UCL Round of 16 wrap: Could it be that the the boys separated from the men yet?

When a tournament gets to a certain stage, it is often said that the boys have been separated from the men. Could this be the case already in the Champions League as the last eight have been decided?

Some will say the usual suspects have made it through, other also say that deserving teams have qualified based on their performance. Whatever the case may be, the world has potentials, men with guts and hunger to progress, and above all some exciting football.

Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona made it through after defeating Roma and Arsenal respectively. Also from Spain Atletico Madrid fought a battle of their lives in a thrilling encounter with PSV decided on penalty shootout.

Paris Saint German edged Chelsea, Manchester City booked a place in the last eight for the first time in the campaign after seeing off Dynamo Kiev while Benfica also beat Zenit.

German champions Bayern Munich produced a stunning come back against Juventus to progress as fellow Germans Wolfsburg also saw off Gent to qualify.

Eight clubs from five countries will feature in the draw for the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals which will be held on Friday, 18th March, 2016, What are your expectations? Ready to see the real men make it though?

Champions League: Barcelona dismiss PSG as Bayern cruise into semi final

The atmosphere at the Camp Nou last night could be likened to a training session for Barcelona as they finished the job they started a week ago against French Champions Paris Saint German.

The Spanish side defeated the visitors on all fronts with Brazilian forward Neymar scroring twice to seal a semi final spot for Barcelona as they won 5-1 on aggregate.

In the other semi final on the night, Bayern Munich punished FC Porto winning  5-1 to cancel the the Portuguese side's first leg 3-1 win.

Bayern still did not have a handful of players but were enough to run riot on Porto to progress to the semi finals as well. Thiago Alcantara, Jerome Boateng, Robert Lewandowski and Xabi Alonso all made the scorers sheet.

Tonight will see Real Madrid battle city rivals Atletico Madrid in the return leg inside Santiago Bernabeau to continue the drama which ended scoreless in the first leg while Juventus travel to Monaco with a 1-0 advantage from the first leg.

Bayern Munich Team Doctor resigns after defeat to Porto

Bayern Munich team doctor, Han-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt, has tendered his resignation over what he called ''broken trust''.

The Bundesliga champions 3-1 by FC Porto on Wednesday, without the likes of Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, David Alaba, Javi Martinez and Mehdi Benatia who were ruled out due to injury.

Muller-Wohlfahrt announced that he is leaving the club, after he was blamed for the Bavarians’ loss in Portugal.

''After the Champions League match between Bayern Munich and Porto, the medical department was blamed due to the inexplicable reasons for the loss,” he said in a statement.

''The bond of trust is damaged.''

However, Bayern’s media director, Markus Horwick, expressed surprise at the news, telling Sport1: ''FC Bayern were not informed about this step.''

Real Madrid Coach Zidane spotted in Bayern Munich Training

Former France international Zinedine Zidane visited German club Bayern Munich during one of their training sessions.

All pictures shared by @Realmadridplace via twitter

Reasons for his visit is unknown but the Real Madrid Castilla coach seemed to be enjoy the warm welcome.

What could they be discussing? Pep to Real Madrid? You never can tell.

UCL: Bayern held to barren draw, Chelsea secures 1-1 draw at PSG

German champions Bayern Munich were held to a goalless draw in Ukraine Ginta Shakhtar Donetsk in Tuesday's UEFA champions league first leg match.

The Germans despite their passing and possession failed to break the Ukranians and also saw Xabi Alonso sent off in the second off for a bookable offence.

In the othe game on the night, Chelsea were able to grind out a 1-1 draw in Paris against french champions Paris Saint German.

Branislav Ivanovic's header set Chelsea ahead late in the first half while Edison Cavani equalized for the home team.

Deloitte: Real Madrid is the Richest Club in the World for the 10th year

Spanish giants Real Madrid have been confirmed by world's reputable financial accountants Deloitte as the richest football club in the world for the 10th year running. 

Despite a poor run of performance in the season in question, Manchester United rose two places to make second place while Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal made top 10.

