsenal could pull an upset but I remain unconvinced of their back 4 and they do not have an undisputed number 1 goalkeeper. Still, this should be a fun tie to watch. Thank you UEFA !

We’ll have more thorough analysis of these match-ups once the January transfer window has closed.

Champions League Round of 16 draw in full:
Roma v Shakhtar Donetsk
AC Milan v Tottenham
Valencia v Schalke
Inter Milan v Bayern Munich
Lyon v Real Madrid
Arsenal v Barcelona
Marseille v Manchester United
FC Copenhagen v Chelsea

First-leg matches will be played on February 15, 16, 22 or 23. Return legs will be played on March 8, 9, 15 or 16.

Dortmund’s form this season has been exceptional. In the early autumn, many people thought that perhaps they would start to fade away by now, but they’ve in fact managed to do the complete opposite. Incredibly, they now find themselves 11 points ahead of Bayer Leverkusen in second, and rather comically, 17 points ahead of the supposedly mighty Bayern Munich. Dortmund’s dominant position hasn’t been down to the poor performances of their rivals though – after all, Leverkusen have only lost twice all season – but because of their own ruthlessly consistent displays. They have dropped points in just one of their previous 14 games (a 1-1 draw with the ever-stubborn Hoffenheim), and as a result, you could be forgiven for thinking they have already wrapped the league title up. To compare them to Europe’s other leading clubs at present; they have a points-per-match average of 2.69, whilst Arsenal average 2 points and Lille average just 1.82. The only side who can actually match Dortmund in the major leagues are Barcelona, who average 2.7 points per game.

They comfortably have the best defensive and attacking records in the Bundesliga, and yet their forwards are some way off Theofanis Gekas’ tally of 12 goals. This only serves to demonstrate Dortmund’s collective strength though – Shinji Kagawa and Lucas Barrios both have 8 goals to their names, but Dortmund are not reliant or one or two exceptional sources of talent to keep them at the top of the pile. Instead, they have a young, hungry, vibrant squad who are willing to work for each other, and tackle any obstacle in their path as a single, united entity. The talent is of course there, in the form of Kagawa, Barrios, Nuri Sahin, Neven Subotic, Mario Götze and Robert Lewandowski, to name a small collection, but as Bayern and Schalke are currently proving (for all the wrong reasons), talent is nothing without the right mentality.

The Black & Yellow’s manager, Jürgen Klopp, has got the defence looking beautiful in its shape and form – a site that should have any aspiring young coach jotting down notes – particularly the way they effortlessly narrow up and switch to a back five whenever they come under any sustained pressure. Three defenders will form an unusually narrow back three, a winger and a full back become wing backs and the midfielders plug any additional holes, which makes trying to pick them apart an unenviable task. This defensive wall has provided them with the base point to play what has actually proven to be extremely entertaining counter attacking football, reminiscent of Manchester United’s counter attacking play in the 2007/08 season.

This return to form will be a massive relief to the loyal Dortmund following, who pack out the stunning Westfalenstadion through both the good and the bad times. In the past, these supporters have seen their side win six league titles, a Champions League, a Cup Winners’ Cup and an Intercontinental Cup. Perhaps they are now finally on the cusp of once again bringing some silverware home, and who knows, maybe in the not-too-distant future they will be able to replicate the one night they have never forgotten. On 28^th May 1997 – they beat Juventus 3-1 in the Champions League final. Playing at the Olympiastadion, which was then the home of their rivals, Bayern Munich, Dortmund overcame a Juve side absolutely packed full of star names; Zidane, Deschamps, Boksic, Di Livio and the emerging Del Piero. Two Karl-Heinz Riedle goals and a decisive second half Lars Ricken strike provided the underdogs with their first European Cup, and it was hoped that the success would continue. Unfortunately though, they have won just one major trophy since then (the league title in the 01-02 season) and hadn’t looked like winning any more until this season. In recent years, they have been cursed by financial difficulties, numerous coaches have come in and failed to redirect the sinking ship, but now, finally, they might just live up to their potential.

If ever this current, promising Dortmund side does need to look for encouragement, they only have to look back to this legendary night in Munich.

The Champions League group stages have finished, and now it’s time to see which teams will face each other in the round of 16 which is coming up next. UEFA will be drawing the match-ups for the Champions League and the Europa League on December 17th, and there’s a set of guidelines which the round of 16 matches will have to comply with. Here’s the guidelines below:

• Winners and runner-ups of the groups will be drawn against each other.

