2015/16 UEFA Champions League Group Stage: My predictions on who will advance to the knockout stages

The Champions League group stages were announced last Thursday. Let's get right into who I think will get out of their groups and advance to the next stage of the most important domestic tournament in the world.

Group A: PSG, Real Madrid, Malmo FF, FC Shankhtar Donetsk
In Group A, we have a case of the Haves and the Have Nots. 2 of the 4 teams in this group have a realistic chance to win Europe's biggest prize, while the other 2 have 0 chance of getting to the Round of 16. Paris Saint-Germain advanced to the Quarterfinals last season and became a better club over the summer when they signed Angel Di Maria from Manchester United. Having established themselves as a fixture in Europe, PSG hopes that this will be the season that they finally break through and win their first ever Champions League. Spanish giants Real Madrid are always a fixture in Europe, and they again have a strong squad that could get even stronger if they are able to sign goalkeeper David De Gea away from Manchester United. New manager Rafa Benetiz has a lot of talent on his club, and he will be hoping to give Real it's 11th champions league title. The Swedish club Malmo went through to the group stage after beating Celtic, 4-3, on aggregate in the playoff round, but I do not see them finishing in the top 2 of this group. Shankhtar Donetsk, from the Ukraine, fall into the same boat as Malmo. So the 2 teams to advance to the knockout stages will almost certainly be PSG and Real Madrid, with Real topping the group due to their unreal level of talent.

Group B: PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, Wolfsburg, CSKA Moscow
This is a very balanced group as all 4 teams have the potential to cause trouble for their group counterparts. PSV Eindhoven was the best team in the respectable Eredivisie, the top domestic league in Holland, and they remain capable despite losing their best player, Memphis Depay, to Man United over the summer. Manchester United is always a tough out, and in spite of their unimpressive start to the English Premier League campaign, Old Trafford is still a venue that can cause trouble for any opponent. Wolfsburg finished 2nd to Bayren Munich in the always competitive Bundesliga last season, and despite recently losing star midfielder Kevin De Bryune to Manchester City, the club still has plenty of talent and recently bolstered their back line by singing Dante from Bayern Munich. CSKA Moscow is the least known club in this group, but they are a potential sleeper and will provide a tough road trip for any team that they play.  I predict that United will top this group, with Wolfsburg beating out PSV for 2nd. CSKA will finish bottom of the group, while Wolfsburg and United will both progress to the knockout stages

Group C: Benefica, Atletico Madrid, Galatasaray, Astana
Atletico Madrid are the favorites in Group C. The 2014 champions of La Liga came within minutes of hoisting the European Cup that same year, and have received a boost up front by singing star Striker Jackson Martinez away from FC Porto. The 2nd team in this group to advance to the knockout stages will be a battle between the Portuguese champions Benefica and the Turkish champions Glatasaray. Benefica beat out Porto to win the 2015 Primeira Liga, while Galatasaray has been a force in Europe in the past, making a Quarterfinal appearance in 2015. It will be a battle, but I think that Benefica will join Atletico in the Round of 16. Astana made history by becoming the first club from Kazakhstan to ever earn a spot in the group stage, and they will almost certainly finish bottom of Group C.

Group D: Juventus, Manchester City, Sevilla, Borussia Monchengladbach
4 of the most historic leagues in Europe are represented here in Group D. Jeuventus were again the kings of Italy last season, winning Serie A for the 4th year in a row, and were runner-ups to Barcelona in the Champions League. Manchester City has been impressive in the young English Premier League season, winning their first 4 games while not yet conceding a goal, and recently became even stronger with the addition of Kevin De Bryune from Wolfsburg. These 2 clubs are heavy favorites to advance to the knockout stages. The other 2 clubs, Sevilla and Monchengladbach, are both quality teams in La Liga and Bundesliga, respectively. However, I do not see either of these 2 teams overtaking Jeuventus or Manchester City. I expect Manchester City to slightly beat out Jeuventus for the top spot in Group D, as caption Vincent Kompany looks like a man possessed to lead his team to new heights.

