Champions League Round of 16: Part two

After a week that saw Celtic downed in Scotland and Real Madrid battle Manchester United to a 1-1 draw, the Champions League round of sixteen still has much to offer in it's second week.

Though there may not be a match up with the same weight or interest as the Real-United tie, there are still some juicy pairings. 

Tuesday pits the bipolar Arsenal against the Bundesliga leading Bayern Munich and Spanish Club Malaga against Porto from Portugal. 

Arsenal Bayern is the match of the day as it sees two very poplar clubs fighting it out and has many great story lines. One of those story lines is the one of Lucas Podolski. Podolski had a long history with Bayern and came to Arsenal in  the off season. His return to Germany is only overshadowed by Ronaldo's return to Manchester. 

Another big story line will be the one of Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. Pressure has been mounting on the man that has been the brains for over a decade at the historic London club. After this past week's FA Cup loss to Blackburn many are calling for his head. A big win against Bayern could fix that. 

The Porto-Malaga tie should be an interesting one as well. The Portugal-Sapin rivalry is always interesting and both clubs have a huge opportunity to get to the next round. 

As for Wednesday, the matches are just a little more interesting. First, there is the classic matchup of AC Milan and Barcelona. The two have formed a 'rivalry' in the Champions League because of their frequent meetings. 

Barcelona has seen the upper hand of many of the most recent meetings, but Milan's new found form could change that. It will be a sight to see Balotelli and Messi on the same field. I'm a huge fan of both players and I'm eager to see what they can do for their respective sides.

The other Wednesday game features the Turkish club Galatasaray and the German club Schalke 04. Both can be considered dark horses for the semi-finals  and I'm sure many clubs see them as a huge threat. 

Schalke has the German tenacity and fight to get through and players like Klaas Jan Huntelaar will surely supply some spark. 

Galatasaray loaded up on star power during the transfer window. Signings like Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba will be eager to show their worth to the club. 

With all that said, here are my picks. 

Arsenal vs Bayern - The German side will be too much from start to finish. Arsenal will create a few goals, but ultimately they will be out maned and lose 6-2 on aggregate. 

Porto vs Malaga - Porto look to be back in shape for a deep run. They will take an early lead and keep it to the end. I got Porto 3-1 on aggregate. 

Barcelona vs AC Milan - Milan will make it interesting early, but Messi and the passing offense of Barcelona will be too much. Barca win 5-2 on aggregate. 

Galatasaray vs Schalke 04 - The Germans take care of business at home, but the start power will show it's worth for the Turkish. Gala win 3-2 on aggregate. 

UEFA Champions League Round of 16: Part One

To a commoner, February is a month filled with love and gifts for many people. For soccer fans, February marks the return of the Champions League. Since December's match draw, millions have been drooling over eight of the best soccer games you will see all year.
The first two days of the knock out round are filled with match ups that are sure to thrill any sports fan. On Tuesday, the hard nosed Scottish club Celtic takes on the high flying Italian club Juventus and the big spending French club Paris St. Germain takes on the forgotten Spanish club Valencia. Wednesday is the big day because Manchester United and Real Madrid face off in an epic pairing while Shakhtar Donetsk from Ukraine takes on the upstart Borussia Dortmund from Germany. As many of you may know, these matches will take place over two legs (a home and home series if you will) with the winner being determined by the aggregate score.
On the eve of these huge games, I will give you my predictions of both legs and who will be moving on to the quarter finals.

Celtic vs Juventus 
This is an interesting match up between two teams dominating at the domestic league level. Celtic fought through a group that included Barcelona and had success against them in Scotland. The Bhoys are currently leading the Scottish Premier League by 18 points. They play a tough style of soccer and get some scrappy goals at times. They will rely heavily on striker Gary Hooper for goals. He has scored 13 times in the SPL and usually comes up big for the Hoops. Juventus got through a group that included Chelsea  the reigning European Champions. Juve currently leads Serie A by 5 points. They use a more spread out style on play than Celtic and have many scoring options.
In the end, I think these two legs will come down to the Celtic defense. They allow an average of 1.33 goals per game, but only allow .67 at home. If they can stand up and play their physical style against Juve, I think they will grind out the win. They will take the lead early in the legs and take a 2-0 lead going to Italy because of their great home crowd. In the second leg, they will fall behind 0-2 early, but score an aggregate winning goal in the final 15 minutes.

Celtic 3-2 (agg.)

PSG vs Valencia 
PSG did a lot of big spending in the off season and January transfer window. They brought in Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva and everything has turned around from there. After a rough start in Ligue 1, the mega spenders find themselves up 6 points and on a hot streak. The only issue for the club from Paris is that they live and die by Ibrahimovic. He has scored 21 goals in Ligue one this year and is their only frighting attacker. Valencia is not the same team that earned the Champions League spot last year. They are in 5th place in La Liga and are 9 points behind third place. They allow more goals than they have scored and have a hard time scoring on the road. This spells death in the two leg system.
I think PSG earns a 2-1 win in Spain and demolishes Valenica in France 4-0. As a side note, Ibrahimovic will score 4 of PSG's goals.

