Champions League: round of 16 starts next week - who will make it this time?

Hello football fans,

the round of 16 in the Champions League this season is already casting its shadows. The draw brought some great-sounding games to the football fans all over Europe and the world. The first four games will be played just next week, so let’s take a closer look at these.

FC Porto v FC Liverpool

Porto plays a great season so far. They are on top of the table in Liga NOS even though Sporting and Benfica are right after them. They didn’t lose any of their last five games, including a 2-1 victory over Sporting in the Portuguese Cup on Wednesday.

Liverpool left points in the Premier League recently against Swansea and West Bromwich which still divides them from the second place in the table behind Manchester City which is still owned by United. But in the “big” games they use to perform at their best, seen against Manchester City in January or against Tottenham last weekend which was a thrilling game as well where Liverpool gave the points away very late after a disputed penalty decision.

While Porto have to miss Felipe in their defense against Liverpool, the team of Jürgen Klopp is missing Emre Can as he is banned from the game at Estadio Do Dragao, the stadium of Porto, as well. In their four previous matches, Porto and Liverpool tied two times while Liverpool took the win away the other both matches. This means that Porto still waits for a first win against Liverpool and they are likely to go for that next week. I’d say that it’s in Liverpool’s favor that the second leg is played at Anfield, giving them a good chance to reach the quarter finals.

Juventus v Tottenham

This one may be the most interesting of this tournament stage. The team around Massimiliano Allegri is something like a regular guest to the Champions League with having huge success in the last years with reaching the final game twice. On the opposed side there’s Tottenham who are back in the Champions League after a long time and played many marvelous games within the group stages, e. g. when they beat Real Madrid 3-1. This left the football fans wanting more of that and with Juventus they got an opponent that makes it really sound like Champions League. Especially the second leg played at Wembley sounds like a big one.

Juventus is having a thriving series, they won every single one of their last five games in Serie A, otherwise Tottenham seems very solid throughout the last few games. While needing the re-match against Newport to reach the next round of the FA cup, they beat the Red Devils in the Premier League and tied against Tottenham, even though they probably lost this game without the ref’s decision in the added time.

Juventus should have the advantage in some way, regarding the players they have in their squad and all their experience in the internationals. On the other hand, Tottenham showed against Real Madrid and Dortmund that this doesn’t necessary help you to beat this young, hungry team from North London.

Real Madrid v Paris Saint-Germain

It was a twist of fate when Paris SG got Real Madrid as their opponent in this seasons round of 16. After they had to play Barcelona in the last season and won the first leg 4-0, Barcelona made an unreal comeback in the second game by winning it 6-1 and reaching the quarter finals against all odds.

Now they became first in the group stage with even beating Bayern Munich 3-0 at Parc Des Princes, they surely hoped for an easier opponent in order to reach the round of 8 this time. Unfortunately, Real Madrid only became second in their group behind Tottenham and now Paris must challenge current Champions Real Madrid – whether they like it or not.

But PSG better show that they are a worthy opponent as with Neymar and Mbappe they bought a hell of offensive power to their team. If they are able to create as much pressure on Real as they did last year on Barcelona they definitely should have a chance, especially regarding the defense of Madrid. But also Real are struggling in this year’s La Liga season where they are far behind all time rival Barcelona which might fuel them to even more motivation in the international competition.

FC Basel v Manchester City

The last game and maybe the one with the most predictable result is Basel facing Manchester City. Basel are only second in the Swiss table behind young boys, but though they played a great group stage where the other club from Manchester was the opponent twice. Now it’s about showing the world that they can play some decent football and not to give up too early as sensations are always possible yet this one is ridiculously unlikely to happen regarding the seriousness Pep Guardiola gives to every game.

What are your predictions to the first four games played in the UCL next week? Feel free to leave a comment! Also, upvotes if you liked it or feedback if not are highly appreciated. Have a good time!