“Not everyone believes in Barça” – Kommersant FM
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The draw for the Champions League play-offs took place in Nyon, Switzerland. Experts recognized the Napoli-Barcelona match as the most striking confrontation at the 1/8 final stage. Kommersant FM sports commentator Vladimir Osipov will tell you what other meetings await fans in the spring part of the most prestigious football tournament.
The last draw for the 1/8 finals of the Champions League in the history of the tournament took place on a routine basis. There was no feeling that an era was passing. All the same balls, the same familiar procedure. But starting next year, the Swiss system will radically change the most expensive and prestigious football club tournament. There will be no more groups, and a team’s entry into the play-offs will depend on the amount of points scored, so we will find out the pairs without agonizing waiting.
This time, as always, the drawing procedure was shown on the federal sports channel, and only one pair of participants aroused the emotions of the commentators. Attention to Napoli-Barcelona will definitely be increased. We love the Neapolitans and closely follow Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, not to mention how many Barça fans there are in our country. Igor Korneev, who played for the Blaugrana, believes that his former club is the clear favorite in this confrontation: “I give preference to Barcelona, the football that they can show at their best.”
Not everyone believes in Barça, and third place in the Spanish championship does not add optimism to Catalan fans. And it may well not make it to the quarterfinals, says football analyst Konstantin Kleshchev: “Somehow things are not going well for Barcelona in the Spanish Championship.
We can say that the Catalans’ minor crisis will be overcome, but the team does not give the impression of a machine that is capable of crushing any opponent, and there is no integrity in their game.”
In addition to the Napoli-Barcelona pair, Inter-Atlético Madrid and, of course, PSG-Real Sociedad are also of interest. Former Dynamo player Arsen Zakharyan is playing in the Spanish team, and if he just manages to play in the 1/8 finals of the Champions League, this is already incredible. Not to mention what will happen if the Basques beat the Parisians.
It sounds like fantasy, however, Sociedad’s progression to the playoffs from first place also seemed somewhat unreal. Moreover, no feats are expected from PSG this year. As for the favorites, they are still the same this season of the Champions League, football agent Vadim Trushkov, who lives and works in Paris, is sure: “We see how many years Pep Guardiola has already been working at Manchester City.” As in the case of Real Madrid, there is a certain stability, at least coaching, and this is largely the key to success.”
Manchester City faces Copenhagen in the round of 16, Real Madrid faces Leipzig and Bayern faces Lazio. Now it’s hard to believe that the main favorites of the tournament will not cope with their task, but there is still time before the first matches of the playoffs. Everything will start only at the beginning of February next year, and a lot can change in the next two months.
Everything is clear with us – Telegram channel “Kommersant FM”.
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