With Chelsea’s title defense resuming against Lille, the Champions League last 16 kicks off this week , the headline match being the meeting between the 13-time winner Real Madrid and Messi's Paris Saint-Germain. English teams continue their impressive runs and for the fourth time in five seasons there are at least four English teams in the Champions League knock out stage.
A first of its kind, the champions League knockout stages without the away goals rule following the scrapped by UEFA means ties with similar scores after two legs will now all go to extra time and then penalties, a look at the matches of the first-leg games in the last 16 this week:
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN VS. REAL MADRID
PSG's attempt of winning a first Champions League title faces potential threat as they face the most successful side in the history of the competition. The first leg of the Champions League last 16 tie between Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid will take place at the Parc des Princes.
Will PSG pass the test by stepping up to this kind of games against Real Madrid with Lionel Messi leading the line, a major reason the former Barcelona forward was brought into a star studded side along with Sergio Ramos but just seven goals in 20 games for Messi questions if Pochettino side can ever rely on the Argentine, only time can tell as he faces a familiar foe but with a different team for the first time and Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti travels to face the side he once coached.
As for Real Madrid, their talisman Karim Benzema has missed the last three games through injury and he is doubtful for the game while PSG could also be without Neymar following his injury, but the Brazilian forward might be on the bench likely to join and get some minutes alongside Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi.
Despite having Messi, PSG struggled, finishing second in Group A to secure their spot in the first knockout round, while 13-time winners Real Madrid claimed first position in Group D to progress to the round of 16. The Ligue 1 side were beaten by Real Madrid at this stage of the 2017-18 competition.
SPORTING VS. MANCHESTER CITY
The English Champions are favorite against the Portuguese opponent who are making only their second appearance in the knockout stage, and first since 2008-09. Sporting are in the competition’s group stage this season for the first time since 2017-18, finishing ahead of Borussia Dortmund to advance. The Portuguese champions have been in good form lately. In 2022 Ruben Amorim's charges beat Benfica 2:1 and won the Portuguese League Cup. Currently in second place in the Primera and six points behind Porto.
Manchester City on the other hand will be hoping to go one better than last season's runners-up finish and win the Champions League for the first time this year. While it is widely acknowledged that Pep Guardiola and his side have reigned supreme over English football, City have constantly struggled in Europe over the years especially in the knock out stages though pep team broke new ground by reaching their first-ever final in the competition last season and have always been favorite many are still not convinced the citizens are ready to take over Europe.
City's only loss in all competitions since Oct. 30 2021 was a 2-1 loss to RB Leipzig in the last match day of the group stage a run of 20 games, which meant little since Pep Guardiola's team was already assured of advancing and top of the log in a group with PSG. Manchester City will be without record signing Jack Grealish after a recurrence of the shin problem he suffered at Aston Villa last season.
Both teams have met three times in all tournaments. In terms of victories, Lisbon is ahead - 2:1. In both wins, the Primera with Man City claiming a 3:2 victory at home.
SALZBURG VS. BAYERN MUNICH
Bayern Munich will be without their captain and goal keeper Manuel Neuer, an integral member of the team who leads from the goal post and will be joined by Leon Goretzka, Alphonso Davies and Jamal Musiala who are high-profile names to remain sidelined. The Bavarian powerhouse make the short trip to Austria to face Salzburg. The visitors arrive as the big favorites to take a 1st leg lead back to Germany but the Bundesliga giants were beaten 4-2 by Bochum at the weekend and will need to put in a much better performance on Wednesday night. though Julian Nagelsmann's side have not lost back-to-back matches at all this season and have a perfect record in the UEFA Champions League in 2021/22.
Salzburg are 14 points clear at the top of the Austrian league standings and won all three home games in the group stage of the Champions League , including a 3-1 success against Wolfsburg, to progress to the knockout rounds as Group G runners-up behind Lille. Salzburg’s German forward Karim Adeyemi is reportedly a transfer target for Bayern’s Bundesliga rival Borussia Dortmund, but he will need to avoid a yellow card if he wants to make the second leg in Munich.
There is a good chance that game will be treated to a goal-fest as the last two meetings between Salzburg and Bayern Munich have produced at least 4-goals
INTER MILAN VS. LIVERPOOL
Liverpool have kept 100 percent record in the Champions League this season beating AC Milan 2-1 away in December in the final group game to complete a clean sweep of six wins, becoming the first English team to do so. Inter Milan are set to welcome Liverpool back at San Siro in the first leg of the Round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League. The two clubs last faced each other way back in 2008, with Liverpool beating Inter Milan 1-0. A second-half goal from Spanish striker Fernando Torres ensured victory for Liverpool.
The Reds were one of three teams in this year's competition who completed the group stage with a 100% record, while the Nerazzurri finished second behind Real Madrid. Inter Milan are the current Serie A champions and would prove hard to beat in their own backyard but Liverpool arrive full of confidence and with the better squad on paper, Jurgen Klopp's side have reached successive finals in 2018 and 2019, losing to Real Madrid in the first before beating Tottenham, but the Reds have not gone beyond the quarter-finals in their two campaigns since.
Since the 2003-04 campaign, Inter have been eliminated from two of their previous three two-legged knockout ties against English opposition; all three of these have been in the last 16, suffering defeat against Liverpool in 2007-08 and Manchester United in 2008-09, before losing out to Chelsea in 2009-10.
