The Winners
The immediate winners are obviously those who won their groups. Avoiding the tough array of seeded sides in the last-16 draw is one hell of a victory, no matter how you view the unseeded sides. A seeded category of Chelsea, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, PSG, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund is daunting and their wins amass to a combined total of 23 Champions League victories (not to mention the additional 16 times as runners-up).
As for the draw, some teams immediately came out on top. Manchester United drew Olympiakos in the most favourable of draws, with United now probably able to get away with favouring the league with their strongest side and rest one or two key players in this round of Europe. Real Madrid will also be keeping back some of their key players as they travel to Schalke, another side that most would have wanted to draw.
Galatasaray will be looking favourably at their draw with Chelsea. Arguably one of the favourable top seeds to go up against, due to some dodgy defending in recent weeks, Chelsea are a scalp waiting to be taken. Galatasaray (and many other sides) know that anything can happen in Turkey, leaving them in a potentially favourable position when they play in England. Real Madrid and Juventus, to name just two, are sides that have been shocked at the hostility and intimidation of the Turkish crowds. And has anyone mentioned ‘King Didier’, as Jose Mourinho referred to him, yet?
PSG will be licking their lips at the sight of Bayer Leverkusen, whether they should be or not. The German side have been strong in the league; however PSG will have been eyeing them up as one to draw. There is very little travelling to do and the current squads are no match for each other. Zlatan et al should be dominating from the start, though they will be aware that an upset could be on.
The fans win in most cases, as ties such as Milan v Atletico Madrid, Arsenal v Bayern Munich, Manchester City v Barcelona and Galatasaray v Chelsea have a great chance of becoming fantastic spectacles. To an extent, so do all the others. One thing, for sure, is that all the matches will have some kind of magic to set them alight.
However, the outright winner of this draw is the media. Matches like Gala v Chelsea will be sparking outcry for the return of Drogba, and the potential upset it brings. The media can also jump on United’s back, should they struggle to break down Olympiakos. If they win, they can bring about stories of Manchester United’s revival and how the side is coping without Moyes needing to splash the cash.
The pick of the games has to be Man City v Barcelona, which will be the focus of media attention for weeks prior to the first leg. Clash of the titans, in terms of squad strength, will make this the biggest tie for the media to focus on, particularly as it features an English and a Spanish club. This is the tie that Sky, ITV, newspapers and other media formats will all have been hoping for.
The Losers
Both City and Barcelona will consider themselves losers. Despite the opportunity to knock a major rival out, they will look at other teams’ draws and consider themselves unlucky. Neither will want to go out this early, as both will have set targets of reaching at least the semi-finals, and this will mean using full-strength sides in both legs, whereas domestic rivals will get a chance to rest players, potentially. This is a match that City will have wanted at a much later stage, having already come through a tough group.
Arsenal are another loser from the last-16 draw. Having navigated their way through a very tricky group, they drew Bayern Munich, the side that knocked them out last season. The current holders are also running away with the German league and look unstoppable. One consolation that they can take from a tough draw is the chance to focus on league and FA Cup matters, should they be knocked out early.
Italy as a nation are the big losers this year. With Napoli being edged out on head-to-head by Arsenal, they now only have AC Milan to represent them. Juventus, having come so close to expected qualification to this round, will be thinking what could have been, now they have dropped into the little brother competition of the Europa League. The nation has won a combined 14 winners and 12 runners up, which is the most final appearances by any nation, but is this a sad reflection of the current Italian teams, or just an unfortunate circumstance of tough group draws?
Whether winners or losers, all of Europe will be viewing this year’s Champions League with much anticipation. Will Barcelona rise up again and put Bayern in their place, or will the German side become the first back-to-back winners of the competition in its current format? Could PSG finally make their mark in Europe, or will a shock emerge as Atletico turn their fine league form into a European smash-and-grab? Regardless, it is set to be a brilliant year, and only one can win it!
