Action resumes in Europe's premier club competition,the UEFA Champions League as the knockout games take centre stage.The race to be crowned Europe's finest is firmly on but the real business starts here.
At the risk of ruining my reputation(if there is any at all),i have decided to play Nostradamus or better still Prophet T.B Joshua in predicting which club might land European football biggest and most coveted prize.
Now i am no seer neither do i claim to be psychic.No crystal balls, no magic mirrors but i do believe by applying my knowledge of European football, the tools of intuition and logic, a bit of pseudoscience and superstition and of course some common sense, i might just be able to predict who might be lifting the big-eared trophy come June.
I have come up with some rather interesting theories i believe might just lead us to the answer.

THE BACK-TO-BACK CURSE
It is basic knowledge for followers of the European game that no team has won the UCL back to back since its inception/renaming even then only two teams, Valencia(2000,2001) and Manchester United(2008,2009) have to managed to play in consecutive finals.So the chances of Real Madrid, who have been rather poor since the turn of the year making this year's final let alone retaining their title is pretty slim.

POST WORLD CUP EFFECT
Winning the World Cup is the pinnacle of every footballer's career.It's a defining moment.But could there be a link between the World Cup and winning the Champions League?
Since the new millennium,an European World Cup nation has gone to produce the next kings of Europe the year after winning the World Cup.Italy,WC champions in 2006, Milan CL winners.Spain, 2010, Barcelona 2010.I know two is a very small sample size when establishing a pattern but considering the current World Champions are Germany . . Could this be Bayern Munich's year?

THE CATALAN GIFT/CURSE
Beating Barcelona is an herculean task only few teams are capable of completing.With players like Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta in their ranks, they are virtually invincible on their day.But could the key to winning the UCL lie with the Blaugranas?
Barcelona have won the Champions League 4 times(1992,2006,2009,2011) and are usually among the favorites year in year in.But since winning the CL in 2006 and excluding the other seasons they were champions, teams that knocked out Barcelona have gone on to play in the finals.Liverpool(2007), Manchester United(2008), Inter Milan(2010), Chelsea(2012), Bayern Munich(2013), Atletico Madrid(2014). You know what they say; "One is an incident,two is a coincidence, three's a pattern". But here is the twist:Four of Barcelona's conquerors(United,Inter, Chelsea, Bayern) knocked out the Spanish side at the semifinal stage and went on to be eventual winners.The two other sides were not so lucky, Liverpool and Atleti knocked out Barca at the quarter final stage only to end up losing in the final.Lesson's simple:Knock them out at the semi final stage and you go on to be champions but send them packing before then, you experience heartbreak that comes with losing finals.

NUMEROLOGY
Before anyone starts chanting 'Blood of Jesus" and calling me a reincarnation of Aleister Crowley, this has nothing to do with occultism.Almost nothing anyway.Numerology, branch of pseudoscience explores the magic behind numbers.
3:Xabi Alonso is bidding for his 3rd Champions League title with a 3rd different club.The current record is held by Dutch legend Clarence Seedorf.Coincidentally, Alonso wears the jersey number 3 for Bayern Munich. Bayern boss Pep Guardiola is also chasing his 3rd UCL title as a coach after wins with Barcelona in 2009 and 2011.

7:Spain's World-conquering squad of 2010 had 7 players who were part of Pep Guardiola's Barca team.Coincidentally, Bayern Munich had the same number of players in Germany's World Cup winning campaign.All coached by guess who . . Pep Guardiola.
Now you must be wondering what has numbers got to do with football? Well just ask Michael Ballack and his infamous jersey no. 13.
The number 3 is a particularly powerful number in numerology.The number is highly revered in ancient religions and traditions such as the Kabbalah and even Christianity in case of the Trinity.
The number 7 is also another powerful number.It is said to be the number of the natural world and is synonymous with good luck amongst other things.

Well i have decided to go one step further and TRY, TRY being the keyword here and predict the pairings for the quarterfinals, the semifinals and the final.In short mapping out the Road to Berlin.Here we go!
Quarter final pairings:
Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid
Porto vs Chelsea
Arsenal vs Bayern Munich
Juventus vs Real Madrid

Semi-final pairings
Chelsea vs Real Madrid
Bayern Munich vs Barcelona

Final
Bayern Munich vs Chelsea with Bayern Munich winning!

Cool story

Tval:
Cool story

Indeed.