A glance at my prediction from the group stage: I got all right, only that end position of Leicester & Bayern were the other way around…….
This is because smaller clubs continue to find the gap with the rich clubs (European giants plus most of EPL Clubs enjoying mega broadcast handouts)
Group A: PSG & Arsenal…..PSG have gone strangely cold but will top the group
Group B: Napoli & Benfica
Group C: Barcelona & Man City
Group D: Bayern & Atletico
Group E: Monaco & Leverkusen (This is one of the only unpredictable groups as Spurs will be a force too)
Group F: Dortmund & Real Madrid…in that order! I believe Dortmund will top this group
Group G: Porto & Leicester This is a remarkably weak group due to Leicester being seeded but that can make it unpredictable & exciting
Group H: Juventus & Sevilla
And as for who will reach the quarter finals:
Bayern will beat Arsenal, albeit in a much tighter encounter than the easy 5-1 hammering last year
Real should get the better of the unpredictably inconsistent Napoli, although on their day, Napoli are more than capable of beating Real
Dortmund will be too fast for Benfica, although consistency has been a major problem for both sides this season
I tip Monaco to embarrass an out of sorts Manchester City
Barcelona, Atletico & Sevilla will have relatively easy routes to quarter finals. It is surprising how badly the departure of Ibrahimovic & Blanc affected PSG.
As for the Chinese mega money threatening the financial muscle of europe's super rich, I am not too worried. At thee end of the day fans are attracted to European giants for their tradition, name AND superstar players & not just players.
For example, an unknown Chinese team with two-three highly paid former European stars has no hope against the likes of Manchester United.