• The runner-up team will play the first leg at home.

• No two teams from the same association can be drawn against each other, ex. Manchester United – Arsenal cannot be drawn because both sides are from the Premier League.

• No two teams from the same group can be drawn against each other, ex. Tottenham – Inter Milan cannot be drawn because they were in the same group.

With these guidelines, I’ve put together the matches that I want to see in the round of 16. I tried to think about match-ups which will be exciting, even, and hopefully full of goals. Here they are below:

Tottenham Hotspur – Valencia

Schalke 04 – FC Copenhagen

Manchester United – Marseille

Barcelona – Roma

Bayern Munich – Inter Milan

Chelsea – AC Milan

Real Madrid – Arsenal

Shakhtar Donetsk – Lyon

What do you think about my choices? I decided to put Bayern Munich against Inter Milan, because I think it would be exciting to see Bayern take revenge for last season’s final which they lost. I also decided to put Arsenal against Real Madrid because Arsene Wenger’s side tries to replicate Barcelona’s beautiful passing and attacking style, could they do it against Real Madrid? Tottenham against Valencia seems like an extremely exciting match-up to me, because both sides love to play an attacking and free-flowing style, and I don’t think I can predict a winner between those two. And I put Chelsea against AC Milan because of Carlo Ancelotti facing his former side, along with the possibility of seeing an Ibrahimovic-led AC Milan side try and break down Chelsea.

Make sure to share your thoughts on what match-ups you want to see in the round of 16 by commenting below! What could be the most exciting match in the next round? Comment below!

Tonight’s game promised to give one of the closest indications so far of who could become European champions this year, but in truth, nobody could’ve predicted what followed. Barcelona dissected their rivals with precise, incisive play that arguably would have torn absolutely any team in the world apart. In doing so, they confirmed their status as clear favourites for the Champions League once again, and it’d take a brave man to doubt them. With 13 goals in their last 2 league games, they are beginning to look even more menacing than they ever did in their historic 2008/09 season, and their form will be striking fear into managers across the continent.

Regardless of tonight’s result, however, it would still be naïve to completely write off Real Madrid at this stage. They will have learnt a great deal from tonight’s events, and in particular, Mourinho will now have a far better understanding of his team’s strengths and weaknesses, and possibly even his own managerial weaknesses. The biggest concern has to be the fact that he abandoned his usual “park the bus” (for want of a less horribly clichéd term) tactics for these key matches in favour of a slightly more ambitious counter attacking system, and saw his team get dismantled with relative ease. Real were exposed down both flanks, and coupled with a high defensive line, Barca always threatened to get in behind and cut the ball across goal to create more chances. Will this cause Mourinho to abandon these more ambitious tactics in future big games despite the pressure from those above him? Only time will tell, but it may be Real’s only chance of success, considering their weakness in the core areas compared to the likes of Barcelona and Chelsea.

Outside of Spain, it appears that the usual recent suspects will be challenging – almost by default. In England, Manchester United remain unbeaten and are now finally hitting their stride, having predictably struggled to find any real form in the first third of the season. Their defence looks imperious once again, Nani is in the form of his life, and with Rooney dropping deep to play behind Berbatov, the two forwards finally look capable of reaching their potential as a partnership. Chelsea have begun to stutter of late, and this has highlighted the challenge they face. When fully fit, their squad is intimidating to even look at, but remove two or three key players and suddenly they become a beatable side. For this reason, it will be absolutely essential for them to keep Lampard, Drogba, Essien, Malouda and Terry fit if they’re to have a realistic chance of toppling Europe’s elite sides for the first time. They may well struggle to keep up with the congested fixture list in the closing period of the season unless they make a couple of signings in January – David Luiz of Benfica is one player currently heavily linked with the club. Arsenal, meanwhile, appear to be suffering from the same problems that seem to plague them every year. They remain uncertain at the back and display a real lack of character whenever they have found themselves under heavy pressure, so although the quarter finals will be a minimum expectation, this will most likely be the furthest they go unless they avoid the top sides – particularly Manchester United, Chelsea and Barcelona.