Group E: Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen, Roma, Bate Borisov
Barcelona is clearly the favorites to top this group. The defending European Champions have not lost a step since defeating Jeuventus in Berlin for the title on June 6th, and they seem to have a fairly easy group that should not give them too many problems. The biggest question in this group is who will join Barca in progressing to the Round of 16. It will be a battle between Leverkusen and Roma, and I believe that Leverkusen will be the ones who move on, while Roma will earn a place in the Europa League. Leverkusen almost upset Atletico Madrid in the Round of 16 last season, and they recently received what could be a huge boost when they acquired Striker Javier Hernandz from Manchester United. Bate Borisov, the best team in Belarus, will finish bottom.

Group F: Arsenal, Bayren Munich, Olympiacos, Dinamo Zagreb
This is, in my opinion, the strongest group of all. Arsenal has been picked by some to win the English Premier League, and they just may have the talent to do so. Bayren Munich most recently won the Champions League in 2013, and reached the semi finals of the competition last year as the German Champions. I believe that Bayren will top this group, with Arsenal finishing 2nd. The Greek club Olympiacos have been a tough out on the European scene, but I think that they will finish 3rd in the group and end up in the Europa League. Dinamo Zagreb, the champions of Croatia, will finish 4th in the group.

Group G: Chelsea, Porto, Dynamo Kiev, Maccabi
Chelsea is the clear favorite to top this group, while Porto is expected to finish 2nd. Although the defending English champions have gotten off to a slow start in the Premier League campaign, Jose Mourinho is the best manager in the world, and Chelsea is still a force in Europe. Porto advanced to the Quarterfinals last season, and they will almost surely finish 2nd, as Dynamo Kiev and Maccabi will not provide very stiff competition.

Group H: Zenit St. Petersburg, Lyon, Valencia, Gent
This is probably the most uninteresting group of all. It will be a battle, as Lyon, Valencia and Zenit are all capable, in my opinion, of finishing in the top half of this group. If I had to bet, I'd say that Lyon, on the back of star Striker Alexander Lacazette, would finish at the top of this group, with Zenit, who I think could be a sleeper in Europe as a very solid team, finishing in 2nd and progressing to the knockout stage. Valencia will miss out and move on to Europa, while the Belgian champions Gent will finish bottom.

So, as of right now, I see the round of 16 looking like this:
Real Madrid, PSG, Man United, Wolfsburg, Atletico Madrid, Benefica, Jeuventas, Manchester City, Barcalona, Bayer Leverkusen, Arsenal, Bayren Munich, Chelsea, Porto, Zenit and Lyon. I hope you enjoyed my predictions and thank you for the read!

Pirates 5, Marlins 2: Keeping it rolling

The Pirates got off to a hot start to a 3 game set in Miami with the lowly Marlins with a 5-2 win at Marlins Park on Monday night, making it their 10th win in the past 11 games.

The Bucs got the scoring started in the top of the 3rd when Andrew McCutchen drove home Gregory Polanco and Starling Marte with a double, giving the Bucs a 2-0 lead and also winning my award for play of the game, because it made the biggest impact of the evening. That's all the scoring the game would have until the top of the 7th, when Neil Walker drove home Marte with a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 3-0. The Marlins got one back in the bottom half of the 7th when Marcel Ozuna scored on a groundout by J.T. Realmuto, but this run was negated in the top of the 8th when Gregory Polanco brought home Sean Rodriguez with a single to make it 4-1. Jordy Mercer added one more insurance run in the top of the 9th by drawing a bases loaded walk.

