Anfield Until The End 17/18

Champions League Charge: Sweet Little Sixteens

Top of the group! Top of the group! We're right up there, top of the group!

With this, comes the notoriously easy pickings of the Round of 16 drawings. Absolutely fun to just breeze by and hunker down for Round of 8 and onward. But let's not get cocky so quickly, while we won't get other top of the group clubs such as United or Tottenham, or other English clubs such as Tottenham, City, United, and Chelsea, there are many teams out there to draw (but not Sevilla as they were in our group), lets see the ones we can get:

Real Madrid (UEFA Coefficient #1): We should pray to God that under no circumstance we get this team at any time as we go on our way to the Finals. While they may be in the same standings they are (we're both in 4th), they still demand a serious respect after winning this same competition twice in a row. Absolutely mad, by the way. Gareth Bale is expected to be back by the time Cl comes back so that only adds to the fear. Location be damned, this would not be a favourable draw. 

Bayern Munich (UEFA Coefficient #3): Same thing as Real Madrid, except they haven't won this wonderful cup in a while, but who are we to say with our 2005 to their 2013. The team is absolutely stacked with talent, from striker Robert Lewandowski to keeper Manuel Neuer. We may have confidence in the fact that they are six points clear of the top of the Bundesliga and that we did defeat them this summer, so that will be a good thing to keep note of as they bang the drum along the way. Again, it's not the location that's the problem this time around.

Juventus (UEFA Coefficient #5): Another heavy hitter you wouldn't expect to see here, would you now? After being unlucky in the CL final of last year, Juventus has gone back to winning ways, third of Serie A and scoring lots of goals there have seen them back in the thick of it with odds for them winning rising. Location can be a bit annoying with this draw as their in Italy, but still, not very important when the team is very good.

FC Porto (UEFA Coefficient #9): And, finally, the opponents get less intimidating. They have the European knows, having been lead to a final and winning it under Jose Mourinho in 2004 but haven't been able to properly replicate something like this since. After that, when they got into Europe, at this stage, the Round of 16, is as far as they'd get. This kind of luck would be a hopeful thing for us to bank on, but they're top of the Portuguese Primeira Liga due to goal difference and we can't be flippant with them lest we fall so quickly and easily. A bit further than Real, I still don't find the location a problem.

Shakhtar Donetsk (UEFA Coefficient #15): Like Porto, they've been racking up appearances in Europe but not really doing much after that. Four points clear of any others at the top of the Ukranian Premier League, this seems to be as much boasting as they'll be able to do other than getting to the quarterfinals in 2013. Ukraine, in this case, is a problem as February is a tough winter month and this wonderful area has tough winters on top of the already harsh weather of the time. Not fond of them as a drawing.

FC Basel 1893 (UEFA Coefficient #18):  Finally, here's the end of the list. Like Shakhtar, they've been in Europe, doing Europe things and picking up experience. But what they've done with it? Not much really, with just a semifinal exit of Europa in 2012/2013 being their best run in Europe. Still, their coefficient is much higher than ours (a measly 31), so they must be doing something right. Location isn't much of a problem as they're actually closer than anyone else on this list. That's nice, but it also worries me about them being the "weakest" club possible because we'd somehow screw that up.

So, after all of this, either Basel or Porto would be the best option based off of . . . common sense, I guess? I dunno, tell me who you would've wanted.

Who did we get?

Porto! Awesome, isn't it? We'll be facing them around February, after winter break for other leagues should have both started and finished. It's the best option but we can't give up now thinking it could be difficult or that it's too easy. As this is already our best run in a while and anything after is icing on the cake, the right mindset would do well to help us continue forward.

That's it! And with that, may I say Mohamed Salah is on fire in so many ways? If he scores in the next match, he'll be the first player to 20 goals at this rate in over 100 years. Absolutely nuts consider he just came here this year and we didn't have a 20 goals a season player here just last season. He won the African Player of the Year trophy and the November Player of the Month award, making this a pretty good year for Salah all over again. 

Have a good day/night, Reds! 

(Also, sorry this came out pretty late. My laptop has been bugging around and I think it's on its last legs at this point. Good thing its the holiday season. The midseason update will come up soon.)