1. Real Madrid - £459.5m

2. Manchester United - £433.2m

3. Bayern Munich - £407.7m

4. Barcelona - £405.2m

5. Paris Saint-Germain - £396.5m

6. Manchester City - £346.5m

7. Chelsea - £324.4m

8. Arsenal - £300.5m

9. Liverpool - £255.8m 

10. Juventus - £233.6m

11. Borussia Dortmund - £218.7m

12. AC Milan - £208.8m

13. Tottenham - £180.5m

14. Schalke 04 - £178.9m

15. Atletico Madrid - £142.1m

16. Napoli £137.8m

 17. Inter Milan - £137.1m

18. Galatasaray - £135.4m

19. Newcastle United - £129.7m

20. Everton £120.5m

21. West Ham United - £105.3m

22. Aston Villa - £101.9m

23. Marseille - £100m

24. Roma - £97.7m

25. Southampton - £97.3

26. Benfica - £96.6

27. Sunderland - £95.7m

28. Hamburg - £92.2m

29. Swansea City - £90.5m

30. Stoke City - £90.1m

Manchester City draw Barcelona as Madrid get Schalke in UCL Round of 16 Draw



Twitter: @championsleague

 

It was Xabi Alonso's Birthday but Aguero got all the Gifts to help Manchester City

Manchester City secured an important three points at the Etihad Stadium against Bayern Munich to rekindle their hopes of seeing the last 16 of the UCL this term.

Google Image: Sergio Aguero

The Etihad stadium came alive after Sergio Aguero was brought down in the box by Benatia who got sent off and reduced to see the visitors reduced to 10-men. The Argentine striker put City ahead scoring from the penalty spot to begin his eventual hatrick.

Before long, Birthday Boy Xabi Alonso and Robert Lewandowski scored to see 10-man Bayern go into the break with a 2-1 lead.

The real drama began when the birthday-boy's pass saw his pass intercepted by Aguero who made no mistake to set the match at per at 85th minute but also benefited from another mistake by Jerome Boateng to secure City's much needed victory.

Xabi Alonso scores from the spot, share by
@ChampionsLeague on Twitter

Manuel Pellegrini's men will now go into their final game away to Roma level on points with the Italian side and CSKA Moscow, meaning they will qualify if they win and the Russian champions fail to win at Bayern, who were already guaranteed to qualify as Group E winners.

Bayern Munich, Real Madrid Stars dominate UEFA Team of The Year nominees

Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are well represented in the shortlist of players for the UEFA Team of The Year 2014 Award.

Google Image

The Spanish club boast of 7 players while the Germans have a larger number of 9 players.

According to UEFA,  more than 6.3 million votes were cast in the UEFA.com users' Team of the Year 2013 poll, the final XI featured four players from FC Bayern München and a record eighth appearance for Cristiano Ronaldo.

Here's a full list of nominees and you can view and cast your vote here 

Goalkeepers        

Gianlugi Buffon      Juventus

Beto                        Sevilla

Thibuat Courtois    Chelsea

Manuel Neuer        Bayern Munich

Defenders

Sergio Ramos        Real Madrid

Diego Godin          Athletico Madrid

Miranda                  Athletico Madrid

Vincent Kompany  Manchester City

Jerome Boateng      Bayern Munich

Medhin Benatia      Bayern Munich

David Alaba            Bayern Munich

Ezequeil Garay        FC Zenith

Mats Hummels         Borussia Dortmund

Philip Lahm             Bayern Munich

Pablo Zabaleta         Manchester City

Dani Carvajal          Real Madrid

Midfielder

Toni Kroos            Real Madrid

Luka Modric         Real Madrid

Angel Di Maria     Manchester United

Ivan Rakitic           Barcelona

Arjen Robben        Bayern Munich

James Rodriquez   Real Madrid                   

Koke                    Athletico Madrid

Xabi Alonso        Bayern Munich

Marco Reus         Borussia Dortmund

Paul Pogba          Juventus

Ardar Turan        Athletico Madrid

Yaya Toure         Manchester City

Forward

Gareth Bale      Real Madrid

Diego Costa      Chelsea

Tomas Muller   Bayern Munich

Cristiano Ronaldo   Real Madrid

Zlatan Ibrahimovic    Paris Sanit German

Robert Lewandowski   Bayern Munich

Alexis Sanchez           Arsenal

Karim Benzema         Real Madrid

Lionel Messi             Barcelona

Jonatan Soriano        FC Salzburg

Carlos Tevez           Juventus

Neymar                 Barcelona

United is Premier League's Most Valuable brand as Bayern top the World

According to a recent report, five English Premier League teams made the list of most valuables brand in the world.

10) PSG - $324m brand value
PSG won their second consecutive Ligue 1 title last term,and are up a whopping 14 places from last year's brand table. They're also set to make Chelsea's David Luiz the world's most expensive ever defender in the coming weeks.

9) Borussia Dortmund - $327m brand value
Jurgen Klopp's side average more home fans at their stadium every week than any other side in Europe, but are losing the battle for German supremacy at the moment with Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich outfit.

