Champions League Round of 16 - Brief Analysis Part 2

The second set of Champions League Round of 16 first legs took place this week. This week's entertainment level may have dropped, with only 5 goals being scored as opposed to 11 last week.

Below, I take a look at some points of interest with the aid of the excellent Total Football - Champions League iPhone app.

Impact Substitution
Jose Mourinho has shown this season that he doesn't necessarily trust Karim Benzema at the top end of his team. Emmanuel Adebayor has been brought in on loan from Manchester City, and on Tuesday night he started the match away at Lyon. To say that the ex-Arsenal striker was rather ineffective would be an understatement. Within 40 seconds of coming on as Adebayor's replacement, Karim Benzema grabbed the opening goal against his old side. A great goal after a mazy dribble across the opposition penalty area gave Madrid a crucial away goal to take back to the Bernabeu.

Firing Blanks
Marseille v Manchester United was not the most exciting game. Both sides seemed to be overly cautious, and although Marseille will consider a 0-0 draw a good result, they still have a difficult task of getting a score draw or better at Old Trafford. Manchester United were especially poor going forward, having only 2 shots on target in the match. Their 8 shots at goal was the lowest total of all the 16 teams that played over the last two weeks.

Torres bedding in
Chelsea got a comfortable 2-0 win at Copenhagen on Tuesday night, and look set to make the Quarter Finals with relative ease. They started the game with new signing Fernando Torres partnering Nicolas Anelka up front. The duo managed 13 shots between them and were far too much for Copenhagen to contain. Although Torres did not get a goal, his movement was excellent throughout the game and he got into numerous goalscoring positions. It shouldn't be long before the Spanish striker nets his first goal for his new club.

Bayern show their class
Louis van Gaal's Bayern Munich recorded a fantastic 1-0 away win in their first leg with Internazionale on Wednesday. Inter did have chances of their own, with Samuel Eto'o coming close on a few occasions, but Bayern were bright and bold throughout, and got the winner in the 90th minute through Mario Gomez. Arjen Robben created the goal when he cut in from the right wing and had a shot which was parried by Julio Cesar. Robben tried this all evening, often picking the ball up in a very wide position. The Inter defenders doubled up on him well for most of the match in order to stop him cutting inside, but they ultimately failed.

Bastian Schweinsteiger also had an excellent game, controlling the midfield and dictating Bayern's play throughout. Schweinsteiger attempted and completed the most passes of any player on the pitch. As can be seen on the chalkboard below, the German midfielder concentrated the majority of his balls out wide, looking for the consistently dangerous Robben and Ribery.

Champions League Match Day 5 - Brief Analysis

A few snippets of interest from this week’s round of Champions League Group matches:

Luka Modric and Denilson

Luka Modric had a wonderful game last night at White Hart Lane, scoring a beautiful goal and dictating the rhythm of Spurs’ play. In his new deeper role, Modric gets more of the ball than any of his teammates and is continually looking to get the side moving. In a similar role on Tuesday night was Arsenal’s Denilson, who also had the majority of the ball.

A quick glance at the comparison above could lead one to believe that both players had a similar influence of their sides. However, a closer look shows that despite Denilson’s passing being accurate and slightly higher up the pitch, it is too often short, sideways and non-threatening. Modric played balls in front of Bale, Lennon and the full-backs, starting lots of attacks down the wings where Spurs are so effective. This lack of ambition is not entirely Denilson’s fault however, as Arsenal like playing short, sharp passes in front of the opposition’s defence sometimes to the detriment of their wingers.

Barcelona’s passing masterclass

Away from home in a potentially tricky tie with Panathinaikos, Barcelona won in the most comfortable way possible. Even by Barcelona’s standards, the diagram below is astonishing.

Barcelona completed almost 700 more passes than their opponents last night, with full-back Dani Alves completing 110 of them. Xavi and Iniesta also completed over 100 passes during the match, with 95% accuracy, and Xavi was substituted after 70 minutes!

Valencia and Inter - Shooting Comparison

I admit that Bursaspor are a poor side, but the below comparison is still interesting nonetheless.

Internazionale had almost twice as many shots at goal compared with Valencia, but had to settle for a measly 1-0 win, while the Spanish side netted six times.

Diagrams courtesy of the excellent Total Football - Champions League iPhone app

News round up - Monday 17 May 2010

Lots going on at the moment in the world of football. The top European leagues have come to a close, and we only have the Champions League left to keep us going until the World Cup. Here is a selection of articles:

Michael Ballack has been ruled out of the World Cup - Telegraph
Swindon reach League One play-off final after beating Charlton on penalties - BBC
Paolo Bandini reviews the final day of the Serie A season - Guardian
Sid Lowe reports on Barcelona's season and the rest of La Liga - Guardian

A very interesting quote from Sid in his article regarding Barcelona's record this season:
'Four defeats all season have left them with just one trophy; 23 defeats could see Atlético win two.'

Inter and Barcelona seal titles

Today saw the final fixtures taking place in both Serie A and La Liga with both titles up for grabs. In the end Inter Milan and Barcelona both started and finished the day top of their respective leagues.

In Spain, Barcelona started the day a point ahead of Real Madrid, and knew that a win at home to Valladolid would secure them their second successive La Liga title. They successfully executed their plans with a comprehensive 4-0 victory, to the delight of the Camp Nou crowd. In the other game, Madrid faltered with a disappointing 1-1 draw away at Malaga. It concludes a season which saw Real Madrid amass a staggering 96 points, yet still finish 3 points behind champions Barcelona. Leo Messi grabbed two more goals in the final game today, to see him finish with a total of 34 league goals, 47 in total.

Earlier in the day, 500 miles east of Barcelona in Siena, Internazionale claimed their fifth successive Serie A title with a 1-0 win. Diego Milito scored the only goal of the game to seal Jose Mourinho's Inter a League and Cup Double, with the Champions League final still to come next weekend. Roma finished two points behind Inter after a 2-0 win over Chievo.

We can now look forward to a great match-up on Saturday, as Inter and Bayern both have the chance to turn their Doubles into Trebles by winning the UEFA Champions League in Madrid.