Squeaky-Bum Time Pt-1 : The Champions League Quarter Finals
With one of the most varied and exciting last 8s in recent memory, the Champions League Quarter Finals are an exciting prospect. Who should you be looking out for if you haven't been paying attention?
To provide some context to the 31st season of the Champions League wouldn’t work without talking about the teams that fell by the wayside to get to this point. Eight domestic champions of 2021-22 were eliminated in the Group Stage, with a further three Champions failing to make it past the Round of 16. Among others, the likes of Ajax, Sporting, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid all failed to make it out of the tightly packed group stages. Tottenham, Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool and Porto all fell by the wayside in the first knockout round and a potential four more of this year’s future domestic champions might still be knocked out.
With this in mind, it’s time for a recap as to how we got here, who the players are and what we can expect from a tense knockout round.
Benfica Vs Internazionale
With the first leg kicking off in Lisbon, Inter can expect to come up against a Benfica side backed by a partisan crowd that has powered the club through a deceptively difficult group. Whilst the Nerazzurri are in a rough patch of form, their opponents are seven points clear at the top of the Primeira Liga.
Despite this, there is hope for Inter. In besting Porto in the previous round, albeit slimly, they have shown they can get it done in Iberia. Porto themselves handed Benfica their first defeat in their last eight games at the weekend.
The major flashpoints will be between Inter’s defence and Benfica’s attack. Joao Mario, revitalised at Benfica, will doubtless be looking to make things happen against his former club. The Portugal international has 17 goals and six assists in the Primeira Liga this season, along with a further six strikes in the Champions League. Alongside Rafa Silva and the imperious Goncalo Ramos, Benfica has one of the more exciting front lines of the tournament’s last eight.
Inter’s defence meanwhile hasn’t kept a clean sheet in almost a month. The ageing Stefan De Vrij and Franco Acerbi, and a talented but young Alessandro Bastoni have been a disjointed unit at best this season. The supporting cast of defenders, the likes of Matteo Darmian and Danilo D’Ambrosio fail to inspire confidence that they are Champions League standard whilst the dramatic cloud surrounding Milan Skriniar’s absence couldn’t have come at a worse time.
It isn’t aided by the inability of Marcelo Brozovic to produce at the elite levels he has been in recent seasons. Either through injury or more personal reasons the Croat’s season has underwhelmed. By comparison, the addition of Frederik Aursnes to a midfield of Florentino Luis and Chiquino has formed a formidable unit.
Inter’s current lack of goals will also worry Simone Inzaghi going into the tie. Lautaro Martinez has scored 14 in Serie A but only once in the CL this year. The rest of their selection of strikers have flattered to deceive and creator-in-chief Hakan Calhanoglu looks set to miss at least the first leg. Even facing a defence featuring a 19-year-old Antonio Silva and a past-it Nicolas Otamendi you wonder how they will manage to score. You fear too much onus will be placed on Nicollo Barella to do everything, and that Inter in turn might end up with nothing.
Manchester City Vs Bayern Munich
A true heavyweight clash, Bayern come into this tie a distorted mirror of their usual selves, whilst their opponents are rich in talent and momentum. The Bavarians, for the moment at least, sit atop the Bundesliga. Their lead a slender two points and their route there unusually hard-fought. The unusual occasion of a mid-season mangerial change has placed Bayern into an unfamiliar position, one where they are not alone at the mountain-top.
Manchester City, in a sense, are in a similar position. Although their domination of English football has been not-nearly as complete as their German counterparts’, it has been a domination all the same. Arsenal’s ascension this year though has thrown a spanner into the works. now their focus, besides looking to close the six-point gap atop the Premier League, must be to secure their first-ever Champions League title.
City’s constant metamorphosis on the pitch is one that should be admired by all top European clubs. That said it has left them vulnerable this year moreso than any other. The rotation of defensive personnel has often been inspired, whilst infuriating similarly as often. Manuel Akanji, whilst not terrible, is not of City’s regular standard. On the other side of the back 3/4/5 or whatever it is, it feels like we are being mass gaslit into thinking Nathan Ake is a level above where he really is. I don’t think the Dutchman is a bad player, but he is not a replacement in that position on the level of Oleksander Zinchencko.
Up-front, the absence of Raheem Sterling, and the subsequent onus on powerhouse Erling Haaland to score all of their goals has opened the team up to debates that have never existed around them. For one, I don’t believe City retooling their attack around the world’s premier centre-forward was a bad idea, but the fact they have at-times looked a one-dimensional outfit without the presence in the squad of a wide-forward like Sterling has credence.
There have been off-field issues more now than it feels like Pep Guardiola Has had in his whole time in Manchester. Not just the Joao Cancelo sub-plot this season but now Pep’s public condemnation of Kyle Walker’s abilities, amongst other press conference outbursts, hints to a stress on the squad that there has not been of late.
Bayern though aren’t themselves this year either. The giant Lewandowski sized hole at their own centre-forward position has proven a stumbling block repeatedly. I will not be convinced that Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting was ever supposed to be more than an occasional backup for this squad. That he is eating up a lion’s share of the minutes in the position is a damning indictment of their recruitment. Mathys Tel is absolutely not ready for this level and no others are truly capable of playing as a #9. I have no doubts that this will come back to bite them.
Their attack is disjointed, Mane and Gnabry have failed to play to their usual standards, either due to age, fatigue, or stylistic choices under Nagelsmann. Jamal Musiala has been excellent this year but is still so young. At the opposite end of the pitch though, their defensive depth is paper thin and the nailed-on starters are easily pressured. This is a Bayern team there to be got at. Dayot Upamecano is still not a solid presence in the middle, so too is Benjamin Pavard whilst Daley Blind looks his age. Alfonso Davies is too focused on attacking whilst Joao Cancelo’s time at Bayern seems to be over as quickly as it started.
Thomas Tuchel, at the very least, is an excellent knockout-tournament manager. His presence on the touchline will bring experience that Julian Nagelsmann did not have, regardless of your opinion of both of their qualities.
For all the talking I did about Manchester City’s supposed deficiencies, I don’t feel like I intimated how good they are despite them. Erling Haaland is a terminator. Jack Grealish, Riyadh Mahrez and Kevin De Bruyne are all prodigious creators. Take away all of them and City still have Julian Alvarez and Ilkay Gundogan. This is an unreal collection of players regardless of how much Pep overthinks their setup. IIt’s telling that Manchester City’s most prominent issues is “Our 44-goal striker might be TOO good”, whilst Bayern’s is “Our former Stoke striker… isn’t”. Expect Pep to beat his former team, and it might be badly.