It’s Finally Time for Leg 1 of 2! Champions League Round of 16 Predictions

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Bayern Munich won its sixth UEFA Champions League in August 2020.

Yes! Champions League Round of 16 Leg 1 of 2 are happening for the next two Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 3pm. The first leg started today and ends on Wednesday, February 24th. The second leg will take place between March 9th – March 17th.

Here is a list of the fixtures.

So, who goes through?

Barcelona vs PSG? Prediction: Paris Saint-Germain

     This is easily the most eye-catching game out of the Round of 16, with 2 of the tournament’s heavyweights going head to head. Neymar Jr returning to play his former club, and even more so his former teammate Lionel Messi, is possibly the highlight of the fixture. The Parisians have a well rounded squad, with potential to be great. An electric frontline, a strong base of midfield, and an overall compatible backline. Barcelona, on the other hand, look nothing like they did 10 years ago. Barcelona’s aging squad is finding it hard to keep up with stronger and faster teams, and recently they have been on and off. We’ve seen flashes of their potential, with young players like Pedri, Riqui Puig, and Ronald Araujo, but their defensive crisis is just too big to overlook. Jordi Alba isn’t getting any younger, and Clement Lenglet looks out of sorts without the leadership of his injured teammate and club legend Gerard Pique. While Lionel Messi has the capability to single handedly win games for Barcelona, PSG right now just look too strong. If Barcelona can get on a winning streak, and regain their best potential, then they have a strong chance of going far in this tournament, but should the form stay the same as it is now, last years runner ups look like the stronger side.

RB Leipzig vs Liverpool? Prediction: Liverpool

     Last season’s Premier League champions vs the Bundesliga’s 3rd place finishers; this tie is a confusing one. On the face of it, Liverpool look like the clear favorites, winning the Premier League by clear daylight last year, and the Champions League 2 years ago. But it’s deeper than that. Liverpool are now winless in their last 5 games, failing to score a goal in their last 4. Their loss against Burnley at home in January was the first time that Liverpool have lost at home in the league since 2017. RB Leipzig right now are 2nd place in the Bundesliga, only 4 points behind last year’s treble winner Bayern Munich. While they haven’t been in fantastic form recently, they haven’t been horrible either, and due to the fact that they knocked out 2019’s runner up tottenham and Atletico Madrid last year, before falling to PSG in the semi finals, they are not a team to take lightly. Although Liverpool have hit a horrible run of form, due to the fact that this is a one time thing, and they don’t drop off consistently, it’s very hard to think that they won’t be back to their winning ways in a month’s time. Not an easy game.

Sevilla vs Borussia Dortmund? Prediction: Borussia Dortmund

These 2 teams have been nowhere near their best this season, with 2013’s Champions League runners up Dortmund sitting in 4th place in the Bundesliga, and 2020 Europa League Champions Sevilla sitting in 5th in LaLiga. An underwhelming season so far for both sides, and again a match where anyone could go through. Sevilla have had the better record this season, however their longest winning streak was farther back towards the beginning of the season. Dortmund have a lot of attacking flair, with most notably Erling Haaland, the serial striker who scores goals for fun, however they have conceded a decent amount. Sevilla have conceded much less, however they don’t have the attacking power that Dortmund do. Neither team looks particularly strong enough to go far this year, but Erling Haaland’s ability to split a defence in 2 could prove to be a bit too much for Sevilla. 

FC Porto vs Juventus? Prediction: Juventus

     Whereas the last fixture that we discussed proved difficult to pick a winner, this one is most certainly the opposite. While Porto are a good side, Juventus looks way too strong. Cristiano Ronaldo, Paulo Dybala, Weston McKinnie, and Alvaro Morata are all in flying form right now, and the team overall looks rock solid. After a turbulent start to the season, Juventus seem to have finally hit their groove, and with Ronaldo’s ability to score near impossible goals, the Bianconeri are the clear favorites for this one.

Atletico Madrid vs Chelsea? Prediction: Atletico Madrid

An exciting match with big players and goals, goals, goals. But there’s one problem. Even though the season started so brightly, Chelsea are now in 8TH PLACE in the Premier League. Atletico Madrid, on the other hand, are having one of the best seasons in their history, have only lost one league game this entire season. They’ve conceded only 7 goals in 17 games played this year, and are sitting quite comfortably in 1st place in LaLiga. No doubt about this one. 

Lazio vs Bayern Munich? Prediction: Bayern Munich

Lazio will have to take on the team that won quite literally everything last season. The Bundesliga, The Champions League, The DFB Pokal, The Uefa Super Cup, and more. Bayern Munich are once again the favorites to win this tournament, after winning every single game in last year’s Champions League. Bayern’s depth is probably one of the best in the world, with a plethora of players in every position. Even though Lazio have very good players, they come nowhere near FC Bayern Munich.

Atalanta vs Real Madrid? Prediction: Atalanta

3 or 4 years ago, Real Madrid were hands down the best team in the Champions League by a mile. That isn’t exactly the case now. They have been in horrendous form recently, and manager Zinedine Zidane has not made any clear changes to this team. Atalanta, although not as good as last year, are known for beating big teams in big games. This game has the biggest potential for a huge upset, but that might be the case unless Madrid climb out of this crisis. If they don’t, then it could be lights out for them in this season’s Champions League. We’re going to go with the underdog for this one.

Borussia M’gladbach vs Manchester City? Prediction: Manchester City

Possibly the easiest prediction to make out of all of them. Manchester City have found their form again, having been unbeaten in their last 10. They’re dominant in possession, ruthless defensively, and lethal up front. They are by FAR the most in form team in all of Europe at the moment, and if they stay consistent, they could overtake Bayern as the best team in the world. Although that’s a big statement, they’ve shown no signs of slowing down, and only Bayern are predicted to have a stronger chance of winning this tournament.

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CORRECTION: This article was written by Harrisn Spiggle. Apologies for the confusion. Harrison predicted the first two games correctly. Nice start.