I have updated the predicted country&teamranking'12 after this weeks EL MD6. Shocking to see 3 English teams being eliminated! But that's what EL is all about: surprises. I like it, despite it is because big teams don't take it serious all the time.
Looking at the graph we see a big downfall of Holland. That is because of the draw. PSV was supposed to reach the semi-final of EL, but now drew Valencia in the next round and will already be eliminated.
On the other hand we see a big rise of Belgium. That is not just because they did fantastic, but also because Anderlecht and Standard were of the lower half of the seeded teams, but still qualify for the quarters as they have drawn even lower teams (Anderlecht(9) drew PAOK(17) and Standard (13) drew Brugge(14)). That was at the cost of PSV(3) drawing Valencia(2) and Manchester City(8) drawing Sporting(5)
Lyon- APOEL can be a very interesting fight - looking at ranking. France is trying to end above Portugal and needs the win for that, while Cyprus is closing in fast on Austria(great 1.000 coeff point this week, that could be the difference!) and Switzerland and need APOEL to win to keep the faith.
From the draws Chelsea-Napoli and Arsenal-AC MIlan are the one springing to attention in CL, while Porto-Manchester City and Ajax- Manchester United, Atletico M- Lazio and maybe Valencia-Stoke City are the greater names/interests in EL.
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