The Champions League round of 16 drew its curtain last night with qualification snatched by Atlético de Madrid on penalties against Inter. A meeting full of intensity and probably the most interesting to observe during this first knockout round to which Jan Oblak greatly contributed. The immense Slovenian goalkeeper regained his stature to upset Thuram during the match, and, above all, to repel the attempts of Alexis Sanchez and Klaassen during the fateful session. He is logically a starter in our typical team where quite a few goalkeepers applied (Donnarumma, Costa, Sommer).
The Colchonero joins a team formed in 4-3-3. To protect him, we opted for two technical and fairly offensive full-backs. First we find Joshua Kimmich, replaced for a few matches by Thomas Tuchel on the right side, and excellent during Bayern’s big victory against a weak Lazio. On the other flank, we reward João Cancelo, opportunistic defender-scorer against Naples. In the middle, his young teammate Pau Cubarsi was chosen, impressing during this round of 16 second leg, and elected man of the match. He is associated with Lucas Beraldo, author of his first big individual performance against Real Sociedad.
Youth takes power from the environment
In the three-way field, another Barcelonan trained at the Masia is in the spotlight. At the age of 20, Fermin Lopez, first scorer against the Neapolitans, still asserts himself a little more in Xavi’s mind. The right-hander is aligned a notch higher than Warren Zaire-Emery, who occupies the low point of our midfield. The Parisian, who celebrated his 18th birthday last Friday, sparked again last week at Anoeta. To supervise this youth, you need an experienced person like Martin Odegaard. The left foot of the Gunners captain broke the deadlock against Porto with a devastating pass for scorer Trossard.
Up front, the attack also looks very good, although a little more seasoned. Julian Alvarez, first a passer on the opening score against Copenhagen, then a lucky scorer because he was well assisted by Grabara, started on the right side. The Argentinian from Manchester City plays in support of two outstanding gunners. On the left, the inevitable Kylian Mbappé takes his place, he who scored the two goals in PSG’s qualification last week. In the middle, we chose Harry Kane, also author of a double during the Bavarians’ authoritarian success over Lazio (3-0). Enough to make a great team before finding all this little one in the quarter-finals.