Both of last year’s finalists; Inter and Bayern, have looked extremely underwhelming so far this season. Without the injured Arjen Robben, Bayern have looked painfully mediocre for long periods, but they still look set to top Group E, ahead of Roma. If the draw is favourable to them, they might just have a chance of reaching the semi finals, but their reliance on Robben will once again be huge. One sign for encouragement, though, is the sudden improvement of Mario Gomez. The big-money signing from Stuttgart struggled to impress in his first season at the Allianz Arena, but he has now scored 16 goals in 20 appearances this season. Inter, however, will now almost certainly finish second in Group A behind Tottenham Hotspur and this will most likely mean they have to face one of the favourites for the competition in the next round. Unless they are lucky enough to be drawn with Shakhtar or Schalke, the writing may well be on the wall for them unless they make drastic changes in the January transfer window. The squad is finally beginning to show its age, and Rafael Benitez is already under huge pressure, following a multitude of disappointing results and unacceptable performances so far this season.

I would love to be able to predict great success for Shakhtar Donetsk or Copenhagen, but truthfully speaking, it will be a colossal surprise if any team other than those already mentioned features in the Wembley final. If I had to predict an outsider to cause a few shocks, it would be Tottenham. They are absolutely desperate for a top class midfield enforcer to replace the wasteful and clumsy Wilson Palacios, and they still lack the world-renowned goalscorer they searched so hard for in the summer, but Rafael Van Der Vaart, Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon have already proven they can expose just about any defence around. They have beaten Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Inter in the last 6 months or so, but under the extreme pressure of a Champions League knockout match, it would be no great surprise to see them crumble.

After failing to reach the finish line last season, Barcelona will be determined to re-claim the Champions League trophy and it’s looking increasingly likely that they will do so this year. The only hope for the rest of Europe is that Manchester United or Chelsea face them as early as possible and somehow nullify them in order to grind out a positive result over two legs. If they reach the final, there is simply no way they will be stopped in a one-off match if they reach the levels they are capable of finding.

The penultimate matchday of the Champions League group stages is coming up, and it’s make-or-break time for some big clubs. These midweek matches could even decide the future for some coaches, like Rafa Benitez at Inter Milan, who’s been getting some bad results with the holders of the Champions League. Plenty of teams have the chance to qualify for the knockout round, but they’ll have to do the business, and see how they match up against Europe’s other elite sides.

Roma – Bayern Munich

This is a match of huge proportions for both sides, while Bayern Munich have already mathematically qualified, the Bavarian side has been having lots of difficulty in the Bundesliga. Louis van Gaal’s side is 8th in Germany’s top league, with 14 points to make up between them and the table-leaders Borussia Dortmund. So this match is relatively important if Bayern want to begin to string together some wins, and have a hope of retaining the Bundesliga title this season. Roma on the other hand have six points in the group, and they lead the other two sides by three points. Claudio Ranieri needs to win this match if he wants to go deep into this competition with the giallorossi, and it seems like his squad has the momentum. The frenchman Menez has scored great goals so far this season, and he looks like a very dangerous player for any opposition defence, the question is, will he be able to pierce Bayern’s?

All of the Group A matches

Group A is extremely tight right now, you have last season’s competition winners, Inter Milan, second only by goal difference to the newcomers Tottenham Hotspur, with both sides on seven points, and below those two, Twente have five points, while Werder Bremen only have two! So the matches taking place in this group are crucial to see who will pass through to the next round, and who will come first.

First you have Inter Milan hosting Twente, and the Dutch side get to face Benitez’s team at the perfect time. The nerazzurri are in total disarray, having not won once in their past five matches, and the team is devastated by injuries to many key players. So if Twente can pull off a surprise win away from home,they’ll have a good chance of going through to the next round in place of the holders of the competition.

The other Group A match is first placed Tottenham Hotspur hosting Werder Bremen, and it’s the German side which has been doing badly this season. They’re 12th in the Bundesliga table, just four points away from the relegation zone, and in the Champions League group, qualification would take a miracle. Tottenham on the other hand are coming in to this match having just won a fantastic North London Derby against Arsenal where they came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2, away from home! So while on paper this looks like a pretty simple Tottenham win, Werder Bremen might pull out a sneak result, putting a stick between the spokes of Tottenham’s Champions League campaign.

I haven’t been able to adress all the matches which will be taking place this midweek, but if you have any comments or thoughts regarding any matches in the Champions League, make sure to share them below!

