This Friday at 12 in Nyon, Switzerland, Champions League quarterfinals draw will take place. Ajax, Barcelona, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Porto, Tottenham are the teams, that qualified to this stage. We may consider, which teams will advance do semifinals, as long as they won’t have to play against each other.
The first certain candidate is Barcelona. Even though in the first match the team didn’t manage to score a goal, they did their best in the rematch at Camp Nou. When Frenchmen scored a contact goal, Barça responded with three more goals. Having in the squad players like Messi, who rules in this campaign with 8 goals and 3 assists, Suarez, who showed his genius in the last game and Dembele, who finally presents his talent, it would be hard to stop them and don’t lose many goals.
Another team, which contains a brilliant player like Messi, is Juventus. ‘Bianconeri’ came from the dead in Round of 16 thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo. Scoring three goals against one of the most solid defences in Europe is quite an achievement, what only proves, that the strong team strengthened with Portuguese, can be unstoppable this year.
Even more effective team is Manchester City, which scored 26 goals in only 8 games in Champions League this season. They can be lethal especially in a rematch, what Schalke learned painfully about. The only question is, if City’s defence can reach the level of their mates in front. If yes, ‘The Citizens’ may be able to finally triumph in the competition.
The last team to achieve semifinals can be Liverpool. Even though they disappointed in the group stage, the team managed with Bayern on away match, what proves, that even with not playing their best performance, they are able to advance further, what has been a problem for ‘The Reds’ in the past. The big teams must prove their greatness, when there is not their day and Liverpool did so.
[photo: UEFA Champions League Facebook]
