Like any good Manchester United fan, I’m flaky, I’m foreign, and I won’t be happy with anything less than complete and utter perfection.Especially given the effortless dominance United displayed in the Champions League Group stage.
There are absolutely no excuses this year, as the Red Devils won’t see an “AC”, a “Real,” or a Ronaldinho until the Quarterfinals. In fact, the teams we're likely to face in the next round barely have the right to put “FC” beside their names—let alone “AC.”
Fenerbache?! How do you even say that? It sounds like a bad 1980s Italian jeans manufacturer—the kind that made jeans which had rivets every couple inches for no reason, and which rode up around your shoulder blades.
Shalke? Olympiakos? Which teams did they beat to get to the knockout stage? Did UEFA allow Lithuanian squads into the League this year?
Most people I've spoken to are most worried about Lyon, but I'm more afraid of Celtic. Celtic have a bad habit of beating United at inopportune times—and the football fever Alex McLeish whipped up in Scotland with the National side still lingers...even if he doesn’t.
I wouldn't bet against a Scottish team at the moment—unless of course they're unfortunate enough to draw United in the next round.
Lyon, meanwhile, needed to win their final game with Rangers just to qualify. They’ve looked shaky at times, but you can’t ignore the fact that they've qualified for the Quarterfinals with great regularity over the past few years.
Having said that, this is a French team we’re talking about. No team who plays in a league against clubs called “Nice” and “Nancy” is going to take the European Cup—especially sans a Zidane, an Henry, or a Desailly.
The next round is going to be a cakewalk if United draw one of the joker teams, but we may have a match on our hands if we find ourselves at the Stade Gerland or Parkhead.
Hell, if we end up playing Celtic, I might even watch it.
2 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Felix Tang about 1 year ago
haha that's very true Rob, interesting perspective. I hope it will indeed be a walkover for us next round, but lyon is a force that cannot be underestimated. As for celtic, just stop nakamura and his freekicks.
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John Banda about 1 year ago
The greatest danger in soccer is the danger of underrating an oppoent. I still see the next round being as competitive as any other through out the season especially if these so called unknown teams will find themselves having gone ahead in terms of scoring in a match against United.
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