Barstool’s Champions League Preview – The “Pep versus Simeone – Round 1” Edition

Sam's Army4/27/2016 6:10 PM

Sam’s Completely Chumptastic Champions League Preview & Pick’Em

Hi haters,

I know what a lot of you are thinking and, yes, yesterday’s game sucked hard, and we’ll get into that briefly in just a minute. Today is a brand new day though and the soccer gods have blessed us with a game featuring two of the very best clubs in the world – a brilliant matchup of polar opposites, no less – so let’s turn those frowns upside down.

Let’s GO.

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Yes, this happened.

The game was shaping up to be a pretty “cagey” affair to begin with, and then the last minute absence of Ronaldo essentially ensured that it would be more tactical pillow fight than end-to-end slugfest. I can’t help feeling as though City may have erred in not attacking more against a less-than-full-strength Real side, but everything is still to play for next Wednesday and they don’t even need to win – a 1-1 draw would be enough to ensure a place in the finals. Easier said than done though considering David Silva is now likely out (and who knows about Yaya Toure) and Ronaldo is all but assured to be back in action.

Anyway, this is a known peril of the home-and-home format that UCL employs. Just gotta hope that today’s matchup doesn’t devolve into a similar limp-wristed slapfight.

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PICKS OF THE DAY

Atletico (+210)
Bayern (+150)
Draw (+200)

Atletico versus Bayern is a classic matchup of Immovable Object versus Unstoppable Force. Diego Simeone’s side is capable of the type of lockdown defense that few if any other teams in the world can match. They have conceded 16 goals in 35 domestic games. That is less than one every OTHER game, and sure it includes games against the Levante’s and Getafe’s of the world, but it’s hard (or even silly) to deny the quality in the top half of La Liga. Atleti’s defensive nou was on full display in both legs of the quarterfinal with Barrrrrrthelona, where they managed to hold three of the best attacking players on god’s green earth mostly in check for 180 minutes.

Add to that the fact that Bayern has shown signs of being beatable against Juventus in the round of 16 and again versus Benfica in the quarters – both of which ze German giants barely scraped by – and there is good reason to think Atleti may be the pick to advance, not to mention win today on their home turf.

Here’s the problem with that: Bayern attack is more dynamic than Barça’s, which could prove to be a vital advantage for the visitors today. Last round Atleti keyed in on Busquets, causing a massive bottleneck in the midfield that led to a disruption in the flow of service to Messi, Suarez and Neymar. Bayern’s more-Brazilian-than-Brazil playing style, where defenders sometimes look more like forwards (and vice versa), means that it can shift strategies and formations at will, and if Atleti focuses on shutting down, say, Arturo Vidal then Bayern has plenty of alternate routes through which it can flow forward either in the middle or on the wings. Also, Atleti’s loss of Diego Godin for the first leg could prove crucial given his annoying-but-effective way of sucking the will out of opposing teams.

Prediction: Bayern to win 1-0 on a goal from Thomas Müller.