Champions League: the mysteries behind each duel for the round of 16

The music of the Champions League and the ear begins to sweeten. Even more so if the most important tournament at the club level – the World Cup every year for many – enters its final stage, in that stretch in which the dreams of all the soccer fans on the planet come true because the greatest powers face each other with all its stars. As if it were a match PlayStation.

This Monday, in Nyon, Switzerland, at the UEFA headquarters, the draw for the round of 16 of the European competition which will have a pause between now and February of next year, with the World Cup in Qatar in the middle. And the duels that remained really promise to be great matches.

The great challenge of the PSG of the ‘MNM’

Coming in second place in his group was not good news for him. paris st germain. And it was confirmed when former Turkish footballer Hamit Altintop, special guest of UEFA, revealed the rival: bayern Munich. The powerful German club that was the only one to reach perfection in the group stage (six wins, 18 goals for and only two against) will seek to end the trident Messi-Neymar-Mbappé.

The ‘MNM’ is going through its best moment since it was formed last season. In fact, so far in the 2022-23 campaign, the trio of attackers have scored 45 of the 58 goals scored by the team led by Christophe Galtier. That is to say, 77.5% of the celebrations were thanks to Leo, ‘Ney’ and Kylian.

; The Parisians dream of their first ‘Orejona’ although in front of them will be the rival that won the final in the rare edition of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was the most difficult rival that could touch us. That has its positive side. We had the history of Villarreal that many did not see as if it were a challenge (and he eliminated them last season) “he pointed Oliver Khanidol and president of the Board of Directors of the Bavarian club.

The record between the two in the tournament indicates that the French have a slight advantage having won six of the eleven duels, while the Germans won five. There was never a tie. In addition, the last time the faces were seen was in the quarterfinals of the 2020-21 season, a series that the PSG led on away goals (won 3-2 in Munich, lost 1-0 in Paris).

Real Madrid vs. Liverpool: two old acquaintances

The other star crossing of the round of 16 has the Real Madrid and Liverpool as protagonists. The two finalists of the last edition will face each other once again. On the side of the Spanish team, it will be against the rival against whom they won their last two ‘Orejonas’. On the English side there will be a thirst for revenge, they will defeat their “black beast”.

“I know we’ve played Real Madrid in a couple of finals, but we haven’t met that many times in a two-leg tie, so we have to be excited about this. Real Madrid’s record is the best. We know, but we also know that ours is not bad. ”warned Jurgen Klopp, manager of Liverpool.

“The second game is at the Bernabéu, with the full support of our fans, who and everyone in Europe knows it”replied Emilio Butragueño, idol and director of institutional relations for the white club.

“The great classic of Europe”headlined the Spanish newspaper “Marca” about what will be the tenth and eleventh clash between the two for the Champions League, in a balance that favors the Spanish (five wins, one draw and three losses).

As a special fact is that the first and last clash between the two took place in France. And both defined the champion. The first, in the 1980-81 season, was won by Liverpool with a goal from Alan Kennedy; the last one, in 2021-22, was won by Madrid with a goal from Vinícius Jr.

City vs. Leipzig: Haaland against what could have been his team

Erling Haland is the great attraction of Pep Guardiola’s light blue machine called Manchester City. Even more so if the rival in turn is the RB Leipzigwhich could have been his team before making the leap to Borussia Dortmund.

The dream of the ‘Red Bull factory’ was for Haaland to jump from Salzburg to Leipzig, following in the footsteps of Naby Keïta, Dayot Upamecano and Amadou Haidara. The idea was that Leipzig would serve as a bridge for a future transfer to a great European player, but it was not fulfilled.

The ‘cyborg’ clause was accessible (20 million euros), but the high salary demanded by the late Mino Raiola made the operation unfeasible. Apparently, Raiola demanded a minimum of 8 million per season for Haaland. RB Leipzig, however, were only willing to offer 5.

His path was finally in Dortmund and he made the white team one of his favorite victims in Germany: he scored six goals in four games. With regard to the duels between City and the English team, there are only two clashes for the group stage of the last edition with a victory per side (6-3 for the ‘Sky Blues’ in England, 2-1 for the ‘ Red Bull’ in Germany).

Napoli and Benfica, the pleasant surprises of the tournament

Probably no one predicted that Naples Y benfica would dominate their groups having as rivals Liverpool Y PSG, respectively. But they did it by surprising the world of football with their great game.

The Italians are having a dream season. They are undefeated leaders in Serie A and in the Champions League they lost only once (2-0 against the ‘Reds’ at Anfield). Now they will face EintrachtFrankfurt German with the slogan of continuing to make history: for the first time they are among the 16 best in Europe and they aspire to more.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Giacomo Raspadori, André-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Piotr Zieliński, to name just a few, have been sensational, and coach Luciano Spalletti has shaped the team as a whole to perfection. Solid in defense and fluid, spectacular and efficient in attack”analyzed the official website of UEFA.

For his part, the benfica the group fought the powerful one inch by inch PSG. They tied in everything (points, goals for, goals against), but the Portuguese qualified first because they scored more away goals than the Parisian team.

They will now crash into the witches of Belgium in a duel that should not present major inconveniences, taking into account that in the first phase they beat Juventus of Italy.

Secondly, Milan Y Tottenham the faces will be seen in the eighths. Borussia Dortmund vs. Chelsea and Inter vs. porto They will be the other duels that this stage will leave us.

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