Champions League - Round of 16 Draw

SocrManiac

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Apr 15, 2006
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I know nothing about Lyon, but my gut is that Juventus could have done worse.

I think Liverpool match up well against what I perceive to be a struggling Atletico side.

Looking forward to seeing Chelsea's defense against The Bayern Lewandowskis.
 

thehitcat

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My read (such as it is) Tottenham got a gift. Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea got extremely dangerous ties for the round of 16 and at least one of the three (Chelsea?) will be out before the QF. Barca should have its way with Napoli and Juve with Lyon and I have no real idea which team will come out of the Atalanta v. Valencia tie. My favorite tie of the round might be Dortmund v. PSG. On name and talent PSG should win in a stroll but they tend to have difficulty with well drilled sides and the Dortmund side has been that so far. I think if nothing else it'll be an interesting battle of styles giving PSG the edge for the second leg at home. I kind of wish Tottenham was in that Dortmund slot as I think Mourinho's side vs. PSG would be even more interesting.
 

Zososoxfan

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I know nothing about Lyon, but my gut is that Juventus could have done worse.

I think Liverpool match up well against what I perceive to be a struggling Atletico side.

Looking forward to seeing Chelsea's defense against The Bayern Lewandowskis.
The silver lining to the lack of upsets is that this R16 is more exciting on paper than I can ever remember. Atalanta and Valencia will consider themselves lucky to avoid the megaclubs, and Juve, Spurs, and Barca have to like their chances as well. All the other matchups are delightful and intriguing.
 

tmracht

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Hopefully Chelsea and Bayern are out of their respective funks by the first leg. That could be an amazing 2 legs for a round of 16.
 

Tuff Ghost

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My read (such as it is) Tottenham got a gift.
I think you may be underrating RB Leipzig a little bit. They have looked pretty strong the few times I have seen them this year.

They currently sit at the top of the Bundesliga table with 33 points in 15 games, including a league-leading +26 goal differential. You could argue that they were far from commanding in a somewhat weak Group G (11 points), but they still came out on top of that.
 

tmracht

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Leipzig is going to have an interesting January, could be a very different looking team if Warner leaves and they replace him with Haland or something this who not cup tied thing is gonna make for some interesting winter transfers.
 

InstaFace

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From what I've seen, the weakest teams in the R16 are:

1. Atalanta
2. Lyon
3. Leipzig - domestic results notwithstanding, they just haven't faced this caliber of competition (other than a home draw to Bayern), they won the Group of Life, and Werner seems off to me this year.

Valencia got a dream draw against Atalanta, I doubt they'd be favored against very many others. Tottenham didn't get a pushover in this round - there are no pushovers - but they could have done far worse. I mean, Real Madrid vs Man City? Totally agree this will be an awesome R16.
 

bosox4283

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Liverpool have to be considered the top club in the world at this moment, right? So it’s not great that Atletico drew the best team. As of today, I don’t like Atletico’s chances but two months is a long time and I have faith that Simeone will continue to improve his squad before that match. The biggest questions are if Joao Felix keeps getting better and if Atletico can find another striker — either a healthy Costa or a new signing — before the fixtures.
 

thehitcat

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Liverpool have to be considered the top club in the world at this moment, right? So it’s not great that Atletico drew the best team. As of today, I don’t like Atletico’s chances but two months is a long time and I have faith that Simeone will continue to improve his squad before that match. The biggest questions are if Joao Felix keeps getting better and if Atletico can find another striker — either a healthy Costa or a new signing — before the fixtures.
Regarding a healthy Costa I believe it was the third man on the morning Football Show on XM (I was desparate) who suggested that the most realistic timeframe he had heard for Costa was April not February/March. That said a healthy Diego Costa makes that even more interesting.
 

DJnVa

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I think you may be underrating RB Leipzig a little bit. They have looked pretty strong the few times I have seen them this year.

They currently sit at the top of the Bundesliga table with 33 points in 15 games, including a league-leading +26 goal differential. You could argue that they were far from commanding in a somewhat weak Group G (11 points), but they still came out on top of that.
Sure, but I think he was speaking more in regards to they missed out on matching up with one of the super clubs--Madrid, PSG, Barca, etc. You're not going to get a bad team at this point.
 

Tuff Ghost

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Sure, but I think he was speaking more in regards to they missed out on matching up with one of the super clubs--Madrid, PSG, Barca, etc. You're not going to get a bad team at this point.
Understood that all of the teams left are good and Leipzig are not a super-club, it's just that categorizing Spurs as being lucky and Liverpool as facing an "extremely dangerous" opponent (Atletico) seemed a little overstated to me.

Honestly, if Leipzig was matched up against Atletico, I'd probably pick Leipzig.

