The draw for the round of 16 of the Champions League has brought mixed luck between the Spanish teams. And for Betis, in the Conference play-off, a dispossessed team, but with greater European experience. These are the rivals in Europe of Real Madrid, Atlético de Madrid, Barcelona, Real Sociedad and Betis.
RB Lepizig – Real Madrid
Awkward and energetic youth
To play football very well it is not essentially necessary to have a showcase full of trophies; nor a story full of legends or a squad with great protagonists. This is the case of Leipzig, a club that manages every season to compete successfully both in Europe and in the Bundesliga. At a golden price, those from eastern Germany sold their capital footballers last summer. However, despite the departure of Nkunku, Gvardiol and Szoboszlai towards the Premier League, Leipzig has once again built an exciting project.
Third in the German championship and immersed in a streak of four consecutive victories, Marco Rose’s men trust their stressful offensive football in the verticality of men like Xavi SimmonsBarcelona youth squad, and Lois Opendaa dagger to the counterattack.
In addition, both clubs share a recent memory. They met in the group stage of the last Champions League and even Real Madrid succumbed at the Red Bull Arena (3-2). However, the voracity of the king of the tournament in the elimination round is very different.
Inter Milan – Atlético Madrid
Another trip through Simeone’s past
First he was reunited with Lazio at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, where he was received like a divinity, and in March, Diego Pablo Simeone will return to San Siro, where he was also immensely happy defending the colors of Inter. He spent only two seasons with the black and blue, but his imprint in the 1998 UEFA Cup, defeated precisely by Lazio, is deep in the hearts of the Interistas. “I have a great memory of what I experienced in Milan,” said Simeone himself hours after the draw with a smile on his face.
Beyond the obvious reminiscences of the past, in the same press conference, the Argentine coach highlighted the brilliant present of his rival on February 20: «Inter is in an extraordinary moment; “In the Champions League they competed very well, I love how they play.” The compliments of the Atlético de Madrid coach are not in vain: those of Simone Inzaghi, prominent leaders of Calcio, are immersed in a state of plethoric form. What’s more, the Lombards currently witness the most complete version of footballers such as Barella, Dimarco, Calhanoglu, Thuram and, mainly, Lautaro Martínez.
Naples – Barcelona
Two champions withered
As a faithful reflection of Barcelona in the League, the team that lifted the Scudetto in spring after 33 years of lethargy is also experiencing uncomfortable days. Napoli, with a squad similar to the one that surprised locals and strangers a few months ago – their stars continue Osimhen y Kvaratskhelia; The current Bayern center back Kim Min-jae is missing – he is fifth in Serie A in an irregular season in which Rudi García, coach of the southern Italian team until November, was even fired. Nor has Mazzarri’s return to the Maradona bench brought joy back to the Neapolitans. Despite having experienced a week of relief by confirming their place in the second round by beating Braga and returning to the path of victory in Serie A against Cagliari, in the shadow of Vesuvius there is still no trace of the beautiful football they showed last year at the orders of the now Italian coach, Luciano Spalletti.
Meanwhile, facing their first Champions League tie in three seasons, Barça hopes to recover the injured Ter Stegen for the first leg on February 21. Of course, Gavi will not be there, whose cruciate fracture forces him to miss the entire course.
PSG – Real Sociedad
A nightmare beast
He never understood football for just causes and from there, from that almost perennial uncertainty, part of its beauty is born. Real Sociedad bordered on perfection in the group stage, they even beat Inter at San Siro, and finished first in their group. What is the reward? Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16, the monster that no seed wanted to see at the start of the knockout round.
The internal skirmishes of the French champion are no longer news, nor are the cuts Luis Enrique to the media, nor the trivialities of Mbappé, still determined to sow doubt about its future. Their illness, structural and profound, does not see a near end on the horizon, but the quality they have in their squad is so great that it is inevitable to take them seriously in a competition that they have never won and that they pursue with obsession.
In contrast to so many problems, confidence reigns in San Sebastián despite the irregularity suffered in the League. With Tierney already recovered – he had good minutes against Betis –, Imanol Alguacil hopes to recover Barrenetxea and Brais Méndez, both injured, for the match on February 14 at the Parque de los Príncipes.
Real Betis – Dinamo de Zagreb
The Croatian club that was robbed
Betis blushes to attend the third most important UEFA competition after being eliminated from the Europa League. The Conference is perhaps a consolation in the green and white half of Seville that as the weeks go by can become an illusion. Be that as it may, if they want to be in the round of 16 of this tournament they must overcome Dinamo Zagreb, a team that not too long ago was a regular participant in the group stage of the Champions League.
However, the most relevant entity in the Croatian capital has undergone a severe transformation in recent seasons. Little remains, in fact, of that team of Gvardiol, Dani Olmo, Majer or Orsic that dominated the Croatian championship and became a regular in the Champions League or the Europa League. On the contrary, its greatest danger remains Petkovic –that burly number nine who, apart from playing a crazy trick on Casemiro, scored the final goal in the last World Cup to eliminate Brazil and qualify Croatia for the semi-finals–. Betis, for its part, dreams of recovering the best version of the still convalescent Fekir for the first leg on February 15 at the Villamarín.
2023-12-18 18:05:37
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