The ai???Minnowsai??i?? Wonai??i??t Roll Over
This edition of the Champions League has shown that the group stages of the competition cannot be taken lightly by traditional favourites or by those most bookmakers will bank on. The obvious example being the elimination of Chelsea, who were the defending champions until their untimely exit ended all hopes of a maiden title defence. In group D, which was the toughest group, Manchester City were widely expected to qualify along with Jose Mourinhoai??i??s Real Madrid, but ended up finishing at the bottom, below even Ajax without a single win and with just 3 points. Group G saw Celtic beat Spartak Moscow away, Barcelona at home and pulled off another feisty win against the Russian team at Celtic Park to secure qualification ahead of the favoured Benfica.
Shakhtar Donetsk And Borussia Dortmund Are To Be Taken Seriously
It will be a cracking encounter if Jurgen Kloppai??i??s disciples meet Mircea Lucescuai??i??s Brazilian wizards from Ukraine, but should it not likely to materialise. Teams facing any of Shaktar or Dortmund in the round of 16 will have to be extremely wary. Borussia Dortmund managed 14 points and topped the toughest group of the competition while Shakhtar Donetsk held Juventus to a draw in Turin, beat Chelsea at home and professionally got the job done against Norsjaelland in both their encounters against the Danish League Champions. Both Shakhtar and Borussia Dortmund have managers who are secure in their jobs, crave an attractive style of play and have players who epitomize modern football with their commitment and tactical awareness. Are two new powerhouses emerging in European football? Time will tell, but the signs speak are already there.
The Robertoai??i??s Failed To Capitalize
Roberto Di Matteo has already paid the price for the results in the Champions League this season. Post the 0 ai??i?? 3 defeat to Juventus, he was sacked ruthlessly in typical Chelsea fashion. However if he must introspect on what really went wrong, it comes down to one shoddy second half performance against Juventus in the opening game of the group stage. Chelsea were comfortable at 2 ai??i?? 0 heading into half time courtesy of the wonderful Oscar, but threw away their lead thanks to some callous defending on their part. From there on he could have stemmed the rot, but poor overall performances in the Champions League, was always going to jeopardize his position.
Roberto Mancini on the other hand clearly failed yet again in Europe. He may crib about the fact that prime targets in Eden Hazard, Javi Martinez and Robin Van Persie werenai??i??t delivered by the management in summer, but the truth is that heai??i??s never been good in the Champions League and luck(which is so crucial in this competition) doesnai??i??t seem to side with the Italian either. It is a huge embarrassment that the Premier League champions crash out without a single win in the competition. It remains to be seen if he will pay the price for his errors, as the management at City seems to be a lot more patient than the one at Chelsea.
The age of the 4 ai??i?? 2 ai??i?? 3 ai??i?? 1
The double pivot is in vogue as opposed to the 4 ai??i?? 3 ai??i?? 3 which had taken over early into the millennium from the predominant 4 ai??i?? 4 ai??i?? 2 formation of the late nineties. Off the teams that have qualified through the group stages – PSG, Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Bayern Munich and Celtic largely use this formation, with varying roles assigned to their players depending on match strategy. It should make for an extremely interesting and tight tactical battle as teams try their best to find a way past each other. A few of the eliminated teams use this formation as well, with Chelsea being a notable example.
Barcelonaai??i??s Free Scoring Prowess Being Stymied?
At the end of the group stages last season, Barcelona had scored 20 goals from their six games of involvement in the competition. This season however the Catalan giantsai??i?? goal scoring tally in Europe has nearly halved with just 11 goals. While it is not exactly alarm bell time, maybe it is the change from Pep Guardiola to Tito Vilanova and perhaps, also of teams having taken their lessons from Chelseaai??i??s heroics against Barcelona last season. Qualification to the knock-out rounds certainly hasnai??i??t been a breeze for Lionel Messi and his highly gifted team-mates.
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