The best soccer on the planet resumes play next week with 16 teams having advanced to the knockout stages (home and home two game series). Two games each day on February 14, 15, 21, and 22. The second set of matches are then played on March 7, 8, 14, and 15. The group play went almost entirely according to script with the favorites advancing. But this tournament gets much tougher now. In fact most every casual soccer fan you ask would have heard of each of these remaining teams. Only the most ardent fans could say that prior to the group stage.

While the clubs are pretty well known some of them have some less than known nicknames and some of them are outright odd!  Here’s a link to the final 16 and their nicknames (yes some of them have several) and their origins.

Just to peak your interest here are a couple of the more off the wall nicknames. Did you know that the Atletico are called the “mattress makers”, Sevilla are called the “wash basins” or Real Madrid are called the “merangues” (pie anyone)?  But my favorite (or more like least favorite) is the nickname for the Italian powerhouse club Juventus. They are known as the “Vecchia Signora.” Care to venture a guess as to what that translates to? Yup, that’s a team name I would love to play for……Old Lady!

Okay enough for today’s trivia lesson lets look at the Round of 16 and what we might see.

(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)

Benfica and Borussia Dortmund

Benfica is 3-0-2 in in last five matches whereas Dortmund has been a solid 5-1-0. Both of these clubs have been on a bit of a scoring run in their last two matches having scored 10 and 9 goals respectively. Benfica needs to come away with a W in their home match to have a shot. The edge here favors Dortmund to advance.

PSG and Barcelona

Barcelona has too much fire power for PSG, which is a solid club. But they don’t have a front trio named Surez, Neymar, and Messi. Barcelona will advance if for no other reason than they have arguably the best free kick taker in the game in Messi. And when goals become harder and harder to get as the tournment progresses it often comes down to who can score off set pieces. So while there is a long ways yet to go, keep an eye on Barcelona. I think they are the team to win it all.

Bayern Munich and Arsenal

Bayern had played Arsenal three times in previous round of 16 knockout stages. And Bayern knocked out the Gunners in all three sets. Look for that streak to continue. Bayern comes in off of four Ws in their last five matches with only a draw with Shalke 04 keeping them from a clean slate. Arsenal is playing decently but they have struggled to maintain much consistency this season and that will likely lead to their downfall.

Real Madrid and Napoli

Real Madrid has made it to the knockout stages in 20 consecutive seasons in the CL and have made the semifinals the last six times. On the plus side for Napoli, however, is the fact that for whatever reason Real Madrid has struggled historically against Italian sides in the CL and European Cups having lost seven of their last eight home and home series. The lone advancement having come last year in the CL round of 16 as they defeated Roma last year.  Real Madrid are the current CL title holders and Napoli won’t be the team that sends them packing.

Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid

Neither one of these squads comes into this set of matches in very strong form. Bayer has lost its last two Bundesliga matches and Atletico comes in having only one outright win in its last five matches albeit their last match was a road draw with powerhouse Barcelona. Historically these clubs have been very evenly matched each having one win and three draws in what have been low scoring affairs. There have never been more than two goals scored in any match between these two teams. But tipping the scales in favor of Atletico may be that they have never failed to advance past the round of 16 under Diego Simeone as their manager.  This streak can’t last forever. Will this be the year it ends? This one is tough but I’ll go with the streak continuing.

Manchester City and Monaco

Both of these clubs come in to this in top form. Man City has gone 3-1-1 in their last five matches while Monaco has gone 4-1-0. Man City has never lost to a French club in European competitions while Monaco has come out on top in each of their three ties with English clubs in the CL. One of those streaks has to end and I think its Monaco’s streak. English football is just a bit better than the French league and that toughness will make a difference. Man City should advance but ti wouldn’t be a shock to se Monaco move on.

Porto and Juventus

Porto comes in having won four of its last five matches with a draw and Juventus has won four with one loss. Can’t be playing much better than that. The big headline here is the meeting of two of the greatest keepers ever to play in the CL and they are going heads up. Juventus has 39 year old Gianluigi Buffon and Porto has Iker Casillas. These two iconic keepers have over 260 CL matches between them. Buffon may be 39 but he was the keeper named to the all European team in 2016 and his play hasn’t dropped a bit this season. This is set up to be a great set of matches (well at least from a defensive point of view). In the end this one is really a toss up unfortunately they both can’t win. Juventus has a bit more in the attack than Porto and they may be the difference.

Sevilla and Leicester City

Sevilla comes in having a less than stellar record in their last five matches of 2-2-1. But that’s a whole lot better than the Foxes who come in with a recent dismal record of 0-1-4. Leicester has been a real enigma this season. Fresh off their stunning EPL title last season they have struggled this year and are currently mired in 16th place and only a single point above relegation. Yet they went 4-1-1 in CL group play, good enough to win their group. Still they have fallen on a rough stretch and the knockout stage of the CL is a very tough place to try and right the ship. So my bet is that Sevilla sends them home….and they sure as heck won’t be back next year!

All these matches take place during the work day here in the States so set your dvr and sit back and watch some top flight football. It is the football afterall and our “football” is over anyway.

Steve Birrer
Steve Birrer

Soccer Analyst

Steve is an avid fan of all things soccer and the O’s. Originally from the west, he grew up in the Baltimore area. He returned to the west for college where he earned a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from Montana State University and spent 36 years working at the Idaho National Laboratory prior to retiring in 2013. It was during his school years in Baltimore where he learned to play soccer and that developed into a life long passion. He played competitively for over 40 years and was a four year starting goalkeeper at MSU. He also coached and refereed in the Idaho premier soccer and High School programs for many years.

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