PSG 6-1 (agg.)

Shakhtar Donetsk vs Borussia Dortmund 
Donetsk is not well known even by soccer fans. Though they have been one of the top Ukrainian clubs for most of the 21st century, the Ukrainian Premier League is not respected as well as others. They are currently dominating the UPL and have won 4 out of their last 5 matches. To be honest, I don't know much about them. I do know they made things hard on Chelsea, so this team has what it takes. Borussia Dortmund won back to back Bundesliga titles and are currently sitting in second place. They are a young team with a lot of promise. Striker Robert Lewandowski will be the man to watch. He has 14 goals in the Bundesliga and has created chances for others.
I think Donetsk will gave Dortmund some issues and that these games will be closer than many fans would like to see. Donetsk will earn a 2-2 tie in Ukraine, but Dortmund will take a 2-1 win at home and win in the aggregate.

Borussia Dortmund 4-3 (agg.)

Manchester United vs Real Madrid  
If you get the chance to watch one Champions League match, make sure it's this one. Two historic clubs clashing in the early rounds makes for one huge match. Manchester United, winners of three Champions Leagues, come in with a mighty league in the English Premier League. They are one place to set one of the highest point totals in EPL history, but have been letting in a surprising number of goals. Robin Van Persie, Wayne Rooney and Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez are all guys to watch out for. Rooney and RVP both have double digit goal totals in the EPL and Chicharito isn't far behind. Real Madrid, winners of nine Champions Leagues, come in having a down year. they are essentially out of the La Liga race and are in third place. They play a spread out style of soccer and have plenty of dynamic players. United will have to watch out for Cristiano Ronaldo, who transferred from Manchester in 2009. His quick feet and dazzling footwork will really test the shaky Red Devil defense. United will also have to watch out for Mesut Ozil and Karim Benzema. These two supply most of Madrid's assists and are vital in the passing game.
When the smoke clears after this battle, I think Real Madrid will come out on top. United's defense will get torched by the Madrid attack and they won't be able to keep up. I see Real Madrid winning 4-2 at home before going to England and winning 3-2.

Real Madrid 7-4 (agg.)

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Superbowl XLVII: Ray and the Rookie

The high holy day of American sports is almost here. Super Sunday is a day unlike any other and this year we have a match up unlike any other. For some reason, I'm really falling in love with this game. Maybe it's something about how both teams came up just short last year and now they are getting their chance to win it all.

Maybe it's the history of both teams. The San Francisco 49ers have had so much success in the past, but have stumbled for most of my life time. To see them reach the big game once again brings back shades of all the great players embedded in their past. The Baltimore Ravens have had a strong tradition of a great defense, but never seemed to have the offense to make it. I can't count the times I've seen this team get picks to make it to the Superbowl, just to tall short because they don't have any offense. 

Maybe it's the fact that the coaches are brothers and I can't help but think of the awkward family reunions for years to come. Though all of those are great reasons to get excited for this game, there is a different reason for my excitement: Ray vs the Rookie. 

I am so excited to see Ray Lewis and his Ravens defense take on Colin Kaepernick and his 49ers offense. They are the best two stories of the NFL playoffs and they are meeting in a way no one one could have imagined. Kaepernick is following in the footsteps of Tom Brady by making it to the Superbowl as a rookie. Lewis will be playing in the final game of his NFL career and will be looking to go out like John Elway and Jerome Bettis. Only one of these stories will have a happy ending. Now that's what you call drama. 

Superbowl XLVII: The Baltimore Ravens vs The San Francisco 49ers

From an offensive and defensive standpoint, the 49ers have a huge advantage. Despite their 23rd ranking passing attack, the boys from SF have a running game that averages 155.7 points per game. They also have the most dynamic QB playing in the game right now. Kaepernick  is on fire and will make a huge impact early and often. The Raven's defense can't just focus on him. TE Vernon Davis and RB Frank Gore are two other players that will need to be covered. They have been making big plays all year. The 49er defense is outstanding as well. They are good at stopping the pass and run though they have been beat up by two great offenses in the Playoffs. 

Baltimore will really have their work cut out for them. The Raven offense is not as dynamic as the 49ers and I'm not sure if they can keep up scoring wise. They haven't been able to score over 40 points in the playoffs, but their defense has really kept them in games. Lewis has been an emotional leader and you would be crazy to doubt that this team could rise to the occasion and  really put a beat down on the 49ers. I think Joe Flacco will need to be nearly perfect to win this game and RB Ray Rice will need to find space in the running game. 

With all of this taken into consideration, it's hard to pick a winner. I want to pick the 49ers because I think they are the better team. At the same time, I can't pick against the Ravens just because of the leadership of Ray Lewis. I know he will have his guys ready for this game and that is a powerful weapon. So with that, I say the Ravens beat the 49ers 31-28 in the first overtime game in Superbowl history.

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