Manchester City and Real Madrid both won, but I ask myself whether there has ever been a last-16 pairing with such obvious danger.
We have worked hard to reach the last 16 of the Champions League. There are some interesting relationships. Mainly home-owned Real Sociedad and state-run Paris Saint-Germain. High-octane PSV Eindhoven vs. Champions League trendsetter Borussia Dortmund in that regard. Inter Milan vs Atletico Madrid wing-back and dark art. A huge derby between Napoli and Barcelona.
But as we begin what should (and was) a month of drama, tension and, most importantly, uncertainty, with FC Copenhagen vs. Manchester City and RB Leipzig vs. Real Madrid, , we can't help but feel nostalgic about this match right now. With neutrals losing interest and the crisis reaching an all-time low, it feels preordained.
The greater the economic disparity, the harder it is to postpone reality and keep suspicions hidden, and this round of 16 tie feels more predictable than ever. Without giant killings on a scale similar to the FA Cup, Manchester City would beat Copenhagen, Arsenal would beat Porto, PSG would beat Real Sociedad, Bayern Munich would beat Lazio, and Real Madrid would beat RB Leipzig. right. This is his 5 out of 8 relationship that a hazmat hunter doesn't need to worry about.
“This competition is a coin (toss). It was written in the stars. It is ours,” said Josep Guardiola at the end of last season, winning the trophy for City on his seventh attempt. And while we can accept the importance of luck in the final, the odds were stacked in favor of teams like his for two games overall, to the point where you'd want to look at the coins tossed for two heads.
No one in their right mind would advise any team other than Manchester City, Bayern Munich or Real Madrid to win this season's competition, and anyone who aspires to the latter duo would have no right to history and past glories. It seems that we are placing too much emphasis on the importance of .
City are heavy favorites, giving David and Goliath a big chance. We had a brief moment of fun on Tuesday when Ederson fluffed a clearance and Magnus Mattsson curled a shot past the keeper.
But those 10 minutes of hope were dashed by the overwhelming dominance of Pep Guardiola's side, who scored more than 80 points. Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden scored, they completed 27 shots to Copenhagen's four and completed four times as many passes, completing 79. percentage of the ball. 3 wins and 1 loss ahead of the return leg at the Etihad. Has completed.
There teeth The joy of seeing the city. They have outstanding footballers and they combine to play some beautiful football, which you saw in the game against Copenhagen and in the starting lineup, as they continue to go through the rounds and get pushed by an ever-improving opponent. I'm sure we'll see more of him.
But they will need at least one day of rest and two days off against most of the teams remaining in the Champions League to make it to the final, and it's not that simple to predict how far the other teams will go. No, but we think as follows. Get most of it right. It feels like that uncertainty is diminishing every year, and if that feeling of not knowing disappears, we'll be missing out on the best part of football.
Braham Dias celebrates Real Madrid's goal against RB Leipzig.
While City cruised to victory in Copenhagen, Real Madrid won 1-0 away at Leipzig without Jude Bellingham and the team's three best centre-backs. With both fixtures effectively over, and with Lazio vs. Bayern Munich and PSG vs. Real Sociedad scheduled for Wednesday, it's easy to see Europe's strongest four teams looking ahead to the quarter-finals, which will be on the calendar at the start of the season. It might as well have been on there. At least at the point in the season when the last-16 draw took place.
We root for the underdog, but without hope, this spectacle suffers. Man City's brilliance can't help but make us overlook the inevitability of their winning streak for so long. Football requires danger, but in the Champions League, perhaps the world's biggest club competition, there has never been more.
