Reflections : UCL Draw Review

This reflections article is being posted in advance for next week. Most probably there will be no reflections article posted next week. However given the nature of the subject in hand it made more sense to post it now rather than two days later.

Before starting with the analysis there is something personal that this writer would like to share. Friday 18th December was the date of the UCL second round knock out draw. And this writer was having a terrible day in office with even the most minor of issues taking ages to resolve and one or more altercations with some colleagues. This had reached such a limit that by 4:30 PM IST he had even forgotten about the UCL draw. Fortunately he remembered half an hour later and upon connecting to the Uefa site, decided to replay the draw to enjoy it as if it were live rather than looking at the resultant fixtures. At the end of it his day had changed. He couldn't have been happier or have asked for more from the draw. The primary reasons for this were that his club were handed a really good draw and the two major heavy weight clashes that had resulted were exactly the ones he had wanted to see. In these two clashes no matter which heavy weight loses this writer will still win because he has an axe to grind against one or more persons from each camp.

As far as Inter is concerned, that's a team he would have ideally wanted to see go far and re-establish the quality of Italian teams in European football. However two things have happened which have soured his sentiments. The appointment of Mourinho as coach is the most important. From his thoroughly reprehensible behavior towards almost everyone else to his excessive hype, it's just too much fun to see the loud mouthed Portuguese taste defeat. And the second reason of course is their purchase of Eto'o. This writer doesn't really have much against Eto'o. However when the Ibra-Eto'o swap happened during the summer transfer window, Barcelona were scoffed at big time by a considerable section of pundits and fans, almost exclusively English for having bought a "big match flop" and that too for such a huge price and sold a proven goal scorer instead. Now if Inter with Eto'o were to claim their first major victory in UCL knock outs in a very long time, the naysayers would feel that they have been vindicated. Of course it would be extremely short sighted of them to ignore that Inter have improved as a whole with a playmaker like Sneijder, another great goal scorer like Milito and some improvements in defense and midfield as well but still they would find a way to link virtually everything with Eto'o somehow.

However in spite of all these issues that this writer has with Inter it's nowhere near the antagonism that he's had for Chelsea right since the time they came into limelight. A club without a worthwhile academy to boast of which created a team purely by buying the best for all positions and then hired one of the most or even the most arrogant coach the world has ever seen. To this add the lack of any refined playing style and an annoying ability to eek out results when they have done little to deserve it. That's not all though. They even find a way to hire the most world class of coaches like no other club can and then show them the door like they were never needed. A world cup winner and erstwhile considered one of the world's top coaches namely Luiz Felipe Scolari has been turned into a nonentity by Chelsea.

Milan used to be one of the favorite teams of this writer. However they bought Ronaldinho who has been on this writer's hate list for his on and off field behavior during WC 2006 ever since that tournament. To that add the short sightedness of Berlusconi and Galliani who have continued to rely on an age old team for years when no other club in the world does the same. Finally this writer must also say that he was among those who predicted an absolute disaster of a season for Milan and their recent resurgence has left him very perplexed. If they were to get the better of one of the most fancied teams in world football, all theories of their decay would be thrown out of the window for good.

Now that he has stated his feelings about Milan, is this writer going to root for ManUtd? Certainly not! Since the time he started watching club football ManUtd have been number one on his hate list. Later they became second to Chelsea but the reasons for that have already been elaborated. ManUtd is a typical English club and this writer has a distaste for all things English. In EPL he always supported Arsene Wenger's stylish Gunners to get the better of old fox Fergie. The English media and it's habit of hyping up it's teams and players to nonsensical extents have irked this writer no end. This summer after the sale of C.Ronaldo and lack of reinforcements in midfield, he predicted a lack luster season for ManUtd. Of course he made the same prediction last season as well but was proved horribly wrong. ManUtd's talisman is now Wayne Rooney a player who just in the views of this writer in spite of being extremely hard working is not really one of the world's top most players in terms of ability and performance. This writer sees him as somewhat hyped and overrated. If Rooney without C.Ronaldo were to carry ManUtd to glory or nearly there, he would have finally earned a right to be considered with the very best.

Yes so far this article has concentrated on elaborating this writer's sentiments rather than starting the actual analysis. This has been done just for a change and will not be the norm in other reflections articles. Any way let's start the match by match analysis now trying to keep the perspective as neutral as possible.

1. Olympiakos vs. Bordeaux - Most would agree that after having been the best team of the group stage Bordeaux deserved an easier draw. And they have got just that. A club of their size will get the chance to progress to the quarter finals of UCL very rarely. Their future could be in turmoil since it's very likely that the extremely impressive Laurent Blanc will leave his position as head coach next summer. Marouane Chamakh has said repeatedly that he cannot wait to move to a bigger club. Yoann Gourcuff too may not want to stick around for too long. This is Bordeaux's time in the sun and they must take it - quite simply it's now or never. In front of them stands an opponent who they are well capable of beating but must not take lightly.

2. A C Milan vs. Manchester United - It may seem slightly surprising but Milan will not be very unhappy with this draw. Above all they wanted to avoid Barcelona and then also former manager Ancelotti's Chelsea. ManUtd is a team which they have a psychological edge over having beaten them several times in the past in somewhat one sided contests. Of course this is not the great Milan of those days but a closer look would suggest that ManUtd are not without their problems either. Their midfield is still run by veterans since the young players have not yet proven themselves to be up to the mark. The wide players have not yet come close to replicating what the earlier combo of Giggs and C.Ronaldo used to produce. And most surprising the water tight defense of the last few seasons has begun to leak goals with Rio Ferdinand's form being particularly called into question. ManUtd fans will not fancy this match up due to the history between them but the old war horse Ferguson would also see this as a chance to finally get the monkey off his back.

