Champions League Round-Up (Round Of 16): Bayern And Inter Trail; Napoli Thrash Chelsea; Madrid Held In Moscow

Four matches were played over two days and the drama continues to unfold, maybe more so than last week. The favourites were left disappointed, as none of them met expectations.

Here are the insights into the matches gone by.

Madrid get a hard-earned draw in a cold night in Moscow

Ai??CSKA Moscow 1-1 Real Madrid

Real Madrid, itai??i??s safe to say, are presently favourites against any team in Europe, except maybe Barcelona. So when CSKA Moscow drew their match against Madrid, the only two possible reasons, because of which Madrid did not destroy CSKA were the weather and the pitch. The artificial pitch at the Luzhniki does not help a passing game and slows the ball down significantly. Then there is the weather, which can be extremely trying for even the fittest of squads. At negative 5 degrees celsius, which was expected to drop further as the night went on, Madrid found it tough to get going. Despite the turf, ice and weather, Madrid were clearly the favourites and were expected to beat CSKA comprehensively. If Madrid had the weather as an excuse, CSKA had one as well, which is that they hadnai??i??t played a competitive game in almost two months (due to the Russian season ending earlier) and their players were clearly not expected to be match fit.

Everybody knows how Madrid plays but CSKA were no pushovers themselves as they hadAi?? extremely fast forwards and were known to be a capable counter attacking side. Ai??The hostai??i??s coach Slutsky was quite clear before the game and made his intentions known by stating he wanted to eliminate Madrid and then Barcelona. Although, most people would have laughed off such claims, CSKA did manage to get a result against the Spanish giants. Due to Madridai??i??s winger Angel Di Maria being injured (in the league game against Racing Santander), Mourinho had a selection worry. In hindsight, Mourinho might have made a mistake by using Callejon over Kaka. However, in spite of all that, Madrid controlled possession but simply could not get their passing game in full flow. Chances were created but not converted. Star player Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring with a brilliant volley and was the only real threat throughout the game. There were a couple of dangerous moments but losing Karim Benzema to injury early in the match did not help Madrid andAi?? worse Callejon had his worst game in the Madrid jersey. Fact is, Madrid cannot be blamed for any tactical mistakes and the only real problem was that they didnai??i??t convert the chances they created.

CSKA Moscow, to their credit were missing quite a few of their main players including the dangerous Keisuke Honda who was brought on as a substitute late in the match. With the introduction of the Japanese international, CSKA were immediately more dangerous. Honda got a couple of free kicks in good positions and managed a couple of shots on target. However, despite CSKAai??i??s great defending (keeping Madrid’s goal tally to just one in 90 minutes), they werenai??i??t really creating anything more than half chances because their forwards kept missing key passes in the final 3^rd. Nonetheless, Mourinho will rue the missed chances and Slutsky will be extremely happy for the free kick that Coentrao conceded in the final minute of injury time and the hosts scored in what was the final kick of the game.

Chelsea brought their league form to Europe, Napoli didnai??i??t.

Napoli 3-1 Chelsea

As the headline says, Chelsea continued to mis-fire and luck had nothing to do with it. Although both Chelsea and Napoli are both lagging in their respective domestic leagues, the London side simply did not get anything right against the Italians. To begin with, the game was littered with bad omens before kickoff that seems to show that all is not well in the Chelsea locker room. Rumours of formations being leaked and certain players being displeased with Andres Villas Boas because they were dropped to the bench, marred what should have been a great night for football in Europe.

However, the Portuguese coach is definitely feeling the pressure now. If it wasnai??i??t bad enough that he doesnai??i??t have the complete support of his team (especially the old timers), then it definitely didnai??i??t help that Chelsea were facing a very potent attacking force in Napoliai??i??s holy trinity (Lavezzi, Cavani and Hamsik), who did not disappoint. To add to it all, one cannot help but question the coachai??i??s selection choices. Raul Meireles should not have been played, Frank Lampard should have been brought on earlier and Ashley Cole only played because Bosingwa picked up an injury early in the match. Despite all of that, fans of the London side can find comfort in the fact that the goals themselves were a direct result of 3 mistakes. Inexcusable, but mistakes nonetheless that they will have to work hard to improve on. On the same note, Chelsea scored an away goal thanks to a defensive error and will in general, agree that itai??i??s possible to win the tie in Stamford Bridge. They will need to score twice and not concede a goal to go through but considering the defensive errors that players like David Luiz and Ivanovic are prone to, that might be easier said than done.

Napoli in this match, seemed to have got everything right. Although they might still regret conceding a goal, the sheer dominance of their forwards made sure that Napoli won the match and deservedly so. Edinson CavaniAi?? brought his A game and combined well with Lavezzi who with his speed and ability on the ball gave the Italians the win. The Italians did well to play to their strengths and used the sheer pace that their frontline has, to catch Chelseaai??i??s defenders out, time and again.

