Monday 14 December 2015

Uefa Champions league Draws:Who wins and Who loses


Arsenal and Chelsea have both been handed tough draws while Man City will be confident of a quarter-final spot
The draw for the Champions League last-16 has thrown up some intriguing ties with some of the best teams in Europe set to clash even at this early stage.
Defending champions Barcelona face a trip to London to face Arsenal while last season's finalists Juventus must contend with a Bayern side hell-bent on delivering a continental title to Pep Guardiola before his contract expires.

PSG may have finished runners-up but will be happy to have drawn Chelsea while Real Madrid, who won that group, might rack up double figures against Roma. Atletico Madrid, again putting together quiet challenges, lie in store for PSV while Wolfsburg face Gent after knocking out Manchester United.
Elsewhere Manchester City play Dynamo Kyiv while Zenit will play Benfica.
WINNER: ANDRE VILLA-BOAS 
If Andre Villas-Boas wants to say goodbye to Zenit St Petersburg in style, well, he certainly has the optimum opportunity to do so following the draw for the last 16. A trip away to his native Portugal and champions Benfica lies in wait and AVB will be well aware that things could have been so much tougher.
Their fine group stage form notwithstanding - Zenit won their first five straight games - the Russian champions would not have counted themselves as favourites in ties against PSG, Arsenal or Juventus but will be no doubt emboldened by their tests to come against Benfica.
Led by the impressive Hulk, delivering his best-ever season for Zenit and fortified by the presence of three high-class ex-Benfica players in Ezeqiuel Garay, Javi Garcia and Axel Witsel, Zenit could well be set for the quarter-finals in AVB's last season in charge.
WINNERS: PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN
PSG were unlucky to miss out on top spot following two impressive, if unlucky, matches against Real Madrid in the group stage. Real's defeat of the Parisians at Santiago Bernabeu ultimately ended Laurent Blanc's dreams of topping the group. However, they may well consider themselves fortunate with their lot in the draw for the knockouts despite their runners-up status.
Chelsea lie in wait again, for the third season running, in what is becoming one of the Champions League's most enduring rivalries. The teams are tied at one knockout apiece but the smart money will be going on PSG to eliminate Jose Mourinho's side.
This Chelsea team have not got going this season with key players from their title-winning campaign being exposed month on month. They look totally incapable of being able to serve any sort of reminder of their previous defensive stability and keenness to see games off. Instead, they are totally reliant on the set-piece danger of Willian.
Meanwhile, PSG go from strength to strength. Suppliers Angel di Maria and Lucas Moura are hitting form while the danger of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in what will likely be his final Champions League campaign is well documented.
WINNERS: KAA GENT
KAA Gent, led by their charismatic coach Hein Vanhaezebrouck, owe their place in the last 16 to some resolute performances characterised by a never-say-die attitude. They have now managed to avoid the piranha in the pool for the knockout draw.
Gent's vulnerability in the draw for their first-ever appearance in the last 16 was made all the more apparent when considering that they could have met any one of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Chelsea or Manchester City. Instead, it's VfL Wolfsburg.
Dieter Hecking's side have belied their previously-earned brittle reputation in his competition and impressed in the groups, not least with a convincing final-day win over United and qualifying for this stage for the first time. They will be looking at Gent with similar relish and are probably on course for progression to the quarter-finals.
After ousting Lyon and Valencia though as rank group outsiders, Gent will consider themselves lucky to have drawn the Bundesliga team.
LOSERS: ITALY'S REPRESENTATIVES
Things do not look so rosy for Serie A's representatives. Roma appear to be lambs to the slaughter for a Real Madrid side who generally seem to be keeping their best performances for the Champions League this season.
After demolishing Malmo 8-0 on matchday six, no team in Europe was relishing the prospect of coming up against Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and the competition's top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo.
No team has ever qualified for the knockouts conceding as many goals as Roma did; their displays were sometimes so poor under Rudi Garcia that their presence in the last 16 should come with some kind of apology.
Meanwhile, Italy's best team Juventus have drawn Germany's best Bayern Munich. The only problem is that Bayern are a lot better. Not only that but they now boast two excellent players who would otherwise be lining up in the white and black this season were it not for the attraction of working in Bavaria with Pep Guardiola.
Kingsley Coman and Arturo Vidal played in the Champions League final for Juve against Barcelona last season and will be relishing the prospect, along with thrilling strike partners Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller, of eliminating last year's finalists.
LOSERS: ARSENAL
By the time Arsenal complete two legs against defending champions Barcelona come spring, Arsene Wenger might well be asking himself if it will all have been worth it. They came back from the dead in the group stages to edge out Olympiakos and impressed in their home win over Bayern Munich but this is another thing altogether.
A fully-functioning Bayern exposed Arsenal as inadequate and it is worrying for Arsenal fans to ponder over the winter what Neymar, Luis Suarez and inevitable Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi will do to them.
Still, Arsenal only have themselves to blame. Defeats to Bayern come with the territory but losing to Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiakos have put them in this predicament.
Wenger's long-standing last 16 qualification record is a proud one. But he is beginning to grow a parallel one alongside it; Champions League last 16 eliminations. They have suffered five in a row following last season's aggregate defeat to Monaco.
It's about to become six.
LOSERS: PSV
Considering that they managed to qualify against the odds for this phase of the competition, it might be harsh to call PSV Eindhoven 'losers' at this stage of the draw. However, looking at their list of potential opponents, this was never going to be easy.
Still, they have drawn an Atletico Madrid side who will look at two games against the Dutch champions simply as match practice ahead of more realistic challenges in store later on.
Last season was a bit of a lost campaign for Diego Simeone and his men but they are back to their best this time around.
Joint-top of la Liga and top of their qualification group after conceding only three goals, Atletico are looming again as dark horses in all competitions.
With star quality in Antoine Griezmann and Koke, Atletico look the business and have put their stuttering form of the autumn behind them.

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