Champions League draw 2011-12

An Allianz arena finals in the offing. I sure as hell hope Bayern make it to that game this year. Getting Vidal would have almost confirmed it, but let's see.

Group A
FC Bayern München (GER)
Villarreal CF (ESP)
Manchester City FC (ENG)
SSC Napoli (ITA)

Group A is tough, yes, but I'm over 90% sure that Bayern and City can see Villareal off. Napoli, on the other hand, is screwed.

Group B
FC Internazionale Milano (ITA)
PFC CSKA Moskva (RUS)
LOSC Lille Métropole (FRA)
Trabzonspor AŞ (TUR)

Inter's playgroup, and Lille's best chance in the past few years. Lille vs Moscow should be interesting!

Group C
Manchester United FC (ENG)
SL Benfica (POR)
FC Basel 1893 (SUI)
FC Oţelul Galaţi (ROU)

Benfica may give it their all but ManU can safely top the group here. More like practice for the big rounds.

Group D
Real Madrid CF (ESP)
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)
AFC Ajax (NED)
GNK Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)

An improved Dinamo is all set to be destroyed by the other three. Lyon - Madrid has seen some awesome matchups in the recent years but I expect Madrid to safely keep Lyon at bay. Ajax, probably one of the fastest teams in fray, still has very few chances of causing upsets. It'd be awesome to see what they can do to Lyon.

Group E
Chelsea FC (ENG)
Valencia CF (ESP)
Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER)
KRC Genk (BEL)

While Chelsea can be expected to scrape through to the next round, it is most difficult to score 12 in this group. Valencia and Leverkusen will fight it out for the second spot. Leverkusen without their best player from last year might fall short, but I expect much from their Arsenal-ish side. Their problem, however, would be Valencia's equal strength.

Group F
Arsenal FC (ENG)
Olympique de Marseille (FRA)
Olympiacos FC (GRE)
Borussia Dortmund (GER)

I expect a lot from Dortmund this year, despite losing the most influential Sahin from their fairytale season. They are the biggest threat to Marseille's progress. With the Greeks expected to raise their walls and earn some draws, it would be crucial for the other teams to win against Olympiakos. Arsenal don't look very promising, but surely they should progress from this group?

Group G
FC Porto (POR)
FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
FC Zenit St Petersburg (RUS)
APOEL FC (CYP)

To me, this is the most competitive group out of the eight with any of Porto, Shakhtar or Zenit capable of topping the group. Porto's weakness would come from the travelling and the other teams' local game concentration - or the lack of it. With Zenit's home advantage lost against Shakhtar, I expect Zenit to drop crucial points there. Given all this, Shakhtar should get into the next stage and I expect Porto to continue their progress from last season. Needless to mention, APOEL doesn't stand a chance, but can make a difference like Olympiakos.

Group H
FC Barcelona (ESP)
AC Milan (ITA)
FC BATE Borisov (BLR)
FC Viktoria Plzeň (CZE)

The Barca - Milan ties would be awesome to watch, but no surprises on who're progressing from this group, are there?

Bayern beats Lyon, reaches UCL 2010 finals

Bayern beat Lyon with what I'd call a clinical precision to reach Bernabeu. As Munich, and for that matter, the whole of Germany want Bayern to lift the trophy, one thing that runs in their favor is the improvement in their game over the course of UCL. For one, they've stopped losing second legs.

Moving on to my rater,

Lyon:
Lloris - He wasn't at his usual best
Reveillere - Clubs out there, buy him!
Cris - Poor guy. But why do a Sreesanth?!!
Boumsong - Who?
Cissokho - Boy was he in a dangerous mood! bad!
(Gomis 46 - Good)
Gonalons - Good
Makoun - Missed the chance to create an impact.
Govou - Awesome a minute. Awful the next.
Delgado - Is this the Delgado we knew? No.
(Pjanic 69) - Not good.
Michel Bastos - Well, u miss that kick at that position, u go home.
Lopez - Shouldn't cry. Not his fault they lost. He didn't even see much of the ball.
(Ederson 79) - What miracle could he have possibly done?

Bayern Munich:
Butt - Wait. Did he save that? Did HJB save that?!
Lahm - Uber cool. With Robben, the combo that the opposing UCL finalists shud study in detail.
Van Buyten - Play around for 45'
(Demichelis 46) - The next 45'
Badstuber - Didn't get too many chances to live up to his 'name'
Contento - Ich bin contento with his performance :)
Robben - Not at his best, but still dangerous.
(Klose 76) - Match practice
Schweinsteiger - Awesome
(Alaba 78) - Match practice
Van Bommel - Awesome
Altintop - Whatay pass for the second goal. A2wesome.
Muller - Good game except for the early miss
Olic - Hattrick. Need I say any more?

Off to sleep. Have a really bad shoulder. Thanks for the game guys.

~Peace~

Bayern Munich - Barcelona [Round 2] Ding!

As a fan of Bayern Munich, I have never seen a worse performance (or mindset) from the German Side. I couldn't watch the screen after the fourth goal. I was sooo down. Only a Chelsea victory kept me from crying.

At the end of Round 1 in this amazing match-up of a quarterfinal in the European boxing championship, Barcelona had punched four teeth out of its opponent Bayern Munich in the first half of the round, and the second half was more like Bayern saving the rest of its teeth from falling, rather than trying to exact some revenge.

Round 2 is gonna start and Bayern is well aware of all the criticism it has been getting from the World Media and old players, which all claim round 1 as the worst ever performance in Bayern's History. Bayern will not mind losing teeth anymore, and Round 2 will be about saving its face (figuratively) in the eyes of the World Media. A meek surrender of a German Champion has never been heard of in the past. Bayern will put its life on the line to get through this one. One hand of Bayern, which fans call Ribery, was of the mindset that it could never get to Barca's face in Round 1. Hope its confidence increases and reaches Van Bommel's. Oh yes, the left eye, Schweini, will be very keenly looking at let ups from Barca. Mind you!

Barcelona is a proud team. It had fun teasing, punching and seeing Bayern's blood in Round 1, and will look forward to repeating it. At the best form of its life, Bayern should be push overs, or so it thinks. All it needs to do is play safe and by the rules to get through Round 2 and emerge the winner.

Will it be able to? Or Will Barca's Mess(i)y Hand knock Bayern's jaw this time? Whew, Can't wait.

UEFA Champions League 2009 - The second leg of the Round of 16

First Leg : Bayern 5 - 0 Sporting

Bayern rules! And it is the perfect time to show the world what they are capable of doing. The Germans are back on the European map and how!

The biggest concern for Bayern would be consistency. They lose one match miserably and dominate the next. This is not a great sign for a world class team. Given the immensely talented squad and an impressive home record, the Second leg would be more of a formality...Bayern's through!

I sincerely hope that this year, Bayern will do enough to get this bad feeling away from me.. The feeling that I am the only person in Bangalore who follows Bundesliga results.

Ribery's form reached its peak in the last match. Something I have not seen before from him. Klose, his usual composed self, Schweini & Rensing under performing a little, Lahm at his usual best and Luca Toni finally finding his feet. In the second leg though, my bet is that Klinsmann will give more field time to Altintop, Podolski and Borowski, and less time to van Bommel, given his booking status. Resting Toni would do their Bundesliga quest a world of good.

No comments about Sporting. There's no way out of this.

Prediction? It's a certainty.

Bayern Munich to set up an Academy in Kolkata, India

Vielen Danke Bayern!

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