The draw for the quarter-final matches was held Friday morning at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. As expected there are some big talking points, not the least being Thierry Henry’s return to face Arsenal. These clubs last faced off in the 2005-06 final when Henry was captain of Arsenal. Another matchup with a rich history is the Manchester United and Bayern Munich tie, which is a repeat of the 1999 final that United famously won with two late goals.

From one perspective, I found it a little disappointing that the two French clubs were drawn against each other but it will still be a banner night for French football. Ligue 1 is guaranteed to have a representative in the semi-finals.

The most intriguing matchup of the round could be Inter Milan v CSKA Moscow. The surprise result of the Round of 16 saw the Russian club dump out Spanish side Sevilla FC on the strength of 2 goals from Tomáš Necid and Keisuke Honda and a terrific, disciplined performance in Spain. Inter surprised many by defeating Chelsea on their home ground to advance to the quarter-finals and manager Jose Mourinho will be looking to replicate his 2004 success by bringing glory to Inter. Below are the full pairings with my picks to advance in bold.

Quarter-Final matches (1st leg – March20/31, 2nd leg – April 6/7)
Olympique Lyonnais v FC Girondins de Bordeaux
FC Bayern München v Manchester United FC
(The winners of these two ties will face off in semi-final 1)

Arsenal FC  v FC Barcelona
FC Internazionale Milano v PFC CSKA Moskva
(The winners of these two ties will face off in semi-final 2)

The semi-finals will take place on April 20/21 & April 27/28.

There were plenty of upsets yesterday, could we see more today? On paper Manchester United, who have struggled as of late, could be expected to slip against CSKA after a long trip to Moscow but CSKA has not been performing well either. I am not expecting a feast of football from that match and the real drama lies elsewhere in the schedule.

One need look no further than the Real Madrid – AC Milan clash for a taste of drama. Kaka was at the centre of a massive transfer from Milan to Madrid this past summer and now comes the much anticipated meeting between the two sides. Madrid have been dominant offensively this season but as usual, their defence is capable of giving up suspect goals. Milan have struggled on all fronts, including a home loss to FC Zurich on Matchday 2. Milan scored a big win over Roma at the weekend with Ronaldinho involved in both goals so they cannot be written off so early. I am hoping for a high-scoring affair but both sides have been a little hard to predict this season. I think Madrd will just edge this one given the home-field advantage.

The other game that catches my eye is the Bayern Munich – Bordeaux clash. Bordeaux will hope for an improvement in form after consecutive losses in Ligue 1 – 3-1 away to AS Saint-Etienne and then 1-0 at AJ Auxerre this past weekend. The time could be right to defeat Bayern who will be without star wingers Franck Ribéry and Arjen Robben as well as striker Ivica Oli? . Bayern will make some tactical adjustments and still have plenty to work with. In particular, keep your eye on Thomas Müller (pictured above) who has scored six goals in his last eight games, with five of those strikes coming in the final 20 minutes.

Full Wednesday schedule (my predictions in bold):
AC Milan v Real Madrid
Apoel Nicosia v FC Porto
Atletico Madrid v Chelsea
Bayern Munich v Bordeaux
Besiktas v Wolfsburg
Maccabi Haifa v Juventus
Manchester United v CSKA Moscow (DRAW)
Marseille v FC Zurich (DRAW)

Real Madrid has continued their massive summer overhaul and some big names will feature in new colors for the upcoming season. No longer wearing the famous white shirt of Madrid will be Dutch national teammates Arjen Robben and Wesley .

A more surprising move was the sale of Álvaro Negredo for the second time. Negredo has joined Sevilla FC on a five-year deal with the Rojiblancos paying a reported 15m Euros for his rights. Similar to the last time Madrid sold Negredo, they have asked for a buy-back option as part of the terms of the deal.

The 24-year-old is one of the hottest properties in Spanish football after scoring 31 goals in 70 Liga appearances for Almería over the past two seasons, including 19 last term as the club finished eleventh. That form (check out this YouTube video for evidence) convinced Madrid to exploit a buy-back clause in the deal that saw him leave the capital in 2007. I had thought that this might be the season he was given a chance to crack the starting XI but the big money deal for Karim Benzema was a signal of Madrid’s intentions to look elsewhere.

It was reported that English Premier League club Hull City had tabled an Negredo looked set to move to Hull in a 18m Euro offer for the striker, but Sevilla came in late and the prospect of Champions League football at a great club like Seville was too strong an offer to turn down for the young Spaniard.