Out of the non-English teams, I'd take Leipzig over any of the following: Lyon, Valencia, Atalanta, Napoli, Dortmund, Atletico, and maybe Juventus (I think Bundesliga is definitely higher quality than Serie A recently). I'd have them in the vicinity of 8th out of the final 16.

I find it tough to compare across leagues and I am sure I have a bias towards the leagues I watch more of (Premier League and Bundesliga), so maybe I am way off.
 

Kliq

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Spurs have really sucked this year against top competition; maybe things will be different in February but they will have a hard time with anybody in the Final 16.
 

rguilmar

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From what I've seen, the weakest teams in the R16 are:

1. Atalanta
2. Lyon
3. Leipzig - domestic results notwithstanding, they just haven't faced this caliber of competition (other than a home draw to Bayern), they won the Group of Life, and Werner seems off to me this year.

Valencia got a dream draw against Atalanta, I doubt they'd be favored against very many others. Tottenham didn't get a pushover in this round - there are no pushovers - but they could have done far worse. I mean, Real Madrid vs Man City? Totally agree this will be an awesome R16.
Not that I really disagree with this, but since Atalanta became a bit of a binky team of mine last year, they have been missing their top scorer in Duvan (#2 in all of Serie A last year) for much of the season, are also missing Ilicic, and haven't played a home game until recently as their stadium was under repair. By the time February rolls around, they will be playing actual home games and could have their entertaining three headed monster back (Duvan, Ilicic, and Papu Gomez). They might not still your list of worst teams left (not that it's much of an insult- this round of 16 is stacked).

I do love this round of 16 draw. All of the top clubs in the world got through. All matchups have something to offer except probably Juve-Lyon (though Lyon have enough individually talented players to give Juve trouble if they aren't on their game) and possibly Napoli-Barca (though Napoli will always be a threat on the counter, so it could get interesting). I seriously can't wait for February.
 

Zososoxfan

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Understood that all of the teams left are good and Leipzig are not a super-club, it's just that categorizing Spurs as being lucky and Liverpool as facing an "extremely dangerous" opponent (Atletico) seemed a little overstated to me.

Honestly, if Leipzig was matched up against Atletico, I'd probably pick Leipzig.

Out of the non-English teams, I'd take Leipzig over any of the following: Lyon, Valencia, Atalanta, Napoli, Dortmund, Atletico, and maybe Juventus (I think Bundesliga is definitely higher quality than Serie A recently). I'd have them in the vicinity of 8th out of the final 16.

I find it tough to compare across leagues and I am sure I have a bias towards the leagues I watch more of (Premier League and Bundesliga), so maybe I am way off.
You're drastically underrating Atleti. Atleti have conceded 10 (!) goals in La Liga this season. They can't put the ball in the net at the moment, but if they can keep their opponent off the score sheet at the Wanda, I like their chances in an away leg. Similar to their matches against Juve, they played Barca very tough and it took some Messi magic at the end to get the result. Otherwise, their only bad result in the group stage was a 2-1 loss to Leverkusen (aka Neverlusen).

I admittedly don't watch much Bundesliga, but I'm familiar with Werner's work. He's a speedster who needs space in behind defenses to be effective and that's one thing Simeone would absolutely not let happen. When Werner plays for the NT, he really struggled to help break down bunkered defenses. The scoring at Leipzig dries up quickly if Werner is neutralized.

Nevertheless, the matchup isn't Leipzig-Atleti. With respect to Leipzig, Mou will know how to tackle the problem, the question is whether Spurs can execute it. That would require the Spurs D to tighten up considerably by February. However, Sanchez and Toby are fairly well suited for tracking a player like Werner (big, strong, but with good pace for CBs). Werner may attack the space behind the FBs, but then we don't know who Mou will lineup at either FB come February. Also consider that Leipzig failed to get out of the UEL group phase last year (the Battle of the Red Bull between Salzburg and Leipzig was epic), while Spurs were in the UCL final (admittedly on a rickety and horseshoe-laden ship).

And while I expect Liverpool to advance past Atleti, it wont be a runaway and Liverpool will need to earn it. Atleti thrive on playing tight physical matches and I'm sure Simeone will give orders to tackle viciously in the MF to stanch attacks and counters before they can gain steam. Atleti wont become unbalanced and yet will fight like hell in the middle third. The key for Atleti will likely depend on whether Joao Felix or Angelito Correa can create enough threat behind the Liverpool FBs to pin them back a bit. When Liverpool's FBs are flooding the MF and getting into the attack, it's game over for the opposition.

Lastly, comparing across leagues is exactly why I love UCL!! It's also why I've very much come to appreciate UEL.
 
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