We’ve drawn Porto for the Champions League knockout stage, which is about the best draw we could have gotten—which is still a far cry from declaring that we’re guaranteed to advance to the next round, given what happened the last time we drew a Portugeuse side in a European compteition. Let’s just say that it led to unhappy returns on several fronts, and we have some demons to slay as a result.
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At long last, we know which clubs have finished second and are eligible to be drawn against us in the Champions League knockout stage. While the draw won’t happen until Monday, 12 December, it’s not too early to size up the potential opposition. For ourselves, we’re among the younger squads to progress, and, what’s more, we’re short on experience at this level. I hope it’s not too immodest to suggest that I’d like to see us get a draw as favourable as we got from the group stage…
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Okay, so winning would quite guarantee us a chance at advancing from the group stage, but it would go a long way towards that goal. We currently sit top of Group B on six points with RC Lens on five and Sevilla on just two. Get ready for some advanced maths. Should we defeat Sevilla, we climb to nine points and leave Sevilla capable of only reaching eight points. If RC Lens can defeat PSV Eindhoven, the Dutch side face that same fate—and we advance. The only remaining question would concern whether we can win the group. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet, though. First, Sevilla.
Continue readingIt’s not enough that a player scores what turns out to be the match-winning goal, assists the goal that puts the match on ice, and fails to win MOTM, but Martin Ødegaard’s all-around maestro-esque performance managed to attract 67.3% of the votes while Saka could only garner 11.4%. It’s a testament to the Norwegian’s preternatural talent and leadership but may also reflect the fact that he played the full match. It feels like we were a bit harsh on Havertz; he performed better than White, and Raya didn’t have much to do. It might be that Havertz is going to have score some goals. His all-around effort, if not on Ødegaard’s level, is still not attracting the praise it deserves. Let’s hope he picks the NLD for his breakthrough. For now, though, enjoy the graphic results!
And that is how you announce your return to the Champions League. A confident, swash-buckling 4-0 thrashing should send shivers through the rest of Group B if not every other squad and—okay, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. Had we hung this scoreline on, say, Bayern or Barcelona, we could bray and thump our chests. PSV Eindhoven were clearly outmatched if not outclassed. It’s a great way to return to this glorious competition, and we shouldn’t make too much of it. Well, let’s allow ourselves to wallow and revel and beam just a little bit. It’s been a long time.
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