The Marlins got a meaningless run in the bottom of the 9th when Realmuto brought home Ozuna on a fielders choice, but that was all the would get. Mark Melancon picked up his 40th save of the season and the Bucs closed out a 5-2 victory, improving their record against Miami to 4-0. J.A. Happ pitched and excellent ball game, making it his 3rd straight good outing. Happ went 6 innings, allowing 0 runs on 4 hits, walking just 1 and striking out 6, and he is my game MVP. Happ has simply been a difference maker since being acquired from the Mariners on July 31st, and he improved to 2-0 since joining the club. Tim Kohler picked up the loss for Miami, falling to 8-12.

The Bucs are now 75-48, 3.5 games back of the Cards for 1st in the NL Central and 3 games ahead of the Cubs for the 1st wildcard spot. Charlie Morton will take the hill for Pitsburgh on Tuesday night, and he will go against Brad Hand for the Marlins. 1st pitch is at 7:10.

Pirates 3, Mets 2: Pleasant surprise

J.A. Happ did not win over very many fans in the Steel City after making his team debut against the Chicago Cubs on August 4th. Happ struggled greatly against the Cubs, allowing 4 earned runs on 9 hits in just 4.1 innings of work. So, when Happ took the hill on Friday for an important game with the NL East leading New York Mets at Citi Field, many Bucs fans held their breaths, expecting the worst and hoping for the best. Happ gave the fans and his teammates his best, going 5.1 innings and allowing just 1 earned run on 7 hits and striking out 7. Although Happ received a no-decision, he was a winner in the eyes of the Pittsburgh faithful and his peers, and due to his efforts, he is my choice for game MVP.

The Bucs did not take long to get on the board, as Neil Walker, who was just the 2nd batter of the game hit his 12th homerun of the season off of Bartolo Colon, giving the Bucs a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the 3rd, Happ ran into trouble. It looked like Happ might add to the worries of Bucs fans when he allowed a Juan Lagares single, followed by a Curtis Granderson double to start the inning. But Happ did a masterful job, striking out Yoenis Cespedas, getting Juan Uribe to pop out and, finally, striking out Daniel Murphy to amazingly escape the inning allowing no runs to cross.

In the bottom of the 6th, Happ had his only blemish of the night by allowing a Cespedas homerun, the 20th of the season for the newly acquired Met outfielder. After allowing a double to Daniel Murphy, Clint Hurdle pulled Happ in favor of Jared Hughes, marking the end to an impressive night for J.A. Hughes got out of the 6th and also pitched a scoreless 7th, keeping it at 1-1. The score would remain the same through 9 innings of play, meaning that the game would have to go to extra innings. In the top of the 10th, Chirs Stewart led off with a single, bringing up pinch-hitter Francisco Cervelli. Cervelli and Starling Marte, who was pinch-running for Stewart executed a perfect hit and run, with Cervelli hitting a single to left field and Marte, who was running on the pitch, getting to 3rd, making it 1st and 3rd with nobody out.

 Gregory Polanco was up next, and he would drive a single to right field, giving the Bucs a 2-1 lead. This was my nomine for play of the game, as it was the go-ahead run and was a perfect set up to what would eventually be the winning run. After Neil Walker grounded out, moving the runners to 2nd and 3rd, Mets manager Terry Collins decided to walk Andrew McCutchen intentionally, loading the bases for Aramis Ramirez. Ramirez would hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Cervelli from 3rd and making it 3-1.

The insurance run would prove to be vital, as Mark Melancon would allow the Mets to get one back in the bottom half of the 10th on a sacrifice fly by Curtis Granderson. But Melancon would bear down to get the next 2 outs for his 36th save of the season, sealing a huge win for the Bucs.

Arquimedes Caminero got the win after pitching a scoreless 9th, improving to 3-1 on the year, while Bobby Parnell got the loss out of relief for the Mets, falling to 1-2. Pittsburgh now has a record of 67-46, still 6 games back of St. Louis in the NL Central and 1.5 games up on the Cubs for the 1st wildcard spot. Charlie Morton is on the hill tonight for the Pirates at Citi Field, while Jonathon Niese will oppose him for the Mets. First pitch is at 7:05.

