The central match of the
Champions League Tuesday is going to take place in London, where Arsenal and
Bayern will meet for the 5th time in the Champions League history. The
teams are approaching this round of 16 encounter in opposing moods.
The home side is struggling to earn a new Champions
League ticket from the English Premier League. If things remain as they are
right now, Arsene Wenger’s team will not be a part of this big tournament next
year. In addition to this, the team is out of the English League Cup and the FA
Cup. Robin van Persie’s departure has had a huge impact on Arsenal. Podolski,
Giroud and Cazorla, despite performing greatly from time to time, haven’t been
as clinical as the Dutchman. The team has scored
50 goals, which is the third
result in the league. Defense, however, has been the biggest issue for Wenger
so far. Vermaelen and Co. keep on making elementary mistakes.
The visitors from Munich, in contrary, are enjoying
their season. They won their Champions League group and are in the
quarterfinals of the German Cup. There is no need to talk about Bundesliga: it
couldn’t be better for Jupp Heynckes and his team. Manuel Neuer hasn’t had his
best season so far just because the team has dominated over all of its
opponents. There have been made fresh injections in each part of the field,
which makes Bayern 2012-13 even stronger than a season before. Defender Dante
is having a good season, midfielder Kroos has become one of the team’s
important architects, while Mandzukic has been a decent competitor for Mario
Gomez. Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Mueller, Robben and Ribery are still on their top,
to scare Bayern’s opponents.
The 2011-12 runners-up are fully concentrated on
the Champions League, as there are not much to focus on at home. The same
argument can be brought for Arsenal. This means that Arsene Wenger’s team,
despite being clear underdogs in this tie, is going to be a tough hurdle on
Bayern’s way. The Gunners are not hopeless. They have the former Bayern player
Lucas Podolski, who can shock the Bayern defense, which hasn’t been perfect in
some matches. Problems to Bayern’s defense are made worse by Boateng’s
suspension and Badstuber’s health conditions. The German team, clear favorites
in this couple, will need to remember the skills earned at the Champions League
final, where they lost to another London club. Bayern failed to scorbgve early
in that match, which made their play more nervous. Considering Arsenal’s
problems in defense, Bayern should try to shock the English team, to secure a
good position before the second leg. Once conceded, the impulsive Arsenal might
completely lose its game. Arsenal’s mistakes are what might decide the final
outcome. We expect an open match so.
Two very solid Pyrenean teams comprise the second
tie of the day. The Portuguese champion Porto has only lost two matches in all
competitions this season. As it always happens with the Dragons, the team loses
its leaders, but somehow discovers new big names. Nobody would bet on Jackson
Martinez and James Rodriguez to have such an inspirational season. The offense
is actually not the only strength of the Portuguese champions. The compact
defense, which doesn’t concede a lot, is regulated by the fantastic goalkeeper
Helton. Great midfielders Joao Moutinho and Lucho Gonzalez are universal
masters in building a game. Vitor Pereira’s Porto is very strong this season.
They have won 15 and drawn 4 in the domestic unbeaten run this season. The
Russian international Marat Izmailov is the winter addition to the team.
Malaga is in many aspects a pretty much similar
type of a team. The team also relies on strong wings, has got great scorers and
is able to lock the door to its own goal. A fantastic season by Isco and
friends earned them a winner’s title in a Champions League group where they
weren’t even expected to qualify. In the domestic league Manuel Pellegrini’s
team is only behind the super teams Real, Atletico and Barcelona. However, the
team is beating all of these by one component: Malaga has only conceded 21 goals,
which is the league’s best result. It was not so easy to score to this team in
Champions League either. Precisely Malaga and Porto were the only teams that
hadn’t conceded after 4 matchdays. Malaga’s newcomer Diego Lugano may not
participate in Champions League, as he has already been a part of PSG earlier
in the tournament. Let’s see how far Sheikh’s abandoned team will reach this
season.
One of Malaga’s Champions League stars, Eliseu, is
not going to threaten Porto due to an injury. This might be a huge loss for the
visitors. Other than this, there seems to be a bit more structure in Porto’s
football, especially in the midfield. If no extraordinary decisions by Isco,
the teamis a bit weaker than the opponent. The first cautious match, however,
is not going to be the decider. A strong tactical battle between Pereira and
Pellegrini will find its winner in the match in Spain.
Read Part IV
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