Champions' League vs La Liga

La Liga has always been widely regarded as one of the best football leagues in the world. Some legendary teams have graced the Spanish mainland. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, just to name a few, are all giants in the footballing world. As great as the histories of these clubs are, something has been missing for the past couple of seasons and La Liga on the whole has not lived up to its great name.

Champions’ League 08-09 has reached the knockout stage and the first game day has already been played, with all the Spanish teams sitting precariously close to the drop namely Barcelona FC, Real Madrid, Athletico Madrid and Villareal. Only two of these team meetings I will bother to discuss here.

Real Madrid 0- 1 Liverpool

Location: Santiago Bernabéu Stadium

The hype surrounding this clash was astounding. Real being the ‘in-form’ side in Spain meeting the cup giant that is Liverpool FC. I remember reading one article on goal.com where some of the players were commenting that they needed to win 2-0 against Liverpool at home. I thought that would be a great score line considering that English teams have been dominating the competition for the past two years. But low and behold real let us down. Not only did they lose, but they looked utterly ridiculous. They lacked ideas going forward and in defence they were all at sea. Robben was the only real player that showed up for that game. Going forward, Real need to regain their confidence that made them one of the most feared teams in the league, because player for player they are a better team. The only disheartening thing about this meeting is that Steven Gerrard didn’t play for most of this first leg. But as usual, my blind Spanish loyalty has me holding on to some hope. Hopefully on Tuesday 10 March they won’t disappoint.

Barcelona 1- 1 Olympique Lyonnais

Location: Lyon

This game, as far as I’m concerned was always going to be up in the air. Lyon are no walkover at home and this time was to be no exception. They started the more positive of the two teams, making the Barcelona back line look very nonexistent on a number of occasions. Benzema, couldn’t ask for anything more. The combination of himself, Ederson and Makoun, ran the Blaugrana ragged in the first half. It was only fitting that they went into the halftime break in the lead. As we’ve seen on more than one occasion this season, the Catalan giant was awoken and came out with all guns firing in the second half. All in all, the draw was a worthy outcome, with both teams having all to play for in the second leg.

Benzema’s little knock over the weekend should have some Lyon fans sweating over his return in time for the clash. Andres Iniesta on the other hand will be available for Barça and his inclusion could not come at a better time. The Catalan outfit has been going through a slump recently which started the game after Iniesta’s injury. We can only hope that he was the missing piece in that perfectly honed burgundy and blue midfield. Well, Wednesday March 11, we shall know the outcome.

Good Luck guys. I don’t want to go knocking on Bobby’s door. (Joke)