Champions League, Round of 16

Less than twenty four hours away from some of the biggest clashes in European soccer, elimination rounds of the Champions League.  There are many stories that i find intriguing with these games.  I will look at things one week at a time.

First, and hopefully this comes true, i anticipate some world class performances from Barca.  Clearly, they are the best (or in the discussion) of what world soccer has to offer these days.  With their inexplicably poor performance in La Liga, they can focus all of their energies and efforts on these games.
As they have shown against Madrid this year, they can still put on a masterful performance when called upon.  Now that they have dropped ten points off the pace, the La Liga title appears out of reach, i feel sorry for Leverkusen, and thankful that the game is televised.

Lyon is the other game on Wednesday.  I have a soft spot in my heart for Lyon.  I anticipate that they will perform well over the two leagues and eliminate the best cinderella story of the first round.

Zenit v Benfica promises to be an open game.  Each team is at the top of their league with an impressive goal differential.  The two clubs will both want to get through to the next round.  At times, this leads to a very conservative match.  In this case, i feel like both are playing on borrowed time, so why not attack with reckless abandon.

The other side of that coin may be Arsenal v Milan.  I have as much a negative feeling about this game as i have positive about the previous match.  In the case of Milan, it is a team that is looking to keep up its recent momentum.  This could mean, unfortunately, that the play to not lose.  I could see a typical Italian performance;  many players behind the ball, looking to counter.  Arsenal needs the Champions League to keep their campaign with any sort of positive feeling.  Again, I am afraid this will mean playing conservatively.

What games are you looking forward to this week?  Think i am way off base with any of this?