8) Liverpool - $469m brand value
Liverpool have qualified for the Champions League for the first time since 2009, but are actually down one place from last year. They have especially large followings in Indonesia and the Far East.

7) Chelsea - $502m brand value
Roman Abramovich has turned Chelsea into a genuine footballing
superpower since buying the club a decade ago, and he's seen the
Blues win three Premier League titles and a maiden Champions League crown in that time.

6) Arsenal - $505m brand value
After winning the much needed silverware FA Cup, Arsene Wenger's side will be looking to build on the success next term following an ambitious summer transfer market.

5) Manchester City - $510m brand value
City won the Premier League for the second time in three years and also collected the League Cup during Manuel Pellegrini's first season in charge. They're up three places from last term in the brand table.

4) FC Barcelona - $622m brand value
Having finished the season without a trophy, but they still have the world's most marketable footballer Lionel Messi on their books, who has won the Ballon D'or a ludicrous four times already, despite being only 26-years-old.

3) Manchester United - $739m brand value
United were at the very top of the brand table last year, but after Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement and the miserable season David Moyes endured, their brand value has dropped by over £60m in one season.

2) Real Madrid - $768m brand value
Real Madrid recently won their tenth European Cup, beating bitter
rivals Atletico 4-1 in the final after Extra-Time. They're up two places from last season's brand table, and have the world's two most expensive footballers, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale on their books.

1) Bayern Munich - $896m brand value
Bayern Munich have won two consecutive Bundesliga titles, and finished last term with a record points tally in the German top flight. In Pep Guardiola, they have by far the world's highest paid manager as well.

#Sources: Fanatic.com and Soccernation.com

Athletico Madrid beat Chelsea 3-1 to set up an all-spanish final

Chelsea lost 1-3 to Athletico Madrid in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League Semi final on Tuesday night at the Stamford Bridge.

Fernando Torres put Chelsea ahead in the 36th minute but didn't take long before the Madrid leveled up through Adrian Turan before the end of half time.

Samuel Eto'o fouled Diego Costa in the box 60' and he Cooley converted the penalty he earned as a result of the challenge while Arda Turan added more salt to Chelsea's injury when he grabbed the third 76th minute for the Madrid side.

Chelsea secured a 0-0 draw in the first leg encounter in Spain.

The victory however sets up an all-Spanish final as they face fellow city rivals Real Madrid who got past Bayern Munich on Tuesday in the other semi final tie.

The final comes up on May 24th in Lisbon Portugal.

Real Madrid is the Richest Club in the World (TOP 10 List)

Forbes magazine rates Real's value at €3.3 billion, with second-
placed Manchester United at €3.16 billion.

The top ten rich list is dominated by Premier League clubs, with
France's PSG and AS Monaco not mentioned.

FORBES' TOP 10 RICHEST CLUBS:

1) Real Madrid : €3.3 billion
2) Manchester United: €3.16 billion
3) FC Barcelona: €2.6 billion
4) Arsenal: €1.32 billion
5) FC Bayern Munich: €1.3 billion
6) AC Milan: €940 million
7) Chelsea FC: €900 million
8) Juventus: €690 million
9) Manchester City: €680 million
10) Liverpool FC: €650 million

Chelsea draw Athletico Madrid in Champions League Semi final

Athletico Madrid edge out clueless Barca as Bayern beat United to qualify for UCL Semi final

This is probably the most uninspiring and lackluster performance Barcelona have played this season as they were dumped out of the Champions league by Athletico Madrid in the second leg clash of the quarter- final.

Koke's early goal was all the Madrid side needed to edge Barcelona in the tie ending on a 2-1 aggregate. It could be recalled that the first leg ended 1-1 at the Camp Nou last week.

Also on the night, European champions Bayern Munich came from behind to claim a 3-1 win over Manchester United to give them a 4-2 aggregate success .

After a goalless first-half, United took the lead in the Allianz Arena when Patrice Evra fired home a wonderful half-volley from the edge of the box.

But Mario Mandzukic headed home from close-range in less than a minute later while Thomas Muller converted from the edge of the six-yard box to put Bayern ahead and Robben finished off in the later minutes.

Rooney returns to training ahead of Bayern tie

Manchester United have been boosted by the news that Wayne
Rooney was able to take part in training on Tuesday ahead of their
Champions League quarter-final second-leg clash with Bayern
Munich.

He picked up a toe injury during the first leg at Old Trafford last week, and missed the weekend's convincing win overNewcastle United.

