Champions League 2012-13: The first 1/8 final matches, Part II

Read Part I

Real was having problems with injuries. The worst is over, though. Only Casillas is still recovering. This is the main reason of Diego Lopez’s addition to the squad. Having accepted the loss of the league title to rivals Barcelona, Jose Mourinho’s main focus is Champions League this year. Mourinho’s team has had a hectic period of 14 matches in 2 months: many of them didn’t really go their way. Actually Mourinho can claim this season to be the unluckiest in his career. First,
the Champions League “group of death”, the struggle for survival in which indirectly prevented them from catching Barcelona in the Spanish league, then the hard matches in King’s Cup, the semifinal encounters of which need to be played parallel to Champions League matches against one of Europe’s strongest teams; Iker Casillas is injured; Ronaldo is not getting the Best Player’s prize. Everything is there for Real Madrid to have a disastrous season. And this might be the motivation to concentrate on the match of the season. The dream of a Champions League fairy tale is still alive.

Manchester United wasn’t planning to get such an opponent already in the round of 16. The team hasn’t had a quieter period than Real, having played the same amount of matches during the Champions League break. However, Alex Ferguson’s team is having fun in the Premier League, earning points and increasing the gap between them and the rivals. The new edition to the team, Robin van Persie, is the topscorer of the Premier League with 19 goals. Rooney, Hernandez and others do all for the Dutchman to shine this season.

This is going to be the 9^th match of Real Madrid and Manchester United. Concerning the first match between these two, the Spanish team will have the advantage of the home soil. Together with that, Real’s squad looks a bit more balanced. If they have a good match, there is not much that can prevent them of scoring. On the other side of the barricades is Manchester United’s defense, which has been faltering during the whole season. The attack has been answering for defenders’ mistakes so far, but if the Special One is determined to keep a clean sheet, Manchester United might not concede as many goals as they score. Real’s defense hasn’t been perfect either. They have conceded 9 in the group stage. The good news for Champions League fans is that both of the teams score in every match, so a 1/8 final worth of a final is ahead of us. 

The much underestimated clash between Shakhtar and Borussia Dortmund will take place parallel to Real-Manchester United match.

Borussia had a terrible weekend, although they have improved their position in the league table recently. They have had a one-month break, the end of which helped them climb up to the second place in the league. Unfortunately for the Borussia fans, climbing higher is not an option in this season. But, as the team showed in the group stage, Champions League is what matters. Their star Nuri Sahin is back after a couple of bad years abroad.

Borussia’s opponent is the Ukrainian Shakhtar. This team is the biggest mystery of the play-off, as the team hasn’t played a single official match since the Champions League group stage was over The form of the team is impossible to judge by the friendly tournaments played during the break. The team played nine friendly matches, and won all of them but the last one. The negative thing is that Mircea Lucescu will have to get on without Willian, who is now substituted by Taison. It is not a fact that this is going to improve the team’s performance. Willian was one of Shakhtar’s heroes on their way to eliminate the Champions of Champions.

Borussia is certainly in a better form, despite the Shakhtar camp insisting on their well-preparedness. This might simply be the case. Overall, both teams are pretty balanced and none of them is obviously stronger than the other one. Both of the teams are young, quick and clever. So who will prevail, Lewandowski or Mkhitaryan? 

Read Part III
Read Part IV