UEFA Champions League Review

How well did Mike do in picking the teams to advance past the group stage of the 2013-14 UEFA Champions League?  There are batsu game implications here.

We'll start with the top 2 finishers in each group.  These teams advance to the knockout stage.

Group	Mike's picks	Actual results	Number correct/Verdict
A	Shakhtar Donetsk Bayer Leverkusen	Manchester United Bayer Leverkusen	1/2 - SAFE!
B	Juventus Real Madrid	Real Madrid Galatasaray	1/2 - SAFE!
C	Benfica Olympiacos	Paris Saint-Germain Olympiacos	1/2 - SAFE!
D	Bayern Munich Manchester City	Bayern Munich Manchester City	2/2 - SAFE!
E	Schalke 04 Steaua Bucuresti	Chelsea Schalke 04	1/2 - SAFE!
F	Arsenal Borussia Dortmund	Borussia Dortmund Arsenal	2/2 - SAFE!
G	Porto Atletico Madrid	Atletico Madrid Zenit St. Petersburg	1/2 - SAFE!
H	Barcelona AC Milan	Barcelona AC Milan	2/2 - SAFE!

Correct picks (green): 11
Incorrect picks (red): 5

Next, let's look at the third-place finishers in each group.  These teams will be sent to the Europa League knockout stage.

Group	Mike's pick	Actual result	Verdict
A	Manchester United	Shakhtar Donetsk	WRONG!
B	Galatasaray	Juventus	WRONG!
C	Paris Saint-Germain	Benfica	WRONG!
D	CSKA Moscow	Viktoria Plzen	WRONG!
E	Basel	Basel	CORRECT
F	Marseille	Napoli	WRONG!
G	Zenit St. Petersburg	Porto	WRONG!
H	Ajax	Ajax	CORRECT

Correct picks: 2
Incorrect picks: 6

Here are the Batsu game implications:

• 11/16 make the knockout stage (need 8/16 to avoid) - SAFE!
• 2/8 correctly picking each of the 3rd place finishers (need 4/8 to avoid) - BATSU GAME!
• if BOTH of the top two in any group is picked completely wrong - SAFE!

For incorrectly picking more than half of the third-place finishers, Mike gets a batsu game.

Mike's final, by the way, is Barcelona over Schalke 04.  Keep an eye out for that.