The qualifying
stage somehow managed to prove me wrong. Don’t misunderstand me, as I still
believe this new format is truly weird, even though I got the general hang of
it. The matches that were played during this qualifier stage were quite
exciting, especially when teams such as Club Brugge, Feyenoord and PSV pulled
off some wonderful shocks to shake things up in Europe. Of course not to forget
the clash of the giants that are Real Madrid and… Okay Manchester City are not
giants. I always make sure to not show my somewhat weird bias towards
Manchester United whenever I write reports, because after all, I support them,
but City? OH HELL NO!!! They were, are and never will be giants. They’re fakes
and frauds. That being said, the matches they had to play against “Los Blancos”
were easily the highlight of the qualifier/play-off rounds. So let’s see what went
down through some short notes, see who’s going to be playing who in the Round
of 16, and make some quirky remarks about that, too!
PSG vs. BREST
First Leg: 3-0 for PSG
Second Leg: 7-0 for PSG
PSG wins 10-0 on
aggregate
PSG’s motto for
these two games: Brest is Love! Brest is
Life!
I agree PSG. I wholeheartedly agree…
PSV vs. JUVENTUS
First Leg: 2-1 for
Juventus
Second Leg: 3-1 for PSV
PSV wins 4-3 on
aggregate
Juventus’
current season is rather all over the place, whether it’s back home or in
Europe. In Italy, they’re in comfortable 5th, whereas in Europe,
they… Uh… Fumbled it real hard.
Meanwhile PSV
are challenging Ajax for the title back home, and have been pretty decent in
Europe.
Sure, the first
leg didn’t go in their favour, as Juventus did play a bit better, but the
second leg was a wonderful demonstration of what Dutch football is all about:
TOTAL FOOTBALL. On top of PSV playing brilliantly, with quick attacks and wits
to outmanoeuvre “La Vecchia Signora”, Ivan Perišić was the man of the match in
both occasions. Dude’s 36, and is playing as if he’s 24.
The son of
football icon George Weah, Timothy Weah, did score for Juventus in the rematch,
but his contribution wasn’t enough to secure place in the Round of 16 for Juve.
PSV were in total control of the second match.
The Dutch side
was just the better team…
DORTMUND vs. SPORTING
First Leg: 3-0 for
Dortmund
Second Leg: 0-0
Dortmund wins 3-0 on
aggregate
The first leg of
this clash between the champions of Portugal and the bottlejobs of Germany was
one-sided.
Ever since
Amorim departed from Sporting, the club has been struggling to continue their
winning streak. Apart from their remarkable 4-1 thrashing of Manchester City
during the league phase, Sporting has been pretty average throughout their time
spent in the Champions League.
This was
reflected during their match against Dortmund, which saw the Germans win the
first game 3-0 with relative ease. Guirassy, Gross and Adeyemi all contributed
for Dortumnd’s victory.
The second game didn’t
happen. EVERYONE FORGOT THEY PLAYED FOR THE SECOND TIME!!!
CLUB BRUGGE vs.
ATALANTA
First Leg: 2-1 for Club
Brugge
Second Leg: 3-1 for
Club Brugge
Club Brugge wins 5-2 on
aggregate
A true underdog
story for the ages. Club Brugge refuse to go down without a fight. And by doing
so, they put their opponents to shame and impress everyone with their undying
spirit to push forward in the Champions League.
In both legs,
Brugge just played a football that is reminiscent of the good ol’ days, before
the oil money, before VAR, before being tame and lame.
Atalanta, on the
other hand, were super unlucky. They had a promise start in the league phase,
only to fumble it and narrowly miss automatic qualification for Round of 16.
But the bad luck didn’t stop there, as Atalanta performed poorly against
Brugge, too! It was so bad, that their bad luck got cursed with bad luck. And
during the second leg, Atalanta’s Rafael Tolói was sent off in the 87th
minute. But by that time, the score was already 3-1 in favour of the Belgian
side.
Brugge are so
good, even they’re not sure how they’re playing so good…
FEYENOORD vs. AC MILAN
First Leg: 1-0 for
Feyenoord
Second Leg: 1-1
Feyenoord wins 2-1 on
aggregate
Well this was
the first shitshow of the play-offs.
Feyenoord played
decent football, but nothing special. AC Milan on the other hand… Oh God! They
just threw everything away in both legs.
Sure, they
scored within the 1st minute of the second leg, but then conceded around
the 75th minute mark of the game. Not to mention, the second leg
match saw two red cards for both sides, meaning that the matches would be
remembered for the mid performances and the red cards shown in the second leg.
