Champions League resumed its play this week after a 2-month hiatus and returned with a bang! Europe's most prestigious soccer club competition has risen to new heights in the past couple of years due to a mass English invasion (3 of 4 teams in the semifinals last year were English - Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool) and this year's competition appears to be heading in the same direction.
Round of 16 kicked off on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively with some of the favorites struggling, some doing just enough to still be in the tie and others leaving lots to be desired.
The most anticipated match up of the round was thought to be Internazionale Milano - Manchester United and the first leg did not disappoint. While the game ended 0:0, the match itself was highly entertaining. It features two of the best players in the world in Christiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and two of the best managers in Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho. With both teams almost on cruise control in their domestic leagues, this tie was expected to be a measuring stick for both teams. After the first leg Manchester United have a slight advantage, although Inter have shown the ability to win against anyone, anywhere.
The other odds on favorites, F.C. Barcelona, got a favorable result in France against the seven-time defending champions Olympique Lyonnais by drawing 1:1. Now, "Barca" can go back to Camp Nou and rely on Lionel Messi's home brilliance to see them through to the next round.
Other results of note saw Liverpool go to record holders Real Madrid (nine-time Champions League winners) and squeek out a 1:0 victory, while German champions Bayern Munich thrashed Sporting Club De Portugal in Lisbon 5:0 and almost certainly booked their way in the quarter finals. This result alone cements Bayern as one of the favorites, and anyone who disagrees with that needs to look no further than Sporting's results in the group stage. Sporting is a good team with skilled players at every position, yet there were no match for Bayern's precision passing and frantic pace. With a couple braces from their best two players, Ribery and Toni, Bayern appear to be hitting on all cylinders when it matters the most.
The second legs are scheduled for 10th and 11th and except for the Bayern - Sporting tie all the games should see plenty of action and drama.
Here are all the results from Tuesday and Wednesday's Champions League:
Athletico Madrid - Porto 2:2
Lyon - Barcelona 1:1
Arsenal - Roma 1:0
Internazionale - Man. United 0:0
Real Madrid - Liverpool 0:1
Chelsea - Juventus 1:0
Villareal - Panathanaikos 1:1
Sporting - Bayern 0:5
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