You may recall that last week, we brought you news of the first set of Round of 16 first leg games set to be played in the Champions League.
Well this week sees the second set of those matches with 8 more teams in action across Tuesday and Wednesday evening this week, and we have an absolutely enthralling game to kick things off with that has been the final of the tournament three times in the past, including last year.
As usual, you can enjoy all the great action of this tournament with bet365 Sport thanks to the extensive pre-match betting markets available across all four games, plus exciting In Play betting action when the games get underway too.
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But before we head over to this week’s set of games, let’s quickly give you a recap of how the first set of Round of 16 first leg games went last week.
In a relatively even contest between the two teams, AC Milan took the win thanks to Brahim Diaz’s early strike. In what was a tight contest, Kane hit the bar for Spurs (though the offside flag would have denied him a goal anyway) and then after a cagey second half, Milan missed two headed chances from De Ketelaere and Messias to extend their lead. Spurs are not out of this though and it should be an intriguing second leg in London in three week’s time.
The biggest game of the first set of matches came in Paris but it was the visitors Bayern Munich who left with the advantage thanks to Kingsley Coman’s 53rd minute finish. After a first half that was almost entirely bossed by the German side, they finally went in front thanks to a great first-time finish by Coman. PSG looked sharper when Mbappe was subbed on, but they were denied an equaliser when VAR ruled out an Mbappe equaliser for offside earlier in the move. On today’s showing PSG need Mbappe back for the second leg, or Bayern look destined to progress even though they will miss Pavard in the second leg after he received a red card late in injury time for his second booking.
As I predicted last week, Benfica proved to be too strong for Club Brugge who, despite an eye-catching performance from Noe Lang, went down to a 2-0 defeat. Goalless at the half, Benfica scored early in the second when Mario scored from the spot after Hendry took out Ramos in the box. Late on David Neres surely made the second leg a formality with Neres profiting from some poor defending by Meijer to shoot past Mignolet into the net. Benfica look set for the quarterfinals on this display.
Chelsea will rue the number of missed opportunities they had in this game with Joao Felix the main culprit as Graham Potter’s men went down to another defeat. Dortmund had just two shots on target in the game, but one of them from Adeyemi handed them the lead in the tie and with it a significant advantage for the second leg in three weeks’ time, especially with Chelsea’s current form being so poor domestically.
Now, let’s focus on the four games taking place this week, starting with the action set to take place on Tuesday evening.
Napoli have been one of the strongest and most consistent performers in European football this season. Not only do they sit at the top of Serie A by a country mile, Luciano Spaletti’s men also topped their Champions League group, finishing ahead of Liverpool on head to head record against the team from Anfield.
Frankfurt entered the Champions League due to their Europa League cup win last season and while that team has seen a number of players moved on, they are still performing well in Germany although not as well as Napoli have done in Italy. It is a close call here but I am just going to plump for a narrow win for Napoli here at 11/10.
A repeat of last year’s final which Real Madrid won by a 1-0 scoreline, as well as the 2019 final which Real were 3-1 winners, the two teams have also met in the 1981 final, which saw Liverpool emerge as the 1-0 winners. The Reds won their first three games against Real Madrid but have not won any of the six since, including those two final defeats.
On a more positive note, Liverpool come into the game in better form after two 2-0 wins over Everton and Newcastle. Real too have better form of late after their victory in the World Club Cup and a 4-0 win in La Liga at the weekend. This will be a close one but I think with Anfield likely to be red hot and Real missing Karim Benzema, I think that Liverpool could gain a degree of revenge here with a win on the night. Liverpool are a good value 5/4 for the win here.
Inter have lost just one of their last 18 games in all competitions, so they will come into this game in great shape against an FC Porto team that currently lie in second place in their domestic league and who have a similar kind of record to Inter. Those factors alone suggest that this could well be a very tough fixture for both teams.
I’d have Inter as the slight favourites to win this opening leg, but you have to be wary of some of FC Porto’s away form of late and the fact that Inter’s sole defeat in that 18-game run did come at home. However, I think the Italian squad has just the edge when it comes to the quality of players that they possess and at the San Siro, I am backing them to land a narrow win. Take Inter here at 7/10.
The two games that these two teams have played against each other previously have seen twelve goals scored, nine in one game (a 6-3 win for Manchester City) and three in the other (a 2-1 win for Leipzig). Both of which suggest that the home team should have the advantage in this game and also that there is a good chance both will find the net too.
I can’t really argue with that as recently both teams have been scoring goals, but also conceding them too and while Manchester City are, for me at least, the much better and more rounded team, Leipzig are a tricky opponent to beat at home. City though have Erling Haaland and I think he could be the difference maker here so I am backing City to win at 3/4 with bet365.
*all games kick off at 8pm unless otherwise stated and all odds shown were correct with bet365 Sport at the time of writing but may have changed in the meantime.
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