This one was just
pathetic. But not as pathetic as the next one…
BAYERN vs. CELTIC
First Leg: 2-1 for
Bayern
Second Leg: 1-1
Bayern wins 3-2 on
aggregate
Imagine being
one of the best clubs not just in Germany, but in the world. Well known for pummelling
weaker teams as if you were [REDACTED] going to Poland in… You get the joke.
But now here’s
the question: How do you fail to truly beat a team and progress in the
Champions League? The answer may not shock you. It’s Vincent Kompany.
Bayern barely
won their first leg against the Scots. Barely. And in the second leg, they
almost went to play in extra time, had it not been for Alphonso Davies’ HONEST
TO GOD LUCKY STRIKE in the last 4 microseconds of the fucking match!
Bayern may have
won the game, but Celtic won the people’s hearts. Tough luck for the Scottish
side. Their legend Nakamura still haunts
me to this day…
BENFICA vs. MONACO
First Leg: 1-0 for
Benfica
Second Leg: 3-3
Benfica wins 4-3 on
aggregate
Monaco lost the
first 1-0 and received a red card. ‘Nuff said.
The second leg
was perhaps the best showcase of the best team winning the game. Both teams
played their hearts out and were on each other’s throats at all time, whether
that was when attacking, defending, or when holding possession. In the end, the
hunter may have gotten its prey, but at the cost of its strength and pride.
Benfica was the
first to find the back of the net in the 21st minute, thanks to Kerem
Aktürkoğlu. But Monaco were damn sure that would not stand for too long, as Minamino
in the 32nd minute and Ben Seghir in the 51st minute
brought Monaco back from the dead, AND STARTED pushing Benfica into an inescapable
corner. But this newfound hope and strength was also their downfall.
Monaco did
pressure Benfica from start to finish, sure. But their endurance wasn’t enough.
They just didn’t have it in the end to remain the hunters and win their spot
for Round of 16. Benfica’s Pavlidis (from
the spot in the 76th minute) and Orkun Kökçü in the 84th
minute sealed Monaco’s fate. Kökçü’s goal in particular was a response for
Ilenikhena, who scored in the 81st minute, erupting the stadium and
promising the French side a spot in the following stage. But fate is a cruel
mistress.
Benfica may be
in the Round of 16, but that pride is just gone. If they make it through it will
be a miracle. They’re chasing Sporting in Portugal for the title race, so maybe
they’re not completely out of it just yet…
REAL MADRID vs. MAN
CITY
First Leg: 3-2 for Real
Second Leg: 3-1 for
Real
Real wins 6-3 on
aggregate
THIS WAS THE
HIGHLIGHT OF THE PLAY-OFFS! The richest clubs in the world with questionable
ethics facing one another for a spot in the next stage, with their reputation
on the line.
The first leg
was a match between equals. As much as I don’t like either side, I was actually
entertained by the football the teams played. City were the dominant force for
around 52% of the match. Haaland did his supposed magic to score twice for “The
Citizens”, with the first goal in the 19th minute, and his second
from the spot in the 80th minute, a goal to boost their lead and to
answer to Mbappe’s goal in the 60th minute. But after that goal was
scored, Real figured out the weakness in City’s structure: playing a VERY DEFENSIVE 4-3-3 against a club with fast players
is suicide. Brahim Díaz and Bellingham changed the score from 2-1 to 3-2 in
the span of 15 minutes.
“The writing was
on the wall for Pep’s City”; “They can bounce back”; “It’s not over until the
fat lady sings” is what I kept hearing and reading about the second leg.
This song is basically the summary of the second leg. Although Mbappe is only mentioned only once, that part is iconic and is part of football meme culture...
ROUND OF 16 CONFIRMED
TEAMS
Lots of
underdogs have made it in the Round of 16. Brugge vs. Villa is an interesting
one, as both teams are doing great this season. Madrid vs. Madrid & Bayern
vs. Leverkusen are matches that are also interesting, due to the rivalry these
teams have with each other. Oh and an early congratulations to Liverpool for
making it into the Quarter-Finals. Unless I somehow managed to jinx them with
this sentence.
Anyhow,
apologies for posting this super late. Got a bit too busy with life and didn’t
have the time to publish this on time. Next publication is going to be the
report for February…
Until next time
Ѓорѓи
„GioGio“ Илиев
No comments:
Post a Comment