Some Thoughts on the Champions League Quarterfinals

Incredible tifo before Dortmund-Málaga. Photo credit: www.deadspin.com

The 2013 Champions League semifinals are now set. Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Borussia Dortmund make up an all Spanish-German semifinals that will surely produce some memorable games. Here are some of my thoughts from the quarterfinal round:

1. What a crazy finish to the Dortmund-Málaga game. First, Málaga scores an offside goal to go up, and then Dortmund scores the winner with another offside goal. Actually, Dortmund was offside twice during that final goal - all four players were offside when the initial cross came in and then Santana was offside when the ball came to him before putting home the winner. Tough breaks for Málaga. Here are the highlights:

2. Málaga did extremely well to get to the quarterfinals on their very first Champions League appearance. Their fans should be extremely proud of their team. This might be the last time we see Málaga in the Champions League for some time though; they are banned from European competition next year because of their financial situation and they will likely have to unload some of their best players to deal with their debt in the coming months. Many of their main contributors are getting old as well so they will not be as sharp the next time Málaga is able to compete in Europe.

3. Joaquín's goal vs. Dortmund got me thinking about just how stacked Valencia could be right now if they didn't have their current massive financial problems. They have had to sell their best players in the last few years to shave off their debt. This is what they could theoretically be right now:

Diego Alves

João Pereira          Adil Rami          Raúl Albiol          Jordi Alba

Éver Banega

David Silva                          Juan Mata

Joaquín                                         David Villa

 Roberto Soldado

Notable subs: Guaita, Guardado, Jonas, Pablo Hernandez, Sergio Canales, Gago, Mathieu, Isco.

That team surely challenges Barcelona and Real Madrid for La Liga, no? It would be an amazing team to watch, and it's a shame Valencia has had to sell so many stars.

4. I <3 Iniesta.

5. I understand they were playing Barcelona, but it's really hard to call PSG an "underdog" when, you know, their squad costs about $503,634,346,000,000,000. Just like Chelsea last year.

6. Bayern Munich is actually unstoppable. Too bad they'll have another manager next year.......oh wait...... oh my....no, surely not.....no, it can't be.....oh. This team AND Pep Guardiola? Good game, Europe.

7. "Wesley Sneijder is washed up" - anyone who doesn't watch football. Just because someone moves to a team outside of the big 4 leagues in Europe doesn't mean they're bad all of a sudden. He had a great showing against Real Madrid in Galatasaray's comeback attempt.

8. Dat Reus backheel to Lewandowski.

9. Willy Caballero had two incredible saves before Dortmund won the game in injury time. I was stunned those two shots didn't find the back of the net.

10. You don't understand how much I want to see an El Clásico in the Champions League Final. That would have to be one of the greatest matchups of all time, right? The two best players in the world going against each other, the biggest rivalry in the world, competing for the most coveted trophy of the biggest sport in the world, the history behind the rivalry...etc. We'll see what the draw is for the semifinals tomorrow.


 Have any thoughts or comments? Let me know!