As The Togher Perspective reaches the five-year mark, I preview the eight Champions League last 16 ties while also extending my gratitude to all who have praised the blog since it began in 2011. I hope you will all keep reading for another while yet!
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BENFICA v ZENIT ST PETERSBURG
Benfica, the beaten Europa League finalists in 2013 and 2014, take on a side who only lost their 100% group stage record on the final day when top spot was already secured.
The last 16 isn't wholly unfamiliar territory for Benfica, who clinched second place behind Atletico Madrid in the group stage, and they will feel reasonably pleased with the draw that they were handed. Nicolas Gaitan, their most influential player, hit three goals in the group stage and will pull the strings for midfield, while ex-Fulham striker Kostas Mitroglou is enjoying a renaissance in Lisbon after his difficult spell at Craven Cottage a couple of years ago. They suffered a damaging defeat to rivals Porto last week, though, allowing Sporting Lisbon to open up a three-point gap at the top of the league.
Zenit made the most of a charitable group to breeze into the last 16 for the second time in three years, winning their first five matches before an academic defeat to Genk in December. Andre Villas-Boas, derided in England after rough spells in charge of Chelsea and Tottenham, is working wonders in Russia, aided in no small part by ex-Benfica players Axel Witsel, Javi Garcia and Ezequiel Garay. Their star man in 2015-16, though, has undoubtedly been Artem Dzyuba, scorer of six goals in as many group games and a late bloomer in his career in a fashion not dissimilar to that of Jamie Vardy.
If the Russian side can put their poor domestic form behind them and deliver the type of performance that saw them canter through their group, they are well placed to reach their first Champions League quarter-final.
PSG v CHELSEA
There's a real sense of deja vu about this one, with these clubs meeting at the same stage 12 months ago, as well as in the 2013-14 quarter-finals.
PSG can now focus fully on trying to land a first ever European Cup, such is their lead at the top of Ligue 1. Indeed, Laurent Blanc's side are unbeaten domestically, dropping just eight points in 26 games and could mathematically win the league before Easter. Zlatan Ibrahimovic has once again been the spearhead of the attack, while Angel di Maria is enjoying a superb year in the French capital after his abortive stint at Man Utd last season. Unlike almost every other side left in the competition, PSG can afford to put all of their eggs in the Champions League basket and keep their most important players fresh for European nights. One man who won't be making an appearance is Serge Aurier, suspended indefinitely by the club for making a homophobic slur about Blanc, a brainless act that will wreck what had been a very promising career for the Ivorian defender.
Chelsea, in contrast to their opponents, have been a mess over the last six months and even though they remain unbeaten since Guus Hiddink took charge at Christmas and hammered Newcastle on Saturday, they still haven't been all that convincing. Not even winning their Champions League group could save Jose Mourinho, while doubts remain about the commitment of many of their key players, Willian being the honourable exception. Diego Costa, to his credit, has been a man reborn in recent weeks, even if he seems to spend more time trying to enrage opponents than concentrating on football. The Blues will need him to be at his best if they are going to topple the French champions.
PSG had the edge on the Premier League side last season on away goals. This time around I think the outcome will be the same, but in far more emphatic fashion from Blanc's rampant Parisians.
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GENT v WOLFSBURG
Has there ever been a less likely pairing in the knockout stage of the Champions League? Only Villarreal-Panathinaikos in 2009 seems to come close.
Gent have been the success story of the tournament thus far. In their first ever appearance in the competition, they qualified for the last 16 after an unforgettable victory over Zenit, who up to then hadn't dropped a single point in five group games. The Buffalos weren't given a prayer when the tournament began in September, but they took advantage of woeful form from Lyon and Valencia to finish second in their group. Players such as Laurent Depoitre, Sven Kums, Moses Simon and Kalifa Coulibaly have put themselves in the shop window for moves to top European leagues in the summer, with this Gent side set to be cherry-picked once this unforgettable season finishes.
