- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
With the final four teams of the UEFA Champions League settled, it may seem these teams have fought their way admirably to the top.
However, a more detailed analysis of the journey each of these teams took to get to this stage reveals only Borussia Dortmund really deserve to be in this position in the competition.
For Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona, the journey has shown how vulnerable these teams are and why they don’t deserve to be in the position they’re in.
FC Barcelona
With one of the easiest groups in the Champions League for the Catalan giants, it’s safe to say they passed with ease – apart from losing to Celtic, with the Scottish club toppling Barcelona despite being an extremely sub-standard team.
Celtic fielded a team whose value was approximately one twelfth of Barcelona’s and still won.
A team in the final four should not lose to teams like Celtic even if they do field one or two younger players.
The next stage also showed Barcelona’s vulnerability. Milan, a team with young and old, but really no superstars, came up against Barcelona.
Everyone was expecting a demolition by Barcelona but the cookie crumbled the other way. The fifth time Milan would be playing Barca in European competition, they won 2 – 0.
Milan were fielding a team that was merely a shadow of their former glory, while Barcelona were fielding the starting XI that has come to define them as a team of great ability.
Again, a highly vulnerable situation for Barcelona was shown.
Paris Saint-Germain were a team that fielded a majority of players only bought by the club in the past two years. Safe to say, PSG have had to find team chemistry very quickly, compared to Barcelona, many of whose players have been playing together since they were teenagers.
Salvaging only two draws in both ties against PSG shows how poor Barcelona have been and why they do not deserve to be in the Champions League still.
Real Madrid
Despite being in the ‘group of death’, the group proved less than deadly.
Manchester City flopped, not even making it out of the group, and Ajax were easily demolished, only recording one win in the entire group stage.
Madrid were unable to defeat Dortmund, despite the youth and inexperience of the team.
After all the money and talent Real invested, they only managed to finish second in the group.
The most challenging of all games came against Manchester United. They drew in the first leg and only just managed to win in the second leg. Despite the value of the team, they could have easily been knocked out.
The quarter finals bought about Galatasaray, a team hardly expected to reach the stage they did. While Madrid toppled Galatasaray with a comfortable 3 – 0 win first up, Galatasaray almost equalled this in the second leg.
Madrid have shown a lack of quality, easily being scored against three times by Galatasaray. The way Madrid played against Galatasaray, it is hard to see them progressing any further in the Champions league.
Bayern Munich
Bayern’s group was easy, however following that they faced Arsenal and Juventus, both top teams in their own leagues. The fact that they made no sacrifice to their league or cup campaign shows the integrity of the team.
They are very much in with a chance to win the treble and they have the team to do so.
While all this sounds like Bayern have battled well, this is hardly true.
A loss to BATE Borisov, a minuscule opponent, has shown Bayern Munich are not always the giants they seem to be.
They barely managed a win against Arsenal, away goals the only thing guaranteeing their win. And their win against Juventus did nothing for Bayern but simply show how terribly Juventus can play.
Against these two teams, Bayern should have done better. They should not be in the semi-finals.
Borussia Dortmund
The only team that deserves to be where they are. Undefeated in the Champions League so far, despite coming up against teams such as Manchester City, Real Madrid and Malaga.
While they have come up against some easier opponents, to be the only team in the competition undefeated is a real achievement for young squad.
Dortmund have an average age of below 25, meaning they are not only a competitive team now, they will be very competitive in the future.
While they may not be a squad filled with household names, they play so well as a unit, they more than make up for it.
Knocked out of the cup and not a chance in the league, they will now focus on the Champions League. They have the ability to defeat any of the teams left and could be a real chance.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.