Football Fixtures
Because of the starting of the next phase in UEFA Champions League, the current week comes with the most interesting football fixtures you can find this winter. From the eight duels we have in this phase, two of the most balanced are Milan – Arsenal and Barcelona – Leverkusen.
Although Barcelona – Leverkusen does give the feeling of a one side affair, it’s much more balanced than other football fixtures we can see this week. Barcelona is the winner of the trophy and the most successful team in the last 3 years. Their style of play is unique and unmatched in all the history of football, some people even considering this Barcelona team as the greatest ever to play. After having a hesitant season in the domestic competition, with Real Madrid much in front and virtually escaping as the champion of La Liga this year, Barcelona has all it-s eyes turned to the Champions League. Winning this trophy will definitely make this season a very good one for them.Also, having players like Messi, Xavi or Iniesta will guarantee the most interesting of the football fixtures almost every week.
History
On the other side, Bayer Leverkusen is a team that hasn’t participated with success in this competition in a long time. The biggest performance they had is the final played and lost against Real Madrid. Bayer had no chance of reaching that stage at the beginning of the season, but they surprised everyone with their superior play. Lead by the German star Michael Ballak, they knocked out many great teams to get into the finals and even gave Real Madrid a serious scare. This season, lead by the same player, returned to Bayer after many years, they played great football and surprised a lot of people again.
Features
Another interesting duel of this week's football fixtures is the one between AC Milan and Arsenal. Milan is the current champion of Serie A and probably the best team in Italy right now. They managed to keep most of the key guys from last year and they have a great striker in Zlatan Ibrahimovic. His strong play had lifted the performance of the team a lot in the last 2 years. Milan is the second most successful club in UEFA Champions League history, after Real Madrid and is a constant presence into the final stages of the competition almost every year.
Tips and comments
The same story stands for Arsenal, one of the most successful teams in this competition in the last 10 years. Although they haven’t managed to win the trophy yet, they played a final in 2005 and often reach the final stages of the competition. They have a strong core of young players, like they always had since Wenger joined the club, a great talent in Jack Wilshare, who cannot play until March and a great striker in Robin van Persie. He is one of the top players in the world right now, with only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi scoring more goals than him.
Other matches will be played also, not only in UEFA Champions League, but in domestic competitions ass well, but these are the top two football fixtures you can find this week.