Despite losing Kevin de Bruyne at the start of the season, Wolfsburg's other star men have come to the fore, with Dieter Hecking's side topping their group and toppling Man Utd along the way. Young attacking midfielder Julian Draxler has been sensational for the German side this term, as has Brazilian centre-back Naldo, while even the much-derided Nicklas Bendtner is going a long way to putting his erratic reputation to bed. The main worry for Wolfsburg is that they have been stuttering domestically - they lie 8th in the Bundesliga ahead of this tie, not exactly ideal territory for a team trying to reach the last eight of the Champions League. Also, they are likely to be without Bas Dost, Joshua Guilavogui and Andre Schurrle through injury.
Still, they will probably get the better of their Belgian opponents over two games, but don't be surprised if Gent take a lead with them to Germany for the second leg.
ROMA v REAL MADRID
While Roma will be reasonably pleased to make it into the knockout rounds, Real Madrid's tournament effectively begins here.
Luciano Spalletti's Roma have the distinction, if you want to call it that, of qualifying for the last 16 with the lowest ever point total in Champions League history. Incredibly, six points from as many games, and only one win, proved sufficient to qualify them for this stage of the competition, and they were tanked 6-1 in Barcelona along the way, although their opening day draw with the holders showed that they can up their game on a given day. The Bosnian duo of Edin Dzeko and Miralem Pjanic will attract the most attention from opposing coaches. Spalletti has steadied the ship after things went awry under Rudi Garcia prior to his sacking last month.
Of course, the Italians' opponents also had a changing of the guard since the group stage ended in December, with Rafael Benitez inevitably getting the chop to be replaced by Zinedine Zidane, a Champions League winner as a player with Real Madrid 14 years ago. It has been an encouraging start to the French legend's fledgling managerial career, although he is all too aware that any hiccups here would be a serious black mark against him. Cristiano Ronaldo will no doubt be the main focus for Roma, although Karim Benzema has been in flying goalscoring form and Toni Kroos is proving that he was a sharp signing last summer.
Roma will certainly provide a sterner test than Real Madrid's last Champions League opponents - Malmo were stuffed 8-0 on the final group stage matchday - but the 10-time winners should prevail with a bit to spare.
ARSENAL v BARCELONA
It has now been almost 10 years since these two met in the final in Paris, although they haven't exactly been strangers in the meantime.
Having looked set for a group stage exit after losing their first two games, Arsenal's campaign turned on a fantastic win at home to Bayern Munich, while a potentially tense final matchday trip to Olympiakos turned into a stroll. Those performances lend weight to the theory that the Gunners are capable of producing real quality over 90 minutes, but displays like those which saw them lose to Dinamo Zagreb make you think that they haven't really progressed a great deal from the last five years, in each of which they have been knocked out at this juncture of the competition. At least the return to fitness, if not quite yet form, of Alexis Sanchez should improve their chances of finally getting one over on the Chilean's former club.
As expected, Barcelona came through their group at sleepwalking pace, topping their foursome by a massive eight points. They have been the continent's best team thus far in 2015-16, with even the iconic Lionel Messi being eclipsed by Neymar and Luis Suarez, such has been their form. It very much seems like a case of 'as you were, lads' for Luis Enrique, who knows that Barca of late have been irresistible - a little cheeky, even, judging by that penalty against Celta Vigo at the weekend. He also knows, however, that nobody wins the Champions League in February, and even the legendary Barcelona teams over the past decade didn't succeed in retaining this trophy in three attempts.
Arsenal to produce a heroic display and get a result from the first leg before Barcelona let loose and pick them apart at the Nou Camp to go through.
JUVENTUS v BAYERN MUNICH
Two giants of European football face off in what many could consider the tie of the round. A tournament contender will fall here.
Juventus are now in pole position for a fifth consecutive Serie A title after Saturday's late win over Napoli, incredibly their 15th in a row in the league. It was a situation that certainly didn't look likely after their miserable start to the season, but with Paulo Dybala firing, Massimiliano Allegri's side have rediscovered their mojo. They paid the price, however, for a final group stage matchday defeat to Sevilla by relinquishing top spot in their group and hence being dealt this fiendish draw for the last 16. At least the beaten finalists of 2015 will go into the tie as underdogs, a factor that they could use to decisive advantage, although injury looks set to rule out defensive lynchpin Giorgio Chiellini and ex-Bayern striker Mario Mandzukic.
