Champions League: Ranking the round of 16 ties
By Ty Finch
With the Champions League knockout round set to begin on Tuesday, we ranked the round of 16 ties based on overall interestingness.
The Champions League returns this Tuesday, as Juventus host Tottenham and Manchester City travel to Basel. The last 16 pits, that’s right, the 16 best sides in Europe (in theory, at least) against one another, but that doesn’t mean every matchup is equally exciting. Here, then, is a ranking of those eight ties based on how interesting they should be, taking into account the quality of players, the style of the teams, the likelihood of an upset and the various narratives surrounding the sides involved.
8. Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Roma
In the round of 16, there are rarely ties that fail to create any sort of excitement. The best 16 clubs in the world get to face off against each other, so there’s always some sort of story line to latch onto or players that generate buzz. Well, almost always. This one might be the exception to the rule.
Shakhtar are the prototypical club that dominates their smaller league year after year. They’ve failed to finish first just twice in the past 10 years, and top the Ukrainian Premier League again this season. That success has rarely translated into a Champions League run, however. Shakhtar’s best finish was in 2011-12, when they reached the quarterfinals by beating none other than Roma in both legs. That story line is the only reason this match is eighth out of eight matches instead of ninth.
Roma topped Group C ahead of two bigger clubs in Chelsea and Atletico Madrid, and one minnow in Qarabag FK of the Azerbaijani Premier League, a team that only compulsive liars knew about before this competition started.
Roma also haven’t fared well after the group stages in the Champions League. They haven’t been past this round since 2007-08. While they did well in the Group C, that form hasn’t translated into success in Serie A, as they currently sit in fifth place, and are not in the best form entering this match.
Shakhtar have two exciting wingers that can wreak havoc on opposition flanks. Brazilians Marlos and Bernard have a total of five goals and two assists in the competition, and their battles against Roma full-backs in Aleksandar Kolarov and Alessandro Florenzi should be fun. There’s not much to say otherwise. Neither club will seriously contend after the round of 16, and the star power is small. Moving on.