Cards 4, Pirates 3: Game Recap/Awards

Well last night was a tough one. The Pittsburgh Pirates began a very important series with the first place St. Louis Cardinals, entering the game 5 games back. The Bucs got off to a 3-1 lead, but St. Louis came back with 3 runs in the bottom of the 5th, taking a 4-3 lead that would hold for the rest of the night. Here is a recap of how the scoring went down, as well as a few ''awards '' for the evening.

 

The Bucs got off to a fast start. In the top of the first, Jung-Ho Kang doubled home Starling Marte for to give the Bucs a 1-0 lead. The bad news about this play was that Aramis Rameirz was on first base, and did not score on a ball which any other position player on the team likely would have scored on, preventing Pittsburgh from adding on in the first. Nonetheless, the Bucs had the lead and it was up to Jeff Locke to keep that lead intact. Locke was not able to do this, as the Cards tied it up in the bottom half when Jason Heyward grounded into a fielders choice, scoring Kolton Wong.

 

Pittsburgh retook the lead in the top of the 3rd when Ramirez singled home Gregory Polanco, giving the Bucs a 2-1 lead. Pedro Alvarez would give the Bucs an insurance run in the 4th by taking Carlos Martinez deep to dead center field for his 16th homer of the season, making it 3-1. The top of the 5th looked promising, as Polanco and Marte both singled to start the season . But Andrew McCutchen hit into a double play and Aramis Rameirz flew out to end the threat. The bottom of the 5th is when things fell apart. After Kolton Wong and Johnny Peralta both walked to start the inning, Jason Heyward singled to right, scoring Wong. After a groundout by Randall Grichuk moved the runners to 2nd and 3rd, Yadier Molina brought home Wong with a sac fly to tie the game. Heyward would come home one batter later on a single by Steven Piscotty, giving St. Louis a 4-3 lead that would hold for the rest of the game.

 

Carlos Martinez was dominant on the mound from here on out, shutting down the Bucco bats for the next 3 innings before making way for Trevor Rosenthal to shut the door for his 34th save in the 9th inning. Jeff Locke took the loss, going 5 innings and allowing 4 earned runs on 7 hits while walking 3 in another underwhelming performance, falling to 6-7 on the year. After a shaky first 2 innings, Carlos Martinez settled down for the Redbirds, finishing with 3 earned runs while allowing 9 hits, striking out 8 and walking none over 8 innings of work, getting the win and improving to 12-4 on the year.

 

Now that I have written the game recap, I will now give out my ''awards'' for the game. Let's get into it.

 

Game MVP: Carlos Martinez

This was a tough one to give out, as Martinez, Kolton Wong and Steven Piscotty all played key roles in the Cardinals victory. But I am giving the game MVP Award to Carlos Martinez because of how well he kept himself together. Martinez worked himself into trouble on multiple occasions, none more important than getting Andrew McCutchen to ground into a key double play after allowing back to back hits to start the 5th inning. From the 5th inning onward, Martinez was fantastic, allowing no runs and striking out 3 batters, not allowing the Bucs to get back in the game. Martinez went 8 innings, which could pay dividends in the series, as the Cards bullpen was spared for the night aside from Rosenthal, saving some key arms possibly for the rest of the series. Martinez didn't exactly pitch a gem, but he allowed his team to win by bailing himself as well as his teammates out of some potentially dangerous situations.

 