While Juve are locked in a frenetic title race with Napoli, Bayern look set to amble to yet another Bundesliga crown and, aside from their defeat at Arsenal in October, they looked fearsome in the group stage. Of course, it has since been confirmed that this is Pep Guardiola's last season in Bavaria, and he will be determined to head for Manchester in the summer with another Champions League triumph to his name. Juve's defence will doubtlessly be focused heavily on the lethal Robert Lewandowski, but they would also be advised to keep tabs on Thomas Muller and Douglas Costa, the latter of whom is having an exceptional first season in Germany.
We could be in for two pulsating matches here and I think the winner will prevail very narrowly. Bayern just seem to have the edge, but I can't dismiss Juventus too lightly either, even with those injuries to key players.
DYNAMO KIEV v MANCHESTER CITY
Dynamo Kiev are in the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time since 1999, when Man City were in the third tier of English football and Raheem Sterling was four years old.
The Ukrainian champions were among the surprise qualifiers from the group stage, but they pounced upon unusually poor form from Porto to take second place behind Chelsea. Incredibly, given their league's obscenely long winter break, Dynamo Kiev haven't played a competitive match since beating Maccabi Tel Aviv in this tournament two months ago. Any hopes of them being fresh for action, though, are tainted by doubts over the fitness of star man Andriy Yarmolenko, without whom they will be very hard pressed to advance to the quarter-finals. Should he fail to recover in time for this tie, the chief goalscoring duties will fall to Junior Moraes and Lukasz Teodorczyk.
Man City, by contrast, have had a frantically busy winter between Premier League action and the demands of two domestic cup competitions. Their bid for an unprecedented quadruple is still on for now, although the FA Cup and Capital One Cup could be out of their grasp by the time they welcome Dynamo Kiev to the Etihad Stadium for the second leg of this tie. Like the Ukrainians, City will be dependent on the fitness of their talisman, Sergio Aguero, although the return from injury for Vincent Kompany is very welcome. With their Premier League hopes severely hampered by recent defeats to title rivals Leicester and Tottenham, the soon to be unemployed Manuel Pellegrini could well make Europe his number one focus for his final three months in Manchester.
Even though the English side haven't been firing on all cylinders of late, they should still be too good for Sergio Rebrov's charges, particularly if Yarmolenko is ruled out.
PSV EINDHOVEN v ATLETICO MADRID
The 1988 winners meet the beaten finalists of 2014, both still in real contention for domestic titles as well as maintaining their European ambitions.
Despite being seeded in the draw for the group stage given their status as Dutch champions, PSV's progress to the last 16 was considered a surprise, as the current crop is nowhere near the same level as the team that got to the semi-finals 11 years ago. They're here on merit, though, and Philip Cocu will relish seeing his team being written off again. Unfortunately for the young coach, he will probably have to make do without Luciano Narsingh and Maxime Lestienne, both of whom would have been likely sources of goals. It will be over to Luuk de Jong, then, to provide the firepower, particularly if their questionable defence is picked apart, which is a possibility.
Diego Simeone's Atletico have been flying since the conclusion of the group stage, challenging for a highly improbable second La Liga title in three years. The indomitable spirit that the Argentine boss has festered throughout his time at the Estadio Vicente Calderon is still in evidence, and the rojiblancos have the quality to complement that team ethic nicely. Antoine Griezmann is among the most coveted players in Europe right now, while young midfielder Saul Niguez is also churning out the type of performances that spark rumours of seismic transfer bids from the continent's wealthiest clubs. The one minus for Atletico has been the swift departure of Jackson Martinez for China, even if he didn't hit the heights that he achieved during his time at Porto.
PSV should give a good account of themselves but the superior quality of the Spanish side will see them into a third consecutive quarter-final.
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