The Champions League quarter-final and semi-final draw takes place tomorrow. A glance at the names of the participants might surprise many- in fact, it begets this question: is this year the year of the underdog in the Champions League?
Five of the eight participants in the quarter-finals are names found almost every year: AC Milan, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona and last but not the least FC Bayern Munich. The other three contestants are less familiar ones and in the case of one, almost unfamiliar: Benfica, Marseille and Cypriots Apoel.
Large wins were recorded in this season’s competition: underdogs Basel and Bayer Leverkusen were swept aside by Bayern and Barcelona respectively in the second legs. Basel, however, almost caused a shock too. They won the first leg against Bayern, 1-0 in Switzerland, a score-line which many experts and coaches would say is perfect at home.
The second leg was a different story altogether. Basel could not force a brilliant save out of Manuel Neuer. Bayern scored seven and with plenty of swagger, moved on to the next stage. Last year, Bayern was eliminated at this stage by Inter Milan, due to a late goal by Goran Pandev. Both Inter and Pandev suffered heart-breaks this time around.
The number of underdogs in the quarters could have been five had Pandev’s current team, Napoli managed to hold out for the final 15 minutes of normal time in the second leg against Chelsea. Unfortunately, Napoli went out after conceding a fourth in extra time in what was a high-tempo, end to end affair.
The winners of 2010, Inter, meanwhile suffered an unceremonious exit at the hands of Marseille. They led 1-0 until injury time when Marseille scored the vital away goal that saw them through. Apoel meanwhile beat seasoned participants Lyon- they required a penalty shoot-out to do so and became the first ever Cypriot side to reach the quarter-finals.
Apoel topped their group in the group stages as did Benfica. Benfica played Zenit, another underdog. A second leg 2-0 win at home following a 3-2 loss in Russia saw the Portuguese side through to the last eight. It is indeed rare to see so many underdogs in this late a stage in the Champions League.
The next question obviously is how far can they go? Provided the underdogs are pitted against one another in tomorrow’s draw, one of them will be in the semifinals. Otherwise- it will be a tough ask for any of them to progress further considering the calibre of the top five sides in the last eight.
Benfica’s toughest task in the Champions League was Manchester United- they earned two draws. Benfica can do quite some damage with minimal possession as they displayed in their second leg against Zenit. Apoel plays an almost strange brand of football-but their coach’s decisions have paid off so far as they have beaten the likes of Lyon and Porto.
Marseille has depended on keeper Steve Mandanda for much of their campaign but he will absent from the first leg of their quarter-final tie due to his red card against Inter. Hence, Marseille will have to be extremely careful in the next round. They are a side which makes life difficult for other opponents and does not have the attacking mindset of Benfica.
So, will we find an underdog in the Champions League semi-final? Let me hear your thoughts ahead of tomorrow’s draw.
Large wins were recorded in this season’s competition: underdogs Basel and Bayer Leverkusen were swept aside by Bayern and Barcelona respectively in the second legs. Basel, however, almost caused a shock too. They won the first leg against Bayern, 1-0 in Switzerland, a score-line which many experts and coaches would say is perfect at home.
The second leg was a different story altogether. Basel could not force a brilliant save out of Manuel Neuer. Bayern scored seven and with plenty of swagger, moved on to the next stage. Last year, Bayern was eliminated at this stage by Inter Milan, due to a late goal by Goran Pandev. Both Inter and Pandev suffered heart-breaks this time around.
The number of underdogs in the quarters could have been five had Pandev’s current team, Napoli managed to hold out for the final 15 minutes of normal time in the second leg against Chelsea. Unfortunately, Napoli went out after conceding a fourth in extra time in what was a high-tempo, end to end affair.
The winners of 2010, Inter, meanwhile suffered an unceremonious exit at the hands of Marseille. They led 1-0 until injury time when Marseille scored the vital away goal that saw them through. Apoel meanwhile beat seasoned participants Lyon- they required a penalty shoot-out to do so and became the first ever Cypriot side to reach the quarter-finals.
Apoel topped their group in the group stages as did Benfica. Benfica played Zenit, another underdog. A second leg 2-0 win at home following a 3-2 loss in Russia saw the Portuguese side through to the last eight. It is indeed rare to see so many underdogs in this late a stage in the Champions League.
The next question obviously is how far can they go? Provided the underdogs are pitted against one another in tomorrow’s draw, one of them will be in the semifinals. Otherwise- it will be a tough ask for any of them to progress further considering the calibre of the top five sides in the last eight.
Benfica’s toughest task in the Champions League was Manchester United- they earned two draws. Benfica can do quite some damage with minimal possession as they displayed in their second leg against Zenit. Apoel plays an almost strange brand of football-but their coach’s decisions have paid off so far as they have beaten the likes of Lyon and Porto.
Marseille has depended on keeper Steve Mandanda for much of their campaign but he will absent from the first leg of their quarter-final tie due to his red card against Inter. Hence, Marseille will have to be extremely careful in the next round. They are a side which makes life difficult for other opponents and does not have the attacking mindset of Benfica.
So, will we find an underdog in the Champions League semi-final? Let me hear your thoughts ahead of tomorrow’s draw.
