The draw for the 1/8 finals of the Champions League took place

The draw for the opening round of the Champions League play-offs turned out to be quite successful for both representatives of England that reached it: Arsenal received Porto as opponents, and Manchester City received Copenhagen. But the Spanish clubs were terribly unlucky. Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Atlético, and Real Sociedad pulled out extremely unpleasant options from the bottom basket: Leipzig, Napoli, Inter and PSG.

The results of the draw for the 1/8 finals of the Champions League in England were, it seems, unequivocally regarded as a kind of compensation for, in fact, a failed group round. Two representatives of the currently strongest league were eliminated on it. Moreover, both Newcastle and Manchester United finished last in their quartets, that is, they were left without European cups at all.

Manchester City and Arsenal advanced to the play-offs without any problems, in first place. And on the BBC page dedicated to the draw, after they found out their opponents for the opening round, the matches of which will take place in February and March, dozens of the same type of comments appeared from both ordinary football fans and advanced experts. They called her, without particularly trying to disguise her emotions, for example, “kind.” All these comments boiled down to the fact that in the lower “basket”, formed from those who finished in second position, in principle, there were no options much simpler than those that fell to the Manchester and Londoners. “Porto”that you have to deal with “Arsenal”, is, of course, a rather resonant brand, and the English grandee experienced the power of Portuguese football in the previous season, when Sporting knocked it out of the Europa League. But in any case, the opponent does not have enough resources to be afraid of him. A “Manchester city” and the most, apparently, unexpected participant in the playoffs will be opposed. True, in the group “Copenhagen”, in addition to Galatasaray, he also outperformed Manchester United. But this fact is clearly a consequence not so much of the incredible power suddenly revealed in the Danish team, but of the enormous problems that tormented the favorite of the four and ultimately led to its collapse.

The story of the exact opposite color is associated with Spanish clubs. There were four of them, like the English ones, at the start, but no one failed in the group round.

Moreover, the Spanish clubs remained at the top of the table and could count on at least the relative favor of the draw. But nothing like that.

Atlético pushed against “Interom”which reached the final in the last edition, and this season may have improved slightly and is leading with its tight squad in the national championship. “Barcelona” have to fight with “Napoli”. The Neapolitans, having lost coach Luciano Spalletti, who left for the Italian national team, do not look as bright as they looked with him. But in any case, his difficulties are a matter of realizing his potential. And Napoli probably retained him, along with key characters like Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. You can expect an explosion at any time.

Leipzigwhich was brought together with “Real”, is not exactly an undisputed grandee, but an experienced fighter, accustomed to causing trouble for opponents of various calibers, including football giants. And at least his pre-New Year tone is not bad. Leipzig is third in the German championship and has won three victories in a row.

Finally, it must be quite a shame Real Sociedad, for which Russian midfielder Arsen Zakharyan plays. The club returned to the Champions League after a ten-year break, was not rated highly, but, contrary to the assessments of outside observers, it went through the tournament extremely confidently in a not-so-weak group. Inter, Benfica and Salzburg were left behind. In theory, there is some kind of reward for such a feat. But she turned out to be PSG.

The Paris club, after undergoing a radical restructuring in the summer, after losing Lionel Messi and Neymar, has not yet found the stability that a grandee deserves. The “dark horse” label sticks to him better than the favorite one. But, whatever one may say, even in this state he poses a colossal threat thanks to the presence of Kylian Mbappe in the lineup, other superstars and the occasionally attractive game. And the fact that the playoffs are only in two months plays into the hands of PSG and its coach Luis Enrique. This is a little more time to get rid of the “dampness” that is bothering the team and work on interactions.

As for the two most respected German clubs, then, like the English clubs, it must be a sin to complain about the draw. “Bavaria” will meet with the unsightly yet “Lazio”which is outside the top ten in the Italian championship, Borussia – with Dutch PSVnot sparkling with big names.

Alexey Dospehov