After a fall that was filled with group play in the UEFA Champions league there is now a finalized round of 16.

 In group play almost all the teams that were expected to advance did, but there were a few surprises. Liverpool the runner up in the Premier League last season was eliminated. They were placed in a very talented group of clubs, that included the UEFA reigning champions Real Madrid and also a very successful FC Basel.

 Another reason for Liverpool’s poor performance in the group stage is that they don’t have the same starting eleven that led them to second in the  BPL. This past offseason they lost Luis Suarez to Barcelona. Suarez led the BPL last year with 31 goals. The other player missing is last years second best scorer in the BPL Daniel Sturridge. Sturridge is still on the team but has been left off the his club’s roster because of a nagging hamstring injury that he obtained while training with the English national team. Liverpool is now in the UEFA Europa League set to face Beşiktaş.

 Looking ahead to the round of 16 there will be some very exciting matches to watch. Leading off in the 2 home and away match ups in February and March is Paris Saint- Germain and Chelsea. Chelsea is currently on top of the BPL table and PSG is sitting at second in the French Ligue. Leading Chelsea will be Diego Costa and Eden Hazard. PSG has star Zlatan Ibrahimović and Edinson Cavani.

 I predict that Chelsea will advance because of their deeper roster that has more experience, with better coaching from Jose Mourinho.

 My next big match up to watch is Barcelona vs Manchester City. This draw will be the most entertaining because of the long history that these two teams have. Barcelona is currently sitting behind Real Madrid in La Liga while Manchester City is also sitting at second in the table behind Chelsea. The players to watch in this draw are Sergio Aguero and Lionel Messi. These two Argentinians lead their clubs in goals this season in their respective leagues. They are also very good friends off the pitch. This could result in a scoring showdown between the two.

 I predict that Barcelona will win this match up because of the depth of their roster. Luis Suarez will continue getting the assists that he has had since coming off his suspension. Neymar is also a threat at forward. It will be very hard for MUFC to hold back this squad that has talent at every position.