The long break is over, the Champions League returns on Tuesday and Wednesday, this time with the battles of the best 16 teams. In the first week at M4 Sport, two giants will travel to two much less likely teams, but the big ones will also have something to watch out for, if they don’t want to burn big early.
Real Madrid cannot count on Bellingham (center) this time (Photo: EPA/Kiko Huesca)
With their returning Hungarians, Leipzig would do wonders against Real suffering from injuries
On Tuesday, the record champion Real Madrid and RB Leipzig, which has two Hungarians in its ranks, will return to M4 Sport, this time the Champions League with the straight knockout stage.
The Spaniards tuned in to the European Cup with a serious show of strength in their country’s championship, beating this season’s surprise team, Girona, 4-0, all with serious absences.
On the Madrid side, Rüdiger, Militao, Nacho and Alaba were also missing from the middle of the defense, so Ancelotti’s had to prepare in an unusual way, but they did not use their usual 4-4-2 diamond formation, so the Vazquez-Tchouameni-Carvajal-Mendy foursome had to prove this. and they did it immaculately, they blanked their opponent with the most goals before the round.
Of course, a great defense is worthless if there is confusion in the system. However, this has not happened at Real Madrid for as long as human memory, but now it may cause a problem due to the exit of the best signing of the summer, Jude Bellingham, who was injured in the league against the Catalan team and will not be able to be used for approximately three weeks.
In addition to Bellingham, the defense is still not healthy, so if anything, Leipzig can cling to this.
Gulácsi defends against Real Madrid in the CL round of 16
After almost three years, the goalkeeper of the Hungarian national team can defend again in a straight elimination BL match.
The Leipzig that could easily be starting with two Hungarians against Madrid in the Red Bull Arena, as Willi Orbán and Péter Gulácsi are back to 100% form after long injuries.
The centre-back started again in the Bundesliga match after 154 days in the league against Augsburg at the weekend, while Gulácsi played again in the German league after nearly 500 days.
Of course, no one can think that the players weren’t on the field all the time, but if that’s the case, the timing of the returns can definitely be said to be lucky, which their team can be happy about, because the Germans have to hold on to whatever advantage they find, especially before such an important match. , like this one in Madrid, where, to put it mildly, they are not the most likely to advance.
RB Leipzig-Real Madrid, kedd, 21.00, M4 Sport/m4sport.hu
Kane can improve in the Champions League (Photo: EPA/RONALD WITTEK)
Bayern already had two cups for individuality, Lazio would beat them from the third
Bayern Munich suffered a defeat at the weekend against Bayer Leverkusen in the highly important championship, and for the Tuchels – although it is still too early to talk about it – if the championship is also in the lead, the BL would remain the only trophy they can win this season, the most difficult of all.
Although the German coach spoke before the rally about playing cards that only men are capable of, during the 90 minutes it felt more like the opposite, Xabi Alonso’s hand was much more favorable, and Bayern’s all-in didn’t help either, the end was smooth It was 3-0 for the pharmaceutical manufacturers.
After such an annihilating defeat, it is not the most fortunate to immediately focus on a cup fight, but in the case of Bayern, there are not many options left if they end the 23/24 season with a trophy: they have already been eliminated from the domestic cup, and Leverkusen does not look like that team this year , which would yield such an advantage.
And Bayern does not show the image of the sometimes invincible team that we have become accustomed to, at least at the German level, after more than 10 years they were in serious trouble at home, and Zsolték Lőw can use any professional knowledge, if it came up at a club that we can hear more and more about these days: the individualization.
After the fall in Leverkusen, Thomas Müller, the legend of the team, criticized the shortcomings of some of his teammates, Joshua Kimmich spoke about the lack of acceptance of adaptation. and also that the absence of Tuchel, Coman or Gnabry is a serious problem for Munich.
In addition, double workload is a new field for Lazio (Photo: EPA/FABIO MURRU)
Lazio is probably the happiest about the Bavarian edition of Totál Dráma, since, like the previously mentioned Leipzig, the Romans are hoping for whatever they can get.
Although Master Sarri and his team come into Wednesday’s match with a confidence-boosting 3-1 victory, Lazio scored only 3 goals in their previous 5 matches, and this will certainly not be enough, no matter how bad Bayern’s position is.
In addition, the double workload is also a new field for Lazio, it is only the third time they are in the straight elimination stage of the most prestigious European cup series, but they cannot rest in the league for the sake of the competition, because the competition behind the top 3 for the Italians is amazingly fierce: between 4th and 10th. less than 10 points will decide entering the 24th round.