Champions League Draw Reaction

Article by e-Chelsea Correspondent Lee Beevor

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In the old days, when Manchester United used to be good, they famously survived a visit to hell during a European campaign. At this time, the location was Istanbul in Turkey and the opponents Galatasaray. Much was made of the hostile atmosphere United would face and questions were raised as to the capacity of their youthful side to deal with such an environment. Over a decade later and a similar scenario presents itself, albeit the football equivalent of hell now resides in Germany.

The draw for the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals has dampened the optimism at Old Trafford, less than two days after arguably their best performance under David Moyes. Having come back against Olympiakos, there was a feeling that this was a small foundation upon which they could start to rebuild. Alas, in being paired with Bayern Munich, it is highly unlikely their season will last beyond the second leg in the Allianz Arena. Indeed judging from the ruthlessness Bayern demonstrated at the Emirates and Etihad stadia, the tie could be all but decided in Manchester.

As a Chelsea fan, I am delighted with the draw. Of course I would have preferred to play Dortmund, clearly the weakest side of the seven possibilities. I am pleased we avoided United, as all-English ties do not tend to follow the form book. We have suffered from this phenomena at first hand, with multiple exits in campaigns past to a comparatively poor Liverpool side. Others I did not wish to face at this stage included the Spanish trio and of course, the mighty Bayern. So Paris Saint-Germain represented the second best option of a pretty difficult lot!

In my opinion, Chelsea matches up well against the Parisian team and should be confident in progressing. PSG are cruising to their league championship and will be able to rest personnel and focus fully on the matches. Chelsea will have no such luxury, but in some ways they are mentally in a better position because of it. Much like Celtic in the Scottish league, there is no real opponent to PSG’s inevitable coronation as French champions. The lack of intensity in their domestic battles make the level they need to attain to beat Chelsea tough to maintain over 180 or more minutes. There are bound to be lapses in concentration for us to exploit.

Regarding the squad itself, Chelsea’s is far stronger. The exception to this is in attack, where Zlatan and Cavani are both superior to our own options. Defensively however, we are particularly strong and I feel that JT and Cahill will relish the physical challenge they will face. If Chelsea maintains their composure in the away leg, I am confident we can do what is necessary to defeat them at Stamford Bridge. I do fear the toll this could take on our squad, as essentially the core members will be playing a lot of minutes under the highest pressure. This could lead to our season tapering off in disappointing fashion, as I am not convinced we can compete successfully on both fronts.

In conclusion, the draw should see Real Madrid and Bayern Munich reach the semi-finals. I am hopeful that Chelsea will join them, leaving one more space to be filled. This is particularly tough to call as Barcelona against Atlético Madrid promises to be a cracker. I really dislike Barcelona, so it’s probably my personal bias coming through but nevertheless, I am leaning towards Atlético to cause an upset.

Quarter-Final Draw

April 1

Barcelona v Atlético
Manchester United v Bayern
(Second Legs April 9)

April 2

Real Madrid v Borussia Dortmund
Paris Saint-Germain v Chelsea
(Second Legs April 8)

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