UEFA Champions League: Round of 16 draw reaction

 The draw for the Round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League was held in Nyon, Switzerland and to the joy of many soccer fans; lady luck was in the room. There are plenty of first round matches that pay tribute to old clashes as well as dream match-ups from a neutral stand point. 

Here's how the draw panned out:

** Big games are pointed out like this

Round of 16 draw
Galatasaray AŞ v FC Schalke 04 

Celtic FC  v Juventus 

Arsenal FC  v FC Bayern München 
FC Shakhtar Donetsk  v Borussia Dortmund 

AC Milan v FC Barcelona
Real Madrid CF  v Manchester United FC
Valencia CF v Paris Saint-Germain FC
FC Porto (POR) v Málaga CF (ESP)

During my first look at the draw, one match stood out to me the most: Man U v Real Madrid. What a dream pairing! First of all, these are two of the top clubs in the world. That means there will be a bigger audience because there are people from the United States to India that know of these clubs.  Secondly, there will be so much talent on the pitch. United has Van Persie and Rooney, while Madrid has Ronaldo and Ozil. That is a lot of international talent right there and they are some of the most recognizable names in the game. Third of all, there’s so much back story to this match. Ronaldo’s not so graceful departure from United should really stir up the fans and bulletin board material. Finally, the implications it will have on this tournament will be massive. These are two huge players in the international soccer world. United have three European crowns and always seem to be in the mix. Madrid has a record nine Champions League titles and made it to the semi-finals last year. When one of these teams get knocked out, it will make the playing field just a little bit better for all the other teams.

Looking at the rest of the matches, I am happy with the Barcelona – AC Milan pairing. These two sides have met each other plenty of times in the past 10 years. You could almost call it a rivalry, but Barcelona has had the upper hand. These two met 3 times last year and it was quiet entertaining. Though Milan has lost a lot of players, it should still be a fun one to watch.

Other pairings I really enjoy are Celtic FC – Juventus, Arsenal FC - FC Bayern München, and FC Shakhtar Donetsk - Borussia Dortmund. Scottish side Celtic FC already shocked the world with a 2-1 win over Barcelona in the group stages. I’m wondering what they can do against a down Juventus team. We could see a Scottish team in the quarter finals for the first time in a while, which would be a very odd sight. The Arsenal-Bayern match should be an interesting one. I’m most interested in seeing if Arsenal can right the ship for their season in England by having a great showing in Europe. Plus, I have a soft spot of the German League (the Bundesliga) and I want to see who Bayern will respond after last year’s defeat in the final. The last match up is on my radar as well because of the Bundesliga, but also because Borussia Dortmund has been the team on the rise in Germany. After two league titles and last year’s terrible group stage, I think this young team could cause some problems in the later rounds.

Round of 16 action doesn’t start until February, so no predictions yet, but there will be plenty of league action to take in! I’ll be back in February after plenty of studying with my picks.

Thanks for reading!