Rooney took part in full training session and it's an indication that he's improved over the weekend. His will be a massive addition to the squad if he eventually makes it through.

United hit by Rooney injury

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has picked up a Toe injury and he's thereby set to miss this weekend's fixture against Newcastle United in the Barclays Premier League.

Reports also have it that the most in-form player for United at the moment may also miss the trip to Germany for the UCL return leg against Bayern Munich.

The club posted on Twitter on Friday evening: "Confirmed: Wayne Rooney set to miss @NUFC vs #mufc, may be doubtful for Bayern trip."

United added that manager David Moyes had told MUTV: "We need to monitor it. We'll get him treatment all over the weekend and see if we can speed it up."

Moyes on Rooney injury: "He's got a terrible toe. Not only is it a problem for this game, it could be a problem for the Munich match." #mufc

Giggs denies having issues with Moyes, confident of tonight's UCL match

Ryan Giggs has dismissed reports suggesting that he is having a rift with club manager David Moyes.

Speaking ahead of the champions league encounter with  Bayern Munich on Tuesday night, the player-manager said "I don't have problems with the manager."

He further stated that they are confident to take on the German champions although it is null not be easy.

REVEALED! Moyes says United will exploit Bayern weakness

Manchester United manager David Moyes has revealed that Bayern Munich have some weaknesses which they will exploit in their Champions League meeting.

United host the German champions on Tuesday in the first leg tie of the UEFA Champions league Quarter finals.

The Bavarian giants have not lost in the league this season, culminating in their 24th German title, sealed in Berlin on Tuesday.

The defending European champions last lost a game in December – but according to Moyes, who is well aware of Bayern’s quality – they do have weak areas.

Moyes told United’s official website: “When we drew them, I felt we’d drawn probably the best team in Europe at this present time.

“I think most people would agree with that…Munich are a little bit of a class above the other teams, including Borussia Dortmund.

Read more here on PUNCH

Sebastian Vettel, Bayern clinch 2014 Sports Award

The Laureus award is held annually to celebrate remarkable achievements in Sports throughout the year ranging from individual performance or team.

This year's was held in Malaysia and here are the winners of several categories.

SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR

Sebastian Vettel established himself as one of the greatest drivers
of all-time with his fourth straight Formula One World
Championship, joining legends Juan Manuel Fangio, Michael
Schumacher and Alain Prost, who all won at least four times. At
just 26 years and 116 days, Vettel is the youngest ever four-time
champion. In 2013 he won 13 Grand Prix, including a record nine
straight victories.

SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR
Missy Franklin was the sensation of Barcelona, becoming the first
woman in history to win six gold medals at a single World
Championships – three individual and three relay - at the age of
just 18. This followed her performance in the London Olympics
where she won four gold medals. She continues to refuse prize
money and endorsements so that she can maintain her amateur
status in college.

TEAM OF THE YEAR
Bayern Munich became the first club to complete the treble of
UEFA Champions League (their fifth win), Bundesliga and German
Cup. In the Bundesliga, they lost just one match and created a host
of records: most points in a season (91); highest winning points
margin (25); most wins (29); fewest goals conceded (18). Their
victory over CSKA Moscow in November was a record tenth
successive Champions League success.

While Tennis Player Rafael Nadal won the Come Back of the Year Award. There are also many more categories where Afghanistan Cricket team was rewarded and many others.

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Why other teams will keep chasing Bayern and Barcelona

You will agree that it is always delightful to watch a football team keep Possession just like we have seen lately with Bayern Munich and Barcelona as ever.

This pattern of play has of course been translated into amazing results and record breaking feats just like we saw last night with Bayern's title glory in style.

Bayern set a record against Hertha Berlin last night with 1078.

Prior to that, Barcelona made 1046 passes v Levante in May 2011, 1035 against the same team in November 2012, 970 v Racing Santander in October 2011, 939 v Real Sociedad in 2010.

European football is trying to tell us something, but English football knows best and will go on chasing Bayern and Barcelona around the pitch.

Comparing Bayern to English teams, Dailymail.co.uk reports that, " In total, Bayern made 1078 passes last night. Back home in the Premier League, Arsenal made 686, Swansea 452, Manchester United 545, Manchester City 490, Newcastle 489, Everton 403.

Bayern Munich are operating at a different level.

It will not come as too much of a surprise that Bayern and Barcelona are the top passing teams in the five major leagues in Europe since records began in 2005.

Read more here on DAILYMAIL