Survival of the fittest as top teams fight for UEFA

Kgothatso Madisa

@kgmadisa

Picture: Real Madrid

This year's UEFA Champions League has been one of the most interesting ever with a lot of unexpected occurrences, from the defending champions being knocked out early to four of the most dangerous teams going through to the semi-finals.

The competition captured a lot of people’s attention in the group stages when the defending champions Chelsea were knocked out, right there and then it was open for anyone’s taking.

This is when Real Madrid made it absolutely clear that it aims to eliminate every opponent that might stand in its way of taking the title back to Madrid with them by thrashing the daring Manchester United in the last-16 round.

Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo scored a much needed goal that ensured his former club was completely buried, then apologised to his United fans before later seen having a talk with his former mentor Sir Alex Ferguson, probably discussing the goal.

Picture: Real Madrid

The match that made sure the Red Devils are send into the wilderness saw Madrid progressing to the quarterfinals where they battled it out with the strong Galatasaray who were looking for their first Champions League trophy, well, their hopes were suspended for yet another season when Madrid won the two leg matches by 5 – 3 on aggregate and made it to the semi-finals with four other top rated teams.

FC Barcelona, who almost missed a semi-final opportunity after being held by the French log leader Paris Saint-Germain to two draws but got an upper hand for scoring an away goal in their first 2-all draw, also made it through in the second leg of the quarterfinals with a much needed help of Lionel Messi.

The two Bundesliga log leaders Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have also progressed to the semi-finals. Dortmund’s progression came as a surprise to a lot of people because Malaga proved to be quite a stronger opponent and a bit more title-eagered than them.

However, in their case it was always going to be Bayern and it did not matter who was the opponent, it was unfortunately Juventus who were to face the sharp double-edged sword. Bayern made sure it denies them even a single goal in the quarterfinals therefore suffering a 4 – 0 loss on aggregate.

At the moment the four teams through to the semis are Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. Considering their history, it is safe to say that title is open to anyone. It is going to be a dog-eat-dog competition from this point onwards and the fittest bunch will come on top, probably Bayern or not, who knows?