SOCCER INTERNATIONAL ARTICLES

Since the turn of the century, Shakhtar Donetsk have dominated Ukrainian soccer. They have won 10 of the last 16 Ukrainian Premier League titles and usurped Dynamo Kiev as the club to beat. ... 

This week, the most competitive match will be the second leg of Juventus and Tottenham Hotspur. Juventus has dominated Italy over the last few seasons, but the storied club has not been able to break through and earn Champions League glory. Meanwhile, this is the best Tottenham team we have seen in some time. With Harry Kane leading the way, Tottenham are favored to advance over Juventus after a good result in Turin.... 

No one is giving FC Basel any sort of chance to advance to the Champions League Quarterfinals for the first time in club history. FC Basel turned a lot of heads by making it to this point, but it’s hard to see a way for them to move forward at this point.... 

Paris St. Germain spent an incredible amount of money to make sure this didn’t happen again. Although PSG has dominated Ligue 1 and is one of the most talented teams in the world, the club has been able to have much success in Europe.... 

Liverpool looks set to make it back to the Champions League Quarterfinals for the first time in nine years. The Reds have had their fair share of struggles over the last decade, making it to the Champions League just three times since that point. However, Jurgen Klopp has turned things around, and Liverpool is far more dangerous than anyone though. All the Reds need to do to advance is to avoid losing by five goals or more.... 

Even though Bayern Munich will not have the best goalkeeper in the world for this tilt, they are massive favorites to advance over Besiktas.Bayern Munich has been unstoppable this year, even without Manuel Neuer. They are galloping away from their competition in the Bundesliga, sitting 18 points clear of second-place Red Bull Leipzig.... 

Chelsea is back in the Champions League after missing out entirely last year, following one of the worst Premier League campaigns in the club’s history. However, after finishing in second place in the Group Stage, they have the unenviable task of taking on Barcelona in the Round of 16.... 

Jose Mourinho has always had a flare for the dramatic in the Champions League. The former midfielder first launched himself to prominence on the international stage when he took Porto to a Champions League crown in one of the biggest surprises ever. It took him a while to repeat the feat, but he got the job done with an outgunned Inter Milan side six years later.... 

Some might bemoan the fact that either Roma or Shakhtar Donetsk will be playing in the Quarterfinals, but that is one of the beautiful things about the Champions League. Every match matters, and these two teams are playing each other because Roma edged Chelsea for the top spot in their group.... 

One of the most highly anticipated matches in the Round of 16 will take place on Tuesday when Juventus plays host to Tottenham Hotspur. These are two clubs that play totally different styles of soccer, and it will be interesting to see which side prevails.... 

Before you treat your significant other to the night of their dreams on Valentine’s Day, there are two Champions League tilts you cannot miss.It’s taken a long time for Liverpool to get back to this stage. The Reds have stumbled a lot over the last decade, but Jurgen Klopp has his team playing exceptionally well. They were unbeaten in Group Stage action, finishing above both Sevilla and Spartak Moscow to make it to the Round of 16.... 

Paris Saint-Germain can’t seem to catch a break when it comes to Champions League draws. The French giants have failed to make it out of the Quarterfinals in quite some time, largely because they have had to play teams like Chelsea, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich before they should have.... 

There aren’t many club teams that look better than Manchester City right now. The Sky Blues have dominated in the Premier League and ran through the competition during the Group Stage. They won their first five matches of the Group Stage before dropping a meaningless match to Shakhtar Donetsk at the end.... 

At the bottom of the Champions League table, there are four teams who have punched their tickets into the Round of 16. There are still four spots that are up for grabs, and they'll be decided on the final day of the group stage on Wednesday night across Europe.... 

There is just one match day left in the Champions League, and there are still several teams who are hoping for magical moments on the pitch to get into the knockout rounds of the biggest club tournament in the world. Tuesday will provide one last chance to succeed for the teams at the top of the bracket to get into the Round of 16.... 

Form has largely held in the top half of the Champions League draw, and there's little reason to believe that won't continue to be the case in the fifth match day of the group on Wednesday night. Still, this tournament rarely holds form forever, and this could be the day of wild twists and turns in these foursomes.... 

Time is running out for teams to try to get into the knockout rounds of the Champions League. We already have several teams who have clinched advancement into the last 16 of the competition, and that could provide a bit of a respite for some teams who are lagging behind who will be playing for their lives on Tuesday afternoon across the continent.... 

World Cup qualifying in Africa always stretches out longer than any other confederation due to the fact that it doesn't have a spot in the intercontinental playoffs. Nigeria and Egypt have already qualified for the World Cup, but there are three more spots that will be filled by African teams over the course of the next several days.... 

The number of spots remaining in the World Cup are starting to dwindle. Europe has just four of its 14 spots left for the taking, and teams have been drawn together for the home-and-home playoffs that will take place over the course of the next several days. These are the most crucial events in these countries, and they're can't miss betting events for those with a rooting interest and neutrals around the world.... 

The last two spots in the World Cup are always reserved for the intercontinental playoffs, matchups that will pit teams that haven't done quite enough yet to get into the World Cup but are given one last chance to succeed. This year, we have teams flying all over the world for bizarre matchups that were previously thought to be impossible to pull off, and that will make for some interesting soccer over the course of the weekend.... 

Halloween night could be a scary proposition for a lot of teams in the Champions League. Teams at the top of the table are going to be playing on Tuesday, and there are plenty of clubs who can lock up their spots in the Round of 16 of the UCL. That said, a lot of teams could fall from their ranks and put their biggest competition of the season in peril if things start to turn sideways.... 

Whereas the top half of the Champions League table has gone according to form, the bottom half of the groups at least have a degree of intrigue and drama. A couple of these groups could come right down to the wire, and Wednesday's matches could be the stepping stone for many of the 16 teams in action to go forward into the knockout rounds.... 

The top half of the Champions League table through two match days is quite interesting. Teams like Juventus and Atletico Madrid would actually be out of the competition and dropped into the Europa League if the groups were finished today. That alone should put the pressure on both teams to start to perform as we hit the halfway point of the group stage on Wednesday night.... 

The third match day of the Champions League group stage is usually the one where we see the teams at the top really separate themselves from the rest of the group. By the end of the day on Tuesday, we'll probably have a really good idea regarding at least three or four of the teams that will reach the last 16 at the start of the new calendar year.... 

It isn't often that Chelsea is an underdog while playing at home. But for as well as Manchester City is playing at the moment, it's completely understandable. This is one of the bigger matches of the year, and with both of these teams coming off of Champions League matches in the middle of the week, that only heightens the anticipation for this one....