A miracle took place on Wednesday. At least, it's a miracle considering Manchester United's horrific season. David Moyes' club managed to turn around its woeful 2-0 deficit in the Champions League against Olympiacos at the Old Trafford thanks to a heroic effort from Robin Van Persie. The team is headed to the quarterfinals of the tournament (where most believe it will meet its fate); Moyes' job is seemingly safe for a day. However, what does fate have in store for the team in the quarterfinals?
Manchester United will find out on Friday which team it will be playing in the quarterfinals, something the club has not had the opportunity to participate in since 2010-11 when the team made a run to the final. Unfortunately, Manchester United is the undisputed underdog in every single matchup that it could draw. Many might claim that Atletico Madrid is beatable, but one must wonder whether this team can really play with a fast team that possesses the lethal Diego Costa and David Villa duo?
Paris Saint-Germain has often been labeled as one-man team, but that "one man" is none other than Zlatan Ibrahimovic. His 10 goals in this tournament are five less than the entire United side has accomplished throughout the Champions League.
Dortmund has been erratic throughout the entire campaign, but this is a team that, unlike United, is coached by a man that knows how to motivate his troops in the most crucial moments. The pace of Dortmund proved to be daunting for Arsenal in the group stage; does anyone think that United's lackluster midfield would be able to cope with Jurgen Klopp's speedy side?
Barcelona made easy work of Manchester City in the round of 16 and would probably have an easier time with United. Barcelona dominates the midfield with ease and United has no midfield to speak of. It would be unlikely to see a largely ineffective Red Devils offense getting many chances against Barcelona's passing machine.
Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are the matchups that this team certainly wants to avoid. Madrid's BBC trio of Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo could easily decimate Manchester United in a heartbeat. A year ago, United was the better team in the round of 16 matchup and still lost. This year it is not even close. Madrid's 9-2 aggregate win over Schalke showed that this team was dominant offensively. Bayern Munich is easily the best team in the tournament. Despite a solid performance from Arsenal in the round of 16, Pep Guardiola's team proved to be too strong a match with its clinical passing game.
The one matchup that Manchester United might want is Chelsea. The two sides drew 0-0 at the Old Trafford in the second game of the season. In the rematch, United wound up losing 3-1 at Stamford Bridge thanks to a hat trick from Samuel Eto'o. The Cameroon scorer has struggled to score consistently this season so it is unlikely that he has a similar performance in a rematch. Chelsea's offense is arguably the weakest of the seven teams United could face; this would help a United side that is questionable defensively.
Which team do you want Manchester United to face in the Quarterfinals?
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