This morning, Liverpool drew Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League Knockout stage draw in Nyon, Switzerland. This could be the toughest possible match up for Liverpool, as Fox Soccer ranks Inter #1 in the world right now. These rankings fluctuate a lot, but they’re helpful to gauge a team’s quality and current form. Liverpool is ranked 11th. Following are the other matchups and current fox soccer rankings. Teams listed first were runners-up in their groups. The second team won their groups. Runners up play at home first. This puts them at a slight disadvantage if they are scored against, as the pressure is on them to score the coveted away goal when they visit their opponent several weeks later. This is often how a team is knocked out if each team wins 1 match and the aggregate goals are equal. Ex:
In this scenario, Inter would advance
Match 1 - Inter Milan 1 at Liverpool 2
Match 2 - Liverpool 0 at Inter Milan 1
Celtic (16) vs Barcelona (5) - Barca’s Lionel Messi was up in arms after his team traveled to Glasgow to play Celtic’s rivals, Rangers. Their conservative play lead to a nil-nil draw with Barca, a strategy that Messi deemed not playing football. The Catalans handled Rangers 2 to nil when they visited Camp Nou. I would expect a similar result in this match up.
Olympique Lyon (10) vs Manchester United (3) - I don’t know much about Lyon, but I know Man U has been in good form. These match ups aren’t until February and March, but I would expect that Sir Alex won’t let his team slide much between now and then.
Schalke 04 (unranked) vs FC Porto (14) - Porto isn’t an exceptionally strong team in my opinion, but neither is Schalke.
AS Roma (7) vs Real Madrid (4) - Real Madrid has won the Champions League title 9 times (1956, 57, 58, 59, 60, 66, 98, 2000, 2002). Roma can play well, but I would expect Real to advance in this match up.
Arsenal (2) vs AC Milan (12) - Another English team playing another Milan team. This has the potential to be a great match up.
Olympiakos (25) vs Chelsea (8) - If Chelsea has an off-day, Olympiakos could draw at home. Chelsea has been plagued by injuries lately, but they should be in good form by the time these matches roll around.
Fenerbahce (29) vs Sevilla (30) - This is the best match up for a runner-up to beat a group winner. Fenerbahce showed a decent performance during the group stage, beating Inter Milan 1 to nil at home in Istanbul. If Fener’s momentum continues to roll, they could advance to the second knock out stage.