Only time will tell if Chelsea can fight back to qualify or crash out of the tournament leaving Villas Boas teetering on the brink of unemployment.

Basel beats Bayern Munich as the Germans fails to read the script

Basel 1-0 Bayern Munich

Swiss side Basel beat Bayern Munich by a goal from Valentin Stocker in the 86ai??i?? minute and nobody can say they didnai??i??t deserve it. In what was in arguably the match of the round, Basel gave Munich a fight they simply did not expect. After what happened to Manchester United, Munich were not expected to take this match lightly, and yet they were deservedly beaten by a side that follows in the footsteps of another team that has blue and red as its colours.

Barcelona who might even consider Basel as their bigger brother (since Joan Gamper who followed Basel, chose the Blue and Red of his home side as inspiration when he started FC Barcelona) Ai??would have been proud of last nightai??i??s game. The Swiss side passed the ball well and were constantly threatening Bayern Munich especially down their left flank (Bayernai??i??s right), proving many critics right, who believe that Rafinha (Munichai??i??s right back) does not have the quality to play in a team of Bayernai??i??s stature. The real star of the game, however, was Baselai??i??s goalkeeper Yann Sommer who had the game of his life and simply would not let the visitors score. The game itself was an extremely open affair (to the surprise of many) with both sides getting lots of shots on target. Basel looked extremely dangerous on the counter attack and hit the posts quite a few times. The only goal of the match, came from a Messi like run from the right flank by Jacques Zoua, who then played in substitute Stocker, who eventually slotted past Neuer.

The visitors threw everything at Basel but simply couldnai??i??t find the back of the net even if they got past the defense. With two world-class wingers in Arjen Robben and Frank Ribery (who was substituted for Tomas Muller later) and overlapping full backs, especially Captain Phillip Lahm who had a 25 yard screamer stopped by Sommer, the Germans definitely did not get their tactics wrong. Neither was it a lack of creating chances, but quite simply it comes down to a leaky defense. If there was something missing then it had to be star midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, the Germans are just not the same team without him, as they missed his calming influence in midfield and his incisive passes.

Basel, to their credit defended well, had some luck and most importantly had Yann Sommer between the posts who single-handedly made sure that his side did not concede. This tie is definitely open and if Basel can continue to give inspired performances like last night, then this time the underdog might just qualify.

Olympique de Marseille see off boring Internazionale

Olympique Marseille 1-0 FC Internazionale

Presently, the question everybody is asking is, Who will be the first to be fired? Andres Villas Boas or Claudio Ranieri?

This was with a doubt, the most boring match among these midweek European fixtures. Inter were focussed mostly on their defence and lacked enough firepower upfront. Rather, one can question the quality of their frontline since the most dangerous of their players was 38-year-old Argentinian midfielder Cambiasso. That says as much about him being a world-class player at that age as it does about Interai??i??s attackers (mainly Diego Forlan and Wesley Sneijder) who flopped. For all practical purposes, the idea of defending well and choosing to attack at the right moment, to get an away goal is a tactic that famously won the Italian side the Champions League under Jose Mourinho. Ranieri, however, did not get his tactics right. There was simply too much defending and too little attacking. Against OM, Inter were undoubtedly favourites even though the french side have a good squad. Pedigree and experience in this tournament should have counted for something but did not. Trequarista Wesley Sneijder was a disappointment and although he made a few dangerous passes, it was simply not enough.Inter was so disappointing up front that it is hard for one to blame only the Dutchman. Zarate and Forlan were equally bad and wasted the few chances that came their way.

Marseille however, could be credited with a deserved win because of their more positive approach to the game. The French side had more possession but lacked precision in the final third. In brief, the only goal of the match was scored by Andre Ayew of a corner in the 93^rd minute, in a game that was found lacking as far as attacking prowess was concerned. Marseille had a good excuse in the fact that they were missing their best player Remy. However, the french side will be extremely happy with the result and will actually be confident of winning this tie in San Siro if Interai??i??s forwards keep misfiring like they did last night.

Ranieri might be having nightmares of being unemployed but should thank his stars that the tie is still there to be won. If the Italian side fail to qualify, it is highly likely that the coach will be looking for another club in three weeks time, especially since Inter are infamous for their lack of patience as far as the managerial position is concerned.

Team of the round

Yann Sommer (Basel), Markus Steinhofer (Basel), Pepe (Real Madrid), David Abraham (Basel), Aronica (Napoli),Valbuena (Marseille), Gokhan Inler (Napoli), Andre Ayew (Marseille), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Lavezzi (Napoli), Edinson Cavani (Napoli)

Tags: UEFA Champions League

Champions League Round-Up (Round Of 16): Bayern And Inter Trail; Napoli Thrashes Chelsea; Madrid Held In Moscow

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