UEFA Champions League Draw Reaction: Madrid Magic, Bayern or Barce, Dutch Decimation

The UEFA knockout stage draws have just been made, so let’s take a deeper dive into the Champions League, paths and pick out the biggest storylines from each side, along with an overall trend. The Champions League playoff round produced utter chaos, but most of the top clubs still remain with only a few favorites out of the competition. Now, without further ado, here are the two biggest talking points from the draw, one for each side, and the trend behind one of the biggest disasters for a single domestic league in recent memory…

Silver Side - Derby Madrileño to produce Finalist?

By far, the tastiest tie on the Silver side of the draw is Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid. Usually, these two squads play intense, physical, fiery matches. This season, both fixtures have resulted in 1-1 results, but a year ago Atletico knocked Real out of the Copa del Rey, and Real has typically had the upper hand in European competitions. This season, Atletico are truly challenging Real’s title defence, and both have led La Liga for long stretches. Atletico have been on quite a run of form in the past month, and Real have seen an exponential uptick in quality of play since starting the season slowly. This has the formula to produce high-quality, entertaining football that may have the power to determine the champion of both the Champions League and La Liga. Meanwhile, Liverpool are likely to await in the semifinals so long as they can sneak past PSG and Villa or Brugge. The Reds have been by far the best team over the course of the season across Europe, but are beginning to slow down after a thunderous start under Arne Slot. They recently drew with Villa and Everton, lost to PSV and Tottenham, and tumbled out of the FA Cup to Plymouth Argyle. If one of the Madrid sides shows up to Anfield, we may have at least one Spanish side left in the competition in June.

Blue Side - 8-2! Will Messi’s biggest embarrassment be avenged?

It is looking increasingly likely that we will be gifted with yet another rematch between Bayern and Barce, with the latter taking all three points at home in October with a resounding 4-1 victory. Bayern, however, still have the mental advantage over Barcelona, with the Blaugrana not having defeated the Munich side in the knockouts since the 8-2 embarrassment in 2020. Messi is long gone, but Barcelona have begun to turn a corner after a disappointing 2023-24, largely helped by the presence of 17-year-old Spanish star Lamine Yamal. He has scored eleven and assisted fifteen despite missing a decent portion of the season, contributing to the uptick in form. Bayern still must hold off challengers Leverkusen in both the Bundesliga and Champions League but have not lost a domestic tie in over two months (Dec. 16 vs Mainz). Both teams should be confident and favored in their quarterfinal ties if they are to get there (although Inter is a tough test for Bayern), so expect a Barcelona vs Bayern Munich rematch. If Bayern win, we may see a rematch of last year’s Champions League semifinal, and if Barcelona win, we may see either the showdown between the top two teams in the League Phase or an all-La Liga affair.

Serie A or Serie 1? Dutch diminish Italian hopes

The playoff round was a disaster, and I mean a DISASTER, for the Italians and Serie A. Despite losing Bologna in the League Phase, the Serie A was still very much in the race for five spots in next year’s elite European club competition and had many clubs still in contention for the Champions League title. Then, everything went wrong. First, reigning Europa League champions and Serie A title contenders lost both legs of their tie to Belgian champions Club Brugge. Then, AC Milan were reduced to ten men before allowing an equalizer to Feyenoord that knocked them out of the Champions League. Finally, Juventus, who went into Eindhoven with a 2-1 lead, allowed two second-half goals and an extra time winner to succumb to PSV. Atalanta haven’t looked themselves since their draw with Barcelona in Matchday 8, partially due to Ademola Lookman’s slump. AC Milan have turned their fortunes domestically but had two red cards in three matches prior to crashing out of the competition. Juventus came into Europe with high expectations courtesy of an unbeaten record in the Serie A before losing two of their next four games not in the domestic league, coupled with a disappointing 0-0 draw with Brugge on Matchday 8. These misfortunes can be explained, but the fact that they all happened simultaneously is extremely interesting. All of the clubs had been very successful in the Serie A, in which Lazio, Inter, Roma, and Fiorentina, all still in their respective UEFA competition, reside. Inter will hope to carry the Serie A as the last remaining Champions League side, though a run isn’t out of the question for the finalists twice removed.