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Champions League – Knockout Stage First Leg Results
The first eight matches of the Champions League round of 16 have gone by, with only one home team (Olympiacos) getting a win, while the rest of the prematch favorites, including Barcelona and Bayern Munich in what originally looked like tough matches, taking care of business early and almost securing their spot in the quarterfinals.
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Match Highlights – Schalke vs Real Madrid
It’s been a dominant stretch for away teams in the Champions League, but nothing came close to the 6-1 demolition Real Madrid put over Schalke, as Karim Benzema played what might be his greatest game ever, while Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo each added their own flavor of flair and brilliance to one of the most impressive and one sided matches we’ve seen in the competition for a very long time.
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Match Highlights – Galatasaray vs Chelsea
The only draw in the eight matches of the first leg, Chelsea could have done a lot better than their 1-1 draw in Istanbul against Galatasaray if their manager would be a believer in attacking football, but instead decided to play depressing, cynical football in the second half, deserving to head into the second leg with a loss to recover from.
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Champions League – Galatasaray vs Chelsea
There are plenty of angles that have nothing to do with football heading into the Galatasaray vs Chelsea Champions League knockout stage first leg. Jose Mourinho getting caught talking about his players, Roberto Mancini trying to make himself look better than he actually is and the Didier Drogba factor playing against his former team and former manager.
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Champions League – Schalke vs Real Madrid Predictions
Despite the unsuccessful history Real Madrid have when playing in Germany, it’s hard not to consider them as huge favorites considering their league form, the quality of their squad, the returning Cristiano Ronaldo and just how shaky Schalke have been this season.
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Manchester United – Complete, Utter, Continuous Failure
There’s something to be said about a manager, David Moyes in this case, who has months to prepare in his head for the biggest match Manchester United have this season, and he decides to go with a lineup and especially a midfield combination that he knows is his worst. You can field all the Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney type players in the world up front, but when the rest of the field is in shambles, the result will be like the one we’ve come to expect from this side this season.
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Match Highlights – Olypmiakos vs Manchester United
The nightmare season of Manchester United continues as they lose 2-0 to Olympiakos in one of their worst performances under David Moyes, while the Greek champions and league leaders outplayed them for the first 75 minutes before slightly regressing and allowing the visitors a few moments of actually creating their first chances in the match.
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Match Highlights – Zenit vs Dortmund
The tradition of away teams dominating the knockout stage continues as Borussia Dortmund had a very easy time beating Zenit St. Petersburg in a match that wasn’t even that close, and giving them almost a definite spot in the quarterfinals.
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Champions League – Olympiakos vs Manchester United
It’s been a weird year of constant disappointment for Manchester United on the local scene (by their own standards) but surprising success in the Champions League, which takes them undefeated into the knockout stage and a night in Pireus against Olympiakos, who are just shy of perfection this season in Greece.
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Champions League – Zenit vs Dortmund Predictions
On normal circumstances, these encounter and trying to predict its outcome would have been a no brainer. However, Dortmund are struggling to handle the injuries and playing in two competitions this season, while Zenit are always hard to judge when playing outside the Russian league, although they’re doing very well domestically.