Premier League still in pink health

A week ago, three Premier League clubs were facing the prospect of being knocked out of the Champions League group stage which sparked talks of a waning Premier League.

A week later, three of four teams managed to make it through to the next round with Chelsea and Manchester City topping their group. The only casualty being Manchester United who dropped to the Europa League.

So, is the Premier League still a force to be reckon with?

Based on WhoScored.com statistics, Olivier Giroud and Willian are tied as fourth highest goalscorers with 5 goals apiece.

With 4 assists and an average performance point of 8.39, Alexis Sanchez is fifth in both the assist and performance table.

Four players from the Premier League clubs appeared in the Group Stages Best XI, Petr Cech and Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal are joined by Chelsea's Willian and Cesar Azpilicueta.

This compared to three from La Liga, two from Russia, one each from Germany and France.

The question might have dies off for now, with Arsenal and Chelsea drawing old nemesis in Barcelona and PSG respectively, there are every chance that the only British club left in the competition is Manchester City. Expect it to come to the forefront in the quarter-final draw should this happen.

Old Lady gatecrashed El Classico

EL Classico reads the headline.

Barcelona vs Real Madrid at Berlin for the most coveted silverware of European club trophies. Majority of the neutral fans wanted it too. But the Old Lady from Turin is having none of it.

Barcelona did their part despite losing 3-2 at the Allianz Arena. Bayern Munich threatened to stage another amazing comeback when Mehdi Benati put the German side 1-0 ahead on the 7th minute.

But two goals in 15 minutes from Neymar kills off any hope the Germans had of overturning the tie.

Lewandowski and Mueller both scored in the second half but it was mere consolation.

Stats provided by WhoScored.com

Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, Real Madrid went for it from the start and was rewarded when Chellini fell James in the box and Ronaldo buried the resulted penalty. Level on aggregrate but leading on away goal rule, Real Madrid was in the driving seat.

Instead of sitting back, the home side went for it and it took some fine goalkeeping from Buffon to prevented the home side from extending their lead.

Juventus turned the tie back in their favour in the 57th minute when old boy Morata equalised for the Italian side.

Tried as they might, Real Madrid could not find the goal to bring the match into the extra time.

When the final whistle goes, so too did Real Madrid's dream of becoming the first team to retain the Champions League title.

Stats provided by WhoScored.com

Return turns sour

When the draw for this year's Champions League semi final was announced, beside the mouth-watering ties, there was the subplot of old boys returning to their former hunting ground.

Carlos Ancelotti will bring his Real Madrid squad to Turin to face Juventus, which the Italian managed from 1999-2001 while Pep Guardiola will be in the opposite dugout at the ground where he spent almost 30 years as a player and then manager.

They say familiarity gives you a slight advantage, but the game ended with Juventus winning 2-1 against the holders and Barcelona hammering Bundesliga champions, Bayern Munich, 3-0.


Juventus vs Real Madrid


Barcelona vs Bayern Munich

With the return leg to come at the Bernabeau and facing only an one goal deficit, Real Madrid has a fighting chance to become the first team to retain the Champions League trophy.

As for Bayern Munich and Guardiola, they will have to wait for another season, unless they can pull off another miracle. Impossible? Just ask Porto.