Inter Milan’s search for an attacking midfielder ended when they signed Wesley Sneijder from Madrid for an undisclosed fee. I think this is a fantastic move for Inter though I must admit that Sneijder is one of the players I am biased about. The Dutch international, 25, has signed a four-year contract with the Italian champions after two seasons in Spain, where he scored eleven goals in 52 Liga appearances, helping Madrid win the championship in 2007/08. I think Sneijder still had a lot to offer Milan but spots in the midfield were going to be hard to come by with Ronaldo and Kaka arriving this summer. Sneijder has been capped 55 times by the Netherlands and has represented the Oranje at every major international tournament since his debut in 2003 when he was only 18. He joins new signings Samuel Eto’o, Diego Milito, Lucio and Marko Arnautovic in José Mourinho’s new-look squad.

Another Dutch departure, Arjen Robben has joined fellow countryman Louis van Gaal at FC Bayern München for an undisclosed fee. It seems like he has been around a long time but the Dutch winger is just 25 and the thought of Bayern being able to deploy both Robben and Ribery on the flanks must have some defences nervous. Robben passed a medical this morning before putting his name to a four-year contract in a transfer rumoured to be worth as much as 25m Euros. Robben could be available for Saturday’s showdown with last season’s Bundesliga champs, VfL Wolfsburg.

One earlier move that I disagreed with was the sale of Dutch striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar. Real Madrid shipped him off to AC MIlan for a reported fee of 15m Euros, just eight months after they had paid AFC Ajax 27m Euros for his rights. Huntelaar’s goal-scoring record is phenomenal as he notched 76 goals in 92 Eredivisie matches for Ajax and despite being limited to 13 Liga starts at the Santiago Bernabéu, he still scored eight goals.

FC Bayern München have recruited Major League Soccer’s top star on an initial short-term deal. 26 year-old Los Angeles Galaxy forward Landon Donovan leaves the shadow of Hollywood to join the club nicknamed FC Hollywood on loan until March 15th, 2009.  A longer deal has been agreed to but is dependent on the United States international’s performances.

This will be Donovan’s second spell in the Bundesliga after making seven appearances for Bayer 04 Leverkusen while under contract between 2001 and 2005. After playing only a handful of games with Leverkusen, Landon became unsettled and stated his intentions to return to MLS. He was loaned to the San Jose Earthquakes for several stints. Donovan joined the LA Galaxy in 2005 after his contract at Leverkusen expired.

Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told uefa.com:  “We have a great team and it’s no coincidence that we haven’t lost for 16 games in a row, thus we do not need any new signings. We have only loaned Landon Donovan until March 15th. If and how it will go with him after that will depend on how he develops.”

Donovan will be eligible and available for Bayern’s UEFA Champions League first knockout round ties against Sporting Clube de Portugal on February 25th and March 10th.

(photo courtesy of uefa.com)

Wow. There are some really great match-ups that have emerged from today’s draw at UEFA headquarters. I’m going to give a quick rundown and early predictions though I reserve the right to change my mind before kick-off of the this round!

The tie that will likely generate the most press is the Inter Milan – Manchester United clash. It is a return to English soil for former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho. Mourinho and Alex Ferguson have always been cordial but there have been tense moments between the two. One was brought on by Mourinho’s celebratory run down the touchline at Old Trafford in March 2004. Jose celebrated Francisco Costinha’s last-minute equaliser as if he had scored it himself. That goal knocked Manchester United out of the Champions League and Porto went on to victory in the final, which elevated Mourinho to the status of being one of the eilte managers in the game.

In another interesting twist, Chelsea will welcome back another one of their former bosses as Claudio Ranieri’s Juventus have been paired with Chelsea. Completing the Anglo-Italian showdown is the clash of two attack-minded sides as Arsenal take on AS Roma.

A thought for poor Lyon who were matched up against the current form team in Europe, Barcelona. It’s going to be a tall mountain to climb for the French champs but it is not impossible.

I will do a more thorough breakdown in the weeks leading up to the next round but for now, here are my early predictions based on current form:

Chelsea v Juventus
Villarreal v Panathinaikos
Sporting Lisbon v Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid v FC Porto
Lyon v Barcelona
Real Madrid v Liverpool
Arsenal v Roma
Inter Milan v Manchester United

Who do you think will advance? Which match-up are you most anticipating?