02/15/2021 12:35 PM
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 02/15/2021 12:35 PM
The most glamorous club competition in the world of football returns this Tuesday.
There are 16 teams that will start the clashes one-on-one in the knockout stages of the Champions League, thinking about the grand final on May 29 at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Turkey.
Four Spanish clubs, four Germans, three English, three Italians, a Portuguese and a French go for European glory.
It will be a phase in which, Covid through, there will be surprises of movement with an unexpected role from Eastern Europe, which will receive three games of this phase due to the lack of authorization from the German authorities to receive English teams.
There will be two games in Budapest and one in Bucharest.
The Hungarian capital will host this Tuesday the first leg between German RB Leipzig and English Liverpool.
On February 24, meanwhile, it will host another German-English duel, between Borussia Mönchengladbach and Manchester City.
Hungary, whose Prime Minister Viktor Orban is a huge soccer fan, thus came up with a plan B to host those matches.
Budapest already hosted the European Super Cup in September, between Bayern Munich and Sevilla, in a stadium with 15,000 spectators, which UEFA used as a test.
In this case, however, it will be played behind closed doors.
Fans in the final of the European Super Cup in Hungary.
It will not be the case in the eighth of the Champions League.
Photo EFE / Laszlo Balogh / POOL
In neighboring Romania they also rub their hands with the surprise "relocation" of the duel between Atlético de Madrid and Chelsea, scheduled on 23 February.
Tallinn, Warsaw or Genoa (Italy) also sounded like candidates to host the party, before Bucharest was elected.
This is one of twelve host cities for this year's Euro Cup (June 11-July 11).
Beyond that, this week will be comprised of four games, including the duel of candidates FC Barcelona - Paris Saint-Germain and Leipzig - Liverpool, both games to be played on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Porto - Juventus and Sevilla - Borussia Dortmund continue the task.
Messi, Pochettino and various morbidities
For the first time since the famous comeback in 2017, PSG return to the Camp Nou, with the desire to exorcise the memory of that humiliation against Barcelona (they had won the first leg 4-0 but lost the return 6 to 1).
However, the injuries of Neymar and Ángel di María complicated the preparation of the club in the French capital, where coach Mauricio Pochettino, who arrived in early January, is still looking to find the best form of his new squad.
"The team will be prepared," said the Argentine coach without hesitation last Saturday, after the victory of the Parisians against Nice (2-1).
"We are in a good moment," said his
Barça
counterpart
, Ronald Koeman.
"These round of 16 seem quite balanced to me," added the Dutchman without being overly committed.
Messi celebrates.
A postcard repeated in the last games.
Photo LLUIS GENE / AFP
The victory against Alavés on Saturday (5-1) was proof of an upward dynamic for the Catalans, symbolized by their leader,
Leo
Messi: the Argentine has scored eight goals in his last five league games, with the team having won 11 of the last 13.
This, added to the casualties in the rival, seem to have balanced the actions when not long ago, and more than anything because of the setbacks and problems of Barcelona, PSG seemed the great candidate of the series.
All this, with Messi approaching the end of his contract with the Catalan club and with the Paris club targeted as one of the top candidates for what would be a historic move if the Argentine ends up leaving Spain.
A candidate in trouble
In Hungary, where the party was "transferred" due to the measures of the German government that prohibits access to its territory to travelers from an area where COVID is particularly active, Liverpool will appear with a suitcase full of doubts .
The
Reds
suffered the third consecutive defeat in the Premier League on Saturday, at Leicester (3-1), prompting their coach Jürgen Klopp to acknowledge that the league title is "out of reach" this season.
Jürgen Klopp, involved in headaches for his Liverpool.
Reuters photo
But Leipzig does not want to be overconfident due to the bad moment of their rival.
"We have a considerable job ahead of us," said coach Julian Nagelsmann, whose managers are second in the Bundesliga, four points behind Bayern Munich with one more game.
Cristiano goes for "his" throne;
Haaland wants to take the leap
Juventus go through "strange" moments by the very high standards it has set in the last decade.
Owner of the last 9 Serie A titles in a row, today he is fourth in the league, eight points (which could be 11) behind the leader Inter.
However, on the last date of the group stage they crushed Barcelona at the Camp Nou (3-0) and snatched the first place, thus winning a simpler series a priori: against Porto.
Cristiano Ronaldo, the top scorer in history, accentuates the potential of the Italian representative, who remains one of the firm contenders for the title.
Can coach Andrea Pirlo count on Paulo Dybala?
The Argentine is recovering from an injury to the medial collateral ligament in his left knee suffered on January 10, which in theory would require a couple of weeks of recovery but is taking longer.
Cristiano's gaze.
On the ball and on target.
Photo Marco Alpozzi / LaPresse via AP
The Italians are clear favorites in the duel with the Portuguese league leaders, as opposed to a more open head-to-head between Sevilla and Borussia Dortmund.
The good level and stability shown by Julen Lopetegui's team broadens its European perspective against a rival distanced from the strength of yesteryear and weakened by the lack of public in the stadiums.
Dortmund is one of the clubs that has suffered the most from the void.
His performance has nothing to do with what he showed with the full stands of Signal Iduna Park.
Not for nothing is hers a fan rated as one of the top in Europe.
Haaland has not been enough to support Edin Terzic's side, far from the fight for the Bundesliga title to which they had aspired in recent years.
Today he is sixth in the local tournament, without even occupying one of the qualifying places for the next Champions League.
All series and matches
All games will be played at 5:00 p.m. in Argentina.
In all cases, the team named first is the one that plays the first leg at home.
Barcelona vs PSG: First
leg February 16;
return March 10.
Leipzig vs. Liverpool:
Out February 16;
return March 10.
Porto vs. Juventus:
Out February 17;
return March 9.
Seville vs. Borussia Dortmund: First
leg February 17;
return March 9.
Atlético Madrid vs. Chelsea:
Out February 23;
return March 17.
Lazio vs. Bayern Munich:
Out February 23;
return March 17.
Borussia Monchengladbach vs. Manchester City:
Out February 24;
return March 16.
Atalanta vs. Real Madrid:
Out February 24;
return March 16.