By Emmanuel Ebimoh
After an entertaining, free-scoring round of 16 football in the UEFA Champions League, eight teams have qualified for the quarter-finals stage of the competition: Juventus, Ajax, Liverpool, Porto, Manchester City, Barcelona, Tottenham, and Manchester United.
Current champions, Real Madrid were kicked-out of the competition in a rather humiliating fashion by Ajax to end a three-year dominance by the Spanish giants.
However, what is noteworthy is the preponderance of English teams in the quarter-finals stage of this year’s competition. Four teams from England, out of the eight qualified teams, will be battling for the most prestigious price in European football.
If, by some stroke of luck, the English teams are paired separately against the other four teams in the quarter-finals draws, then we might have a possibility of four teams from England in the semi-finals of the Champions League. Astonishing!
Over the last five years, the UEFA Champions League competition has been impressively dominated by Spanish teams. The last time an English team lifted the trophy was in 2012 when Chelsea defeated Bayern Munich in a penalty shoot-outs.
This year, it would seem like England is ready to rule the world again.
Will there be an English winner this time? The world of football is waiting with keen interest.
The draw for the quarter-finals pairing will be held tomorrow, Friday, 15th March in Nyon, Switzerland.