Goats of the Game: Jeff Locke and Andrew McCutchen

I'm giving this dubious award to two players as opposed to one because I didn't want to choose between them. Both Locke and McCutchen were not at their best on Tuesday. Locke was playing with fire through the first 4 innings, just barley managing to escape without getting burned too badly. But it all caught up with him in the 5th, when he allowed 3 runs, turning a 2 run lead into a 1 run deficit. Locke's ERA is now an unimpressive 4.43, and Bucs fans are not pleased with the way he has been performing. McCutchen was unimpressive as well, going 0-4 with 2 strikeouts, both of which were with men in scoring position and he was luckily bailed out by Jung-Ho Kang and Aramis Ramirez, who both would drive in runs in the innings where Cutch failed to get the job done. The main reason that McCutchen shares this honor is for his at bat in the 5th inning, where with men on 1st and 2nd and nobody out, the Bucs up 3-1 and a chance to break the game open, #22 hit into a double play, killing the momentum. I believe that the Bucs could have had a big inning if McCutchen drove in a run or at least moved the runners over, but he did not do either and the Cards took advantage with 3 runs in the 5th. I believe McCtuchen's at bat turned the game around, and for that reason I think it was the most important play of the night.

The Bucs are now 65-45, and fall to 6 games back in the NL Central. With the Cubs defeating the Brewers, Pittsburgh now holds a 3 game lead over Chicago for the 1st wildcard spot. Gerrit Cole will take on Michael Wacha in what should be a great pitchers match-up. All the Bucs can do is move forward and forget about last nights game.

Bucs Sweep Dodgers: Series Awards

Series MVP: Andrew McCutchen

After splitting back to back series with the Reds and Cubs, the Pittsburgh Pirates and their fans were very refreshed by a delightful 3 game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers at PNC Park. The sweep could not have come at a better time for the Bucs, as they are entering a crucial 3 game set with the first place St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. I will now highlight the highs and lows (but mostly highs) from this 3 game series by giving out what I will call the ''series awards''.

 

As often happens, Andrew McCutchen stole the show. The star Centerfielder finished the series with a stellar stat line: 6 for 13 at the plate, 5 runs scored, 3 walks, a homer, and 5 RBI. After a slow start to the season, Cutch is back to being himself. He currently is batting .301, with 17 home runs and 71 RBI, and an on base percentage of .398. He went 2 for 6 Sunday, and played a huge role in the Bucs come for behind win, hitting a 2 run homer in the 5th and driving home a key insurance run in the 7th with a single. Cutch's performance over the weekend was excellent, which is what we've come to expect of a player of his caliber.

Series Least Valuable Player: Charlie Morton

There isn't a whole lot to complain about this 3 game set, but Charlie Morton's performance on Sunday night is at the top of the short list. Morton simply did not have it, following up an excellent performance in Cincinnati by allowing 5 runs and 10 hits over 5 innings, and leaving the game with the Buccos in a 5-1 hole. Morton is very fortunate that his poor showing was overshadowed by a thrilling come-from-behind win by his club, highlighted by a 9-run 7th inning. There could be cause for concern in  the Bucs rotation, as the Bucs arms have been struggling ever since the All-Star break. Morton will need to become more consistent if he wants to help ease the concerns of the Bucco faithful.

 

Best Moment: Francisco Liriano's 3 run homer



There are a lot of highlights to choose from: Pedro Alvarez's walk-off singe in the 10th inning on Friday night; Mark Melancon getting out of a sticky situation in the top of the 9th on Saturday; and pretty much the entire 7th inning on Sunday. But I'm picking Francisco Liriano's homer tops because no sane person saw it coming. Here was the situation: after Jung Ho-Kang and Neil Walker started the bottom half of the 2nd inning with back to back singles, the Bucs looked like they had something going. But Alvarez grounded out, moving the runners to 2nd and 3rd, and Francisco Cervelli followed by grounding out to first, with first baseman Adrian Gonzalez throwing out Kang at the plate. So now there were 2 outs, men on 2nd and 3rd and pitcher Francisco Liriano coming to the plate, and it looked like pitcher Mat Latos was going to escape by allowing no runs. But Liriano surprised everyone by taking Latos deep for his first career homerun, barley clearing the left field wall and giving the Bucs a 4-2 lead.  Liriano's outing was forgettable, going just 3 innings, allowing 4 earned runs on 7 hits, but his bat is what helped the Bucs pull out a gutsy 6-5 win, and it was a moment and a day to remember for Liriano.

