The first round of 16 second leg of the UEFA Champions League promises to be heated with the duel between Real Madrid and Paris, the possibility of Salzburg hurting Bayern and two English clubs on the right track.
With Expedia, we review the hot spots of the week.
The (meagre) hopes of Inter in England
Inter’s victories on English soil are rare (4 in 16 trips), but they can take inspiration from the last time they achieved such a feat. Samuel Eto’o scored in the 1-0 away win away to Chelsea at this stage of the competition in 2010, a result as the Nerazzurri prevailed 3-1 on aggregate to become European champions. Europe for the third time.
The Interists have already managed to come from behind twice against Liverpool, winning 3-0 in the second leg, but that was at home, in the semi-finals in 1965 – another year they lifted the trophy.
The Reds won’t be worried though, having qualified in all 34 UEFA double ties in which they won the away leg. Even the two times they lost at home after 2-0 away wins, in the 2000/01 UEFA Cup against Roma and in the 2004/05 Champions League against Grazer AK. The Reds have also gone to the end during these two seasons.
Adeyemi returns to Munich
After the 1-1 draw in Austria between Salzburg and Bayern, a lot of attention will be focused on Karim Adeyemi, who joined Bayern at eight and is now on his way to eliminating the German club with Salzburg.
Julian Nagelsmann’s men won’t underestimate the visitors after Kingsley Coman’s last-minute equalizer took Bayern’s record to 22 straight away matches unbeaten in the competition.
If he has not scored in 12 of his last 15 matches, Adeyemi himself believes in it. “I’m still confident,” he said after the first leg. “We’re young, we’re sharp, we can hurt them and we can win against any team. »
Real back to the wall
Would the curse of the round of 16 be back in the Spanish capital? This pitfall has often been fatal to Real in the 2000s, but also in two of the last three seasons. To stop the trend, the Merengues have a goal to go up against an MNM – Messi-Neymar-Mbappé – which is slowly gaining momentum during this winter.
There is of course Mbappé, hero of the first leg, but also Messi, top scorer in the history of the Clasico and the knockout stages of the Champions League. La Pulga still seems to be looking for his bearings in Paris, but he has them like no one else at the Santiago Bernabéu. 11 years ago, his goals showed Real the way out of the Champions League.
Marcelo, who was one of four players left behind by Messi, who scored a stunning goal that night, and Karim Benzema, on the bench at the time, will hope Argentina’s lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place .
Man. City in an armchair
After the 5-0 conceded in Lisbon, it is now a question, for Sporting, of limiting the damage. Before this game, Sporting had qualified eight times against Premier League sides in home and away ties, but now it’s all about making sure City don’t come close to the record for the biggest win. in the round of 16 that Bayern holds … against Sporting, since 2009 (12-1).
A great success which did not cheer up Pep Guardiola. “Some players were not up to it,” he dared after the first leg. “We often lost the ball. When that happens against top teams in Europe, you give them a chance to fight back. We have to improve. The players, they know me. The way we work can be improved. »
Given that City’s three Portuguese players, João Cancelo, Rúben Dias and Bernardo Silva – who scored twice in the first leg – came through Sporting’s Lisbon rivals Benfica, we can expect the leaders Premier League keep their feet on the ground.