Alas, upon soccer viewers came the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, pristine and brimming with possibilities. Though for many, the winners of each matchup were clear, every team championed for the spot of advancing to the quarterfinals, and of course, a shot at the most prestigious club title available- UCL Champions of Europe. 

Predictions

(green represents that the prediction was right, red represents it was wrong)

To a certain extent, possibilities of competitors in the quarterfinals were apparent. For example, Bayern, who has won the UCL twice in the past decade, was a clear favorite to win against RB Salzburg, an Austrian club who has never won. It was also pretty clear Manchester City would win out against Sporting, considering Man City are first in the Premier League (arguably the most skillful of other countries’ leagues) and Sporting are second in the Portuguese league, which isn’t regarded as high-standing. Ajax and Benfica also seemed to have a clear winner (Ajax), but it is apparent from the chart above that this was not the case. The same occurred with Man United and Juventus, respectively. Chelsea, the reigning champions of the UCL, seemed as if they would have a lid on Lille, winning pretty comfortably. The only game that was quite difficult to judge the winner of was Real Madrid vs. PSG. Simply put, they seemed evenly matched- Benzema and Vini Jr. vs. Mbappe and Messi. Personally, I predicted PSG would prevail, but was pleasantly surprised at the deeply deserved victory Real pulled through on.

Leg 1

PSG- Real Madrid

In this wildly charged game, Real seemed to play rather defensively. In the end, this caught up to them- quite literally. Though the Spaniards held off the French side rather expertly, Kylian Mbappe (who is almost confirmed to be joining Real Madrid next season), scored a last-minute stunner to hike PSG up one going into the second leg- not the best circumstances for Real.

Sporting- Man City

The score speaks for itself. 5-0. Man City destroyed Sporting; this was expected. It was as if each of the players were taking turns to score for kicks. Brilliant effort and coalition.

Inter Milan- Liverpool

Looking at the stats, the game was decently closely matched, however, Liverpool seemed to prevail in almost every category, including the result of the match. One disallowed goal and two legitimate goals later, and Liverpool finally proved why they were the favorites against Inter.

RB Salzburg- Bayern Munich

To be honest, I thought Bayern Munich was going to annihilate Salzburg- and I was looking forward to it. I wanted a repeat of the 8-2 stunner against Barcelona they’d pulled off back in 2020. However, in this leg, fans had to settle for a worrying draw. Bayern, however, proved in the next leg that this was not a worry whatsoever.

Chelsea- Lille

I describe myself as a casual Chelsea fan- my intoxication for Kai Havertz and Mason Mount partially allows for this. Additionally, being an American, I cannot help but support Pennsylvanian Chelsea player Christian Pulisic. Therefore, when both Kai and Christian scored easily against Lille, I was pleased. Simple, yet effective.

Villareal-Juventus

This was, to say the least, surprising. Juventus, labeled the favorites due to their undefeated status in the last four UEFA games, underperformed in comparison to hyperdefensive Villareal. With many players out on the Italian side among other problems on the inside, as well as Juve’s tendency to perform unsatisfactorily in high-importance situations, this was the Bianconeri fans’ biggest fear.

Atletico Madrid- Man United

Man United got sloppy. They thought they had the lead and loosened the reins a little bit, as they unfortunately tend to do. Joao Felix of Atletico, however, snatched up these reins and steered them right across the goal line, to the joy of the Spanish fans.

Benfica- Ajax

Once upon a time, Ajax was extraordinary. The Champions League moments they used to give us hungry viewers were golden. However, after this insulting draw, it seems this was no more (I’m sure the own goal, as well, did not help rebuke this feeling). 

Leg 2

PSG- Real Madrid

Words cannot describe the splendor of this game. Benzema is a class act- proving time and time again what an underrated legend he truly is through his hattrick. Real Madrid played superbly, with PSG lagging behind. After a certain point, they simply stopped attacking (Mbappe was still able to net a goal, though). Real, however, played as if a new rigor had infected them. It was glorious to watch, Absolutely deserved advancement.

Sporting- Man City

There isn’t much to say about this game- it was rather dull. Ending 0-0, Man City progressed on aggregate. On the other hand, it isn’t like they needed to try very hard after annihilating Sporting in the first leg.

Inter Milan- Liverpool

Liverpool, once more, led in the stats. They had 63% possession in comparison to Inter’s 37. Though Lautaro Martinez was able to net one in the 61st minute, Alexis Sanchez’s red card two minutes later didn’t do the team much of a favor. A rather silly victory for the English club, if you ask me, but nevertheless, Liverpool progressed onto the quarterfinals.

RB Salzburg- Bayern Munich

If Man City destroyed Sporting, Bayern demolished, rebuilt, then demolished RB Salzburg again. 7-1, was the joyous score, satisfying my immense bloodlust for Bayern-inflicted humiliation. Master-class and Bayern are synonyms; what a performance; what skill; what sportsmanship; what passion. The communication skills and mastery of players such as Lewandowski, Neuer, Sané, Muller, and Gnabry, among others, are astounding. It truly brings me pleasure to watch.

Chelsea- Lille

Slightly less of a brilliant performance by Chelsea than the first leg, the statistics seemed to be pretty evenly matched. Nevertheless, Pulisic and Azpilicueta each netted a goal, with a penalty being awarded to Lille. Chelsea advanced 4-1 on aggregate, deservingly and unsurprisingly.

Villareal-Juventus

No comment. As an ashamed Juventus fan, I feel scalded. I feel violated. Disgraceful from our side. A fellow Juve fan had said to me beforehand, “We cannot get out three RO16’s in a row, three years in a row; there’s no way.” Well, here we are. Very much yes we can. Three goals in less than 20 minutes. What a nightmare.

Atletico Madrid- Man United

Big upset. Riding high on Ronaldo’s hattrick against Tottenham three days earlier, fans’ hope sparked. Renan Lodi, however, in the 41st minute, did not hesitate to crush this hope like a bug. To give it to United, though, they played very well. They tried and tried- particularly Ronaldo. Unfortunately, things just did not fold in their favor.

Benfica- Ajax

This was arguably the biggest upset of the championship so far. Ajax tried incredibly hard- they had 16 shots in comparison to Benfica’s 4, 69% possession in comparison to 31%, more than twice as many passes, etc. They won 3-2 on aggregate, moving onto the next round.

Quarterfinals

These are the drawings for the quarterfinals. In my humble opinion, simply based on skill level, I believe Manchester City will win Atletico, Bayern will beat Villareal, and Liverpool will beat Benfica. Chelsea and Real Madrid, however, I am not sure about, 1. Considering the shocking win against PSG in the second leg of the Round of 16, and 2. The current financial situation of Chelsea, who is owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who has been sanctioned as a result of his connections to Putin, who is currently invading Ukraine. These sanctions have been particularly rough on Chelsea, who are now not allowed to make any sales or sign new contracts. Obviously, this has quite an impact on the players. 

My guess for who will win the whole championship is either Manchester City or Bayern Munich. In conclusion, as I always say, in a UCL minute, everything can change. Obvious wins turn to upsets, annihilation occurs, impassioned fans cry, laugh, scream, and the fates of the future champions of Europe are determined.