Unsung Hero: Joe Blanton

After Liriano exited the game after the 3rd inning, Bucs fans were concerned as Joe Blanton entered the game. Although the Pirates had retaken the lead in the bottom of the 3rd, it's never good for a starter to leave the game early. To make matters worse, Blanton hasn't had a lot of chances to win over Pirate fans since being acquired shortly before the trade deadline, so many fans were on edge as to what would happen the rest of the game. To his credit, Blanton was able to calm a lot of nerves by pitching 3 innings of shutout ball on his way to picking up his first win in a Bucco uniform. I gave him the unsung hero award due to middle relievers often being overlooked, and Blanton's performance is one that has been greatly overshadowed by the many exciting moments of this series. 

 

The Road Ahead

The Bucs will now head to America's Heartland to take on St. Louis, where the first place Redbirds are currently 5 games ahead of the Bucs in the NL Central standings. It's a key series and could tell a lot about what will happen in the next month in a half. It will be another fun week of baseball, so sit back and enjoy it.

 

Pirates 7, Cubs 5: Bucs split abberviated 2 game set

After splitting a 4 game set in Cincinnati, The Pittsburgh Pirates split an abberiavated 2 game series with the Chicago Cubs to keep the trend going.

This was origanlly suspossed to be a 3 game set, but the number of games was reduced to 2 when Monday's series opener was cancelled in the top of the 5th inning due to rain. When the series resumed on Tuesday, the Bucs lost possibly the dullest game of the year by a score of 5-0. Jake Arrietta completely dominated the Pirate bats, allowing 0 runs and just 2 hits in 7 innings of work, while J.A. Happ struggled in his Pirate debut, allowing 4 earned runs over 4.1 innings. Anthony Rizzo starred offensively for the Cubs, going 4 for 5 with 2 doubles and 2 runs scored.

Wednesday night was much better for the Bucs. Gregory Polanco got the party started with a leadoff homerun in the bottom of the first. Pedro Alvarez added to the scoring later in the inning when he drove home Andrew McCutchen with a 2 out bases-loaded single, with Aramis Rameriz getting thrown out at the plate trying to score from 2nd. The Bucs would add to the scoring in the bottom of the 3rd when Andrew McCutchen drove a solo shot to center field. The Cubs would get a run back in the next half-inning when Anthony Rizzo drove home Kyle Schwarber with a sacrifice fly. The Bucs would push the lead back the 3 in the next half inning, thanks in large part to a defensive gaffe by the Cubs.

With 2 outs and a man on 2nd, Starling Marte hit what should have been a routine grounder, but Kris Bryant and Starling Castro got crossed up between 3rd base and Shortstop. The Bucs had a 4-1 lead going into the top of the 6th, but that's when things got interesting. With a man on 1st, Kyle Schwarber hit a 2 run bomb to center field to close the gap to 4-3, and Anthony Rizzo tied it one batter later with a homer of his own.

The Pirates would not take long to reclaim the lead, as Gregory Polanco singled home Francisco Cervelli in the bottom half of the 6th. Andrew McCutchen would add an insurance run later that inning when he drove home Sean Rodriguez with a sac fly. The Bucs would add one more run for good measure in the bottom of the 8th when Rodriguez singled home Cervelli to make it 7-4.

Mark Melancon allowed a meaningless run in the 9th on his way to picking up his 34th save of the season and 32nd in a row, and the Bucs salvaged this shortned series with a 7-5 win. Antiono Bastardo got the win out of relief to improve to 3-1, while Tim Wood got the loss out of relief to fall to 4-4. The Pirates are now 6-4 in their last 10 games, so the team's overall form right now can be described as steady, with the loss of AJ Burnett to an elbow injury cause for concern as the teams pitching depth is in question. The Pirates are 6 games back of St. Louis in the NL Central race and 4 games up on the Cubs for the 1st wildcard spot. The LA Dodgers will come to PNC Park for a 3-game set, with Gerrit Cole facing off with Clayton Kershaw tonight.