Tough Draw In Europe For Italian Teams

CLdraw Tough Draw In Europe For Italian TeamsWith the Champions League and Europa League draws having taken place, the rest of the season is slowly drifting into a more predictable mush. There's just one last weekend of Serie A action (this weekend), and then there's a solid two weeks and a bit of break from the Serie A. I certainly find it refreshing, not only for the teams in the competition which will have time to replenish, but for myself as well.

The draw for the Round of 16 matches in the Champions League did not go too well for the Italian teams. Here are the three fixtures which the Serie A sides will be playing in the first round of the knockout stages.

Roma - Shakhtar Donetsk

AC Milan - Tottenham Hotspur

Inter Milan - Bayern Munich

It seems like Roma have the easiest opponent in Shakhtar Donetsk, but the Ukrainian side topped their Champions League group which included Arsenal. They managed to win all of their games in the group stages except one, which they lost away to Arsenal, so it seems like Roma will have a tough time with them.

AC Milan instead get the team which haunted Inter during the group stages, Tottenham Hotspur. The newcomers to this competition did wonderfully well in the group stages, finishing above Inter Milan in the group after some spectacular attacking play. This match looks to be extremely exciting along with it being very difficult to call. While in my mind AC Milan should be able to defeat Tottenham, which have been conceding tons of goals this season, there is a doubt that Allegri's side falls short to the task.

Inter Milan - Bayern Munich is a strange match-up in my opinion. Both teams which won their domestic leagues and cups, and met each other in the Champions League final last season are now doing poorly in the Serie A and the Bundesliga. In! ter Mila n are seventh in the Serie A, and Bayern aren't doing much better in sixth in the Bundesliga, but this clash still looks to be exciting in my opinion. Bayern Munich will undoubtedly want revenge for last season's final, and they could knock Rafa Benitez's slowly assembling team out of the competition. Whichever way this match goes, a big team won't be progressing, and lets hope that it isn't Inter which goes home from Europe early.

Among all this Champions League talk, I've almost forgotten about the horrible draw which Napoli got in the Europa League! Walter Mazzari's side which barely managed to qualify for the Round of 32 of the Europa League were drawn with Spanish side Villareal. The Spaniards have been doing excellently this season in La Liga, and they're in third behind - guess who? - Barcelona and Real Madrid. It's certainly a tough challenge for Napoli, and they'll truly need to be at their best if they want to progress to the Round of 16. With no other Italian sides left in the competition, lets hope that Napoli show that the Serie A still has much to offer in Europe by overcoming this big initial obstacle.

If you're interested in seeing the complete Champions League and Europa League draws, you can click here. What are your thoughts regarding the Champions League and Europa League draws? Share your comments below!

Related posts:

  • Italian teams stumble in Europe The Champions League and the Europa League are now priorities,...
  • All Italian Sides Win In Champions League Finally some positive news for Serie A and Italian football...
  • Serie A Teams Failing In Champions League This past week was a disappointing week for the Serie...



    • International Soccer Clubs & Leagues News | Video | Commentary

    Comments

    Post a Comment

    Popular posts from this blog

    Mr. Hodgson Or: How We Learned To Stop Worrying And Blame The Manager

    Image
    The manager has risen from club secretary to official face of the club since the creation of football teams worldwide. He has moved from the man that kept the record books to man that is larger than the football team he manages. Commentators and pundits refer to Fergusons United or Wengers beautiful, passing football. He even has books written about him. The Manager by Barney Ronay, an excellent book that discusses the rise of the manager into the modern game, unearths some of the origins of the managers image and attempts todiscuss what kind of person the manager really is. While the book wasnt ever intended to be an academic study of the merits of various tactical thoughts of managers, it does address some of the often listed character traits ofsuccessfulmanagers. When all these traits are put together, to many the manager appears to be a father figure, a scary headmaster, a politician youd like to have a beer with, or somecombination. Yet despite all this popularity, he is little mo...
    Keep reading

    England World Cup camps need to lose doomsday siege mentality

    Image
    One day last week, near the junction of Maude Street and Rivonia Road, in the Johannesburg suburb of Sandton, a line of smiling young men in shirts and shorts strolled along the pavement towards their hotel. Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, Robin Van Persie, Dirk Kuyt, Mark Van Bommel and the rest of the Dutch squad waited at the lights until there was a break in the traffic and then ambled across the road. These were some of the best known players in the world, superstars of the game, walking along city streets on their way back from training and looking as though they did not have a care. There was no security with them. None to speak of, anyway. There were no photographers running in front of them and taking their picture. There were no girlfriends tottering along beside them. None of them wore headphones. They did not insulate themselves. They seemed at one with their surroundings. It was only a snapshot of the way the Dutch are living their lives at this World Cup but ...
    Keep reading

    How an American Influence Is Rubbing Off On Manchester City

    Image
    Manchester Citys match day experience is becoming more and more American with each new season. While Maine Road was what you could expect a typical British experience of what it was like to see an English football match in the 80s, the City of Manchester Stadium experience seems as American as apple pie. In previous seasons, City have tried to focus on improving the match-day experience. Theyve added buskers, i.e. public performers, around the ground to add to the atmosphere. And recently theyve adopted American entertainment methods such as turning down the house lights before kick-off and trying to get everyone excited for the big match. Theyve also been a pioneer in English football in their usage of American social media sites such as Facebook, Foursquare, Flickr and others to create a bond with supporters. And now for their first home match in the league for the 2010-11 season, against Liverpool tonight, theyre set to unveil two new features. Both of them have a uniquely American...
    Keep reading