3. Lyon vs. Real Madrid - Real Madrid most incredibly have not made it to the UCL quarter finals for five consecutive seasons. In their defense they have always had very competent opponents and this one is no different. However with the biggest shopping spree of any summer in football, Florentino Perez will not accept failure this time. Lyon themselves aren't going through a good phase. Bordeaux is taking the Ligue 1 title further and further from their eyesight every week. And their defense is an Achilees heel for sure. However Lyon may see this draw as just what they needed to get back their morale. In the words of their president they wanted to avoid Barcelona after the hammering suffered last season and also avoid Chelsea. Real instead is a team which they would see themselves well capable of beating having got the better of them in the past few seasons. Having said that all concerned with football know that the squads are not even comparable on paper. With Alonso, on fire Higuain, old Lyon favorite Benzema, the classy Kaka and of course superstar C.Ronaldo, Real Madrid will be fancied to win this one and end their miserable run in UCL knock outs. Once that is done they may even see this as their year in UCL all the more given that the final will be held on home ground.

4. Inter Milan vs. Chelsea - Undoubtedly this just has to be the tie of the second round. Jose Mourinho would want to show that Chelsea have become a lot worse since his exit. He would also want to prove that he is a superior coach to Carlo Ancelotti in spite of having won fewer UCL titles and reached fewer finals than the former Milan manager. In Mourinho's glorious coaching career laden with trophies if this writer is asked what his biggest failing has been the answer would be his being outwitted by several tacticians in major match ups in knock out competitions. Rafael Benitez has got the better of Mourinho several times in the past in spite of not being half the manager at league level that Jose is. Then we need to look at Inter's recent history in UCL. Off hand this writer is unable to think of the last victory that Inter have had against a major team in UCL knock outs. On research it seems to be their victory against the then formidable Valencia team in the quarter finals of UCL 2002-03 which must sound like an eternity. Given all these considerations this writer would go so far as to say that this is the biggest challenge in Mourinho's coaching career. If Inter still continue to be out of their depth in European competition then Mourinho's detractors would have enough reason to claim that he has added little or no value to them since they were still continuously winning Serie A before he took over and the league is becoming even more one sided every passing year. Most pundits and even the bookies see Chelsea as very strong favorites but it's high time Inter showed they deserve to be counted with the very best. Also a personal challenge for Samuel Eto'o to show that he can excel in Europe without having his illustrious former Barcelona team mates along side him. For Ancelotti one more UCL win would put him right there with the all time greats since this is something even Sir Alex has been unable to accomplish. Beating Inter would set the tone for just that. As for Chelsea it's been a case of so near yet so far during these last few and many fans see this season with the appointment of Ancelotti as the one which will finally see them lay their hands at the most coveted prize in club football.

5. Bayern Munich vs. Fiorentina - If you are a Fiorentina fan you are bound to be feeling hurt now. The nature of the draw was such that having finished top of their group ahead of Lyon and being an Italian team the only big team that Fiorentina could have been drawn against was Bayern Munich. Sadly the devil wrote their destiny and that's exactly what they got. Bayern look like a continuously improving side with Louis Van Gaal finally looking like the right man for the job. If stalwarts Ribery and Robben could somehow both be 100% fit at the same time they have an attack to give almost anyone a run for their money. However once Fiorentina have recovered from this temporary depression they must not forget two things. First that Fiorentina were the second most impressive side in the group stage after Bordeaux. And secondly that Bayern no matter how powerful in squad strength are a very beatable team with the defense not looking convincing at all. There isn't much reason to treat this as a one sided encounter since Fiorentina have one of the best tacticians around in Cesare Prandelli. An added edge to this tie is provided by the small matter of the Uefa coefficients contest between Italy and Germany given that most pundits are predicting the remaining Italian and German sides to lose their matches with this tie deciding who out of Italy and Germany will be left standing.

6. Stuttgart vs. Barcelona - Yes everyone including fans and haters alike are saying that Barcelona couldn't have been given a better draw. A club with very little pedigree in European competition. A team not at all in form. Barcelona can have problems against lesser sides who are well organized and have tight defenses but Stuttgart is nothing like that. Besides Stuttgart could be involved in a relegation battle which could see them not even put 100% effort in this tie. In such a scenario the Blaugrana's biggest enemy is bound to be complacency. In a tie that they are expected to blaze through, a failure, if it happens would be just what all those whose eyes are growing increasingly greener with envy seeing the Catalan club win title after title need to finally afford themselves a laugh at the expense of the defending European champions. As for Barcelona no club to date has yet won the UCL consecutively but they remain the odds on favorites to do just that.

7. CSKA Moksva vs. Sevilla - Yes Sevilla have gotten a good draw. Two problems cannot be ignored though. One is that it's always difficult to play an away tie against a Russian club. Secondly Sevilla can sometimes produce their very best against the biggest of clubs and then astonish their supporters by failing against the less fancied ones. Having said that this is just the chance they need to be thought of as more than the double Uefa cup winners that they have been in the past. Given the strength in depth of their squad and the firm establishment of Manolo Jimenez as an able leader they should be well capable of meeting the challenge successfully this time.

8. Porto vs. Arsenal - Like Barcelona Arsenal too have been granted just the kind of draw they wanted though Porto have much greater pedigree than Stuttgart. Last season they even gave ManUtd a real run for their money and this time gave Chelsea a more than considerable fight in the group stage. However what Arsenal want above all is teams which play an open game that allows them to play their own eye catching stylish game and with Porto they get just that while they would not get that with many others who they could possibly have been drawn against. Not many fancy Arsenal to lift the UCL trophy but a quarter final appearance is the least that would be expected of them.