Bayern through – everywhere else still to be decided

By: Rob | February 26th, 2009

So the first legs of this years Round of 16 are over, and while some teams hold the advantage, only Bayern Munich look like something spectacular would stop them sitting in the Quarter Finals. It took them ages to break the deadlock, but once Ribery did, the floodgates opened, and the German side finished up winning 5-0.

Elsewhere we’ll have a look and see who holds the advantage in each of the legs, and which way each of them are going to progress. Its going to be a nailbiting set of second legs, I can tell you.

Chelsea 1 – 0 Juventus

Didier Drogba got the goal that gives Chelsea and advantage going into the second leg. The home side did spend long periods second-best to the Italian giants however, and Juve will be dissapointed they didn’t take one of their chances. The main worry of course for the Old lady is that if Chelsea get the fabled away goal in Turin, the match is going to very hard to recover. They can take solace then in the fact that Chelsea will likely just defend what they have, and attack on the counter.

Villarreal 1 – 1 Panathinaikos

The Greek side go into the second leg with the advantage of an away goal, but with just 1 its little consolation, as Villarreal would have to score to win the tie anyway. The second leg then, should provide plenty of attacking football from the Spanish side, while a 0-0 will be good enough for the Greek. An early goal could make it very interesting indeed.

Sporting Lisbon 0 – 5 Bayern Munich
Sporting will need a footballing miracle if they are to overcome five away goals against Bayern Munich. Miroslav Klose has now become to tournaments top goalscorer as he added a goal to make it 2-0 in the second half. Two goals from Ribery and two from Luca Toni mean this tie is pretty much over.

Atletico Madrid 2 – 2 FC Porto

They might only be in the tournament by the skin of their teeth after the Golden Whistle fiasco, but Porto are still holding strong, with 2 away goals against Atletico Madrid. The tie is still evenly poised however, and as long as Atletico win, the away goals don’t count for anything. So expect Porto to defend like crazy in the second leg. Could be very interesting.

Lyon 1 – 1 Barcelona

In a game they had all been written off in, Lyon looked impressive in long spells against Champions League favourites Barca. A stunning Juninho free-kick from an impossible angle beat Valdes and looked like Lyon might just nick it. However, memories of last time around against Manchester United abounded, as the French Champions conceeded a second-half away goal to French international Thierry Henry. Lyon are by no means out of this, but they still have a big job on thier hands with that away goal.

Real Madrid 0 – 1 Liverpool
A late goal from Yossi Benayoun will have dissapointed an ordinary-looking Real Madrid side, and they will have to go hell-for-leather at the famously hard to go to Anfield in two weeks time. The Israel international’s 82nd minute header has given the five-time winners the advantage going into the second leg.

Arsenal 1 – 0 Roma

Robin van Persie converted a penalty after Philippe Mexés bought him down in the box for the only goal in another tie that’s far from settled. Roma will attack more comfortably from home, and depending who gets injured/who comes back from injury in the next two weeks, I still think this game could go either way.

Inter Milan 0 – 0 Manchester United
So who has the advantage here? Inter will claim they do as they stopped Man United scoring an away goal, but United will be fairly happy to be on a level playing field going back to Old Trafford. Sir Alex Ferguson has only ever once won from this position in the Champions League, but he’ll be happy to be reminded that it was last season against Barcelona where that happened.
Expect the mind games to be turned up to 11 in the next couple of weeks.