EPL
Champions League Round of 16 draws: Why Manchester United must Avoid Porto
Champions League group stage have come to a close after six rounds of matches per group.
In group H, Manchester United progressed to the knockout stage as expected, although, they were narrowly defeated by Valencia in last night’s encounter.
The Red Devils are anxiously waiting for the pairing to take place on Monday as they can’t wait to see who their next opponent would be.
After finishing as runner-up behind Juventus, the Old Trafford outfits are definitely going to have one of Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, PSG, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Porto as their round-16 opponent.
Of all the clubs who made it through to the next round as group winner, Primeira Liga side Porto appear as the easiest club the Red Devils would be praying to get on Monday.
On the contrary, Manchester fans should be careful of what they ask for because they might be asking for too much.
On paper, Porto are not on an equal level with the rest of the qualified teams. But on current form, they should be the last team Mourinho wants to meet.
Porto are dangerous underdogs
Judging from their performance during the group games, you will agree with me that Sérgio Conceição’s men are more than underdogs.
In six matches, they scored an impressive 15 goals, while they conceded only six. The team are more tactically disciplined and organized compared to Mourinho’s team who have been in deep form all the season.
The Portuguese side wasn’t just first in the group which consist of Bundesliga powerhouse Schalke 04, a massive seven points separate both clubs.
The same can’t be said about United who were so lucky to progress out of their group. The Premier League side were one defeat from failure as they were on 10 points while Valencia had 8.
Favourable draw
It might sound weird and funny but the truth is that the best draw Mourinho could get is Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.
Don’t be shocked! Real Madrid are presently in one of their worst forms in recent seasons and this is the best time the Red Devils could defeat them.
Since Zinedine Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo left the Santiago Bernabeu outfits, they’ve failed to produce an eye-catching performance in European competition.
Domestically, the Los Blancos have been a shadow of themselves, right from the days of Julien Lopetegui up until now.
Last night was another bad day for their manager Solari who watched his side condemned to a 3-0 defeat in the hands of Russian side CSKA.
Just like Real Madrid, Bayern Munich are surprisingly struggling for form. They currently occupy the third position on Bundesliga table, nine points behind Borussia Dortmund who are at the summit of the log.
Though the Red Devils are struggling either, they have a brighter chance of progressing to the quarter-final stage at the expense of Bayern Munich and Madrid.
