The UEFA Champions League will enter, as of this Tuesday, in the definition stage.
The round of 16 will have top-level duels in which no one will give anything away and where details will be essential to be able to continue in the race and try to dominate Europe.
Of course, with such a long break for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and a transfer market that had great movements, it is necessary to make an analysis of the teams, the moment they are going through and how they prepared for this instance.
Paris Saint-Germain – Bayern Munich
Lionel Messi and Mbappé training before the duel against Bayern Munich.
(Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)
The clash between the French and the Germans is perhaps one of the most anticipated.
The factors that fly over the environment are more than interesting.
On the one hand, we are talking about the leaders of Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga.
On the other hand, both have top-level teams, they are always candidates and that they found themselves so prematurely was only a matter of chance.
For the Parisian team, La Orejona is an elusive dream.
The most recent and remembered precedent dates back to 2020, when both teams met in the final held in Lisbon.
With a goal from Kingsley Coman, Bayern Munich managed to prevail and left PSG on the verge of consecration.
Due to the quality of the squad, although not so much due to football news, those led by Christophe Galtier have the need to go to the next round.
Of course, bringing together
Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Neymar, Sergio Ramos, among other figures, in the same squad has its obligations and the Champions League is one of them.
Although it is true that the latest results by league were not so encouraging, although they are still the leader by 5 points behind Olympique de Marseille, a level of concentration and performance is expected in accordance with the duel that is coming.
Bayern Munich also leads in Germany, but not as comfortably as in other years.
To face the final part of the season, they have incorporated three players:
Daley Blind, Yann Sommer and Joao Cancelo
.
The Swiss goalkeeper and the Portuguese seem to have earned a place in the starting team, while the Dutchman aims to be a variant on the substitute bench due to his great versatility.
As always, the German imprint seeks to be the protagonist and does not give any ease on a playing field, although it is true that this season it has not been as regular and fearful as on other occasions.
Of course, you can never be confident against the six-time European champion.
The first leg in the Parc des Princes in Paris will be this Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. and will be broadcast by Fox Sports
.
Milan–Tottenham
Junior Messias, Olivier Giroud and Pierre Kalulu (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP)
The other game on Tuesday will feature Milan and Tottenham.
Both teams go through the season with an irregular gait and
it would not be strange, that they put all their chips in trying to get as far as possible at the European level.
Both the Italians and the English are in fifth place in their respective leagues, although those led by Stefano Pioli have a difference of 18 points with the leader Napoli, while Antonio Conte's team keeps a distance of 12 points with the pointer Arsenal.
"It's been a very difficult month for all of us,"
said Pioli. However, he stressed that the game appears at a time that could favor them.
"We have to raise our level because the Champions League demands more of you and Tottenham is a strong team, but I think we ran into them at the ideal moment
”, was his balance.
The Rossoneri face their first series in a knockout phase of the Champions League since 2014. At that time, the round of 16 duel matched them with Atlético
de Madrid
and the result was lapidary.
After a 5-1 win over the Madrid team, they said goodbye to that edition and had to wait 9 years to return to participate in a round of 16 phase.
On the Tottenham bench sits
Antonio Conte
.
The former coach of Inter and Juventus knows perfectly the dynamics of the Italian teams, since
he has a total of 4 Scudettos in his showcases -three at the command of Juventus and the rest with Inter-.
As if that were not enough, Conte has an excellent record against Milan.
In 14 games he came out victorious in 10, drew 3 times and only came out defeated once.
Antonio Conte, the great executioner of Milan.
(Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP)
For the Champions League, we have to go back to 2011 to find a precedent between the two teams.
Precisely, in the round of 16, Tottenham won 1-0 on the global scoreboard and advanced to the next stage.
The only goal of the series was scored by Peter Crouch.
Starting at 5:00 p.m. and broadcast by ESPN, Milan and Tottenham will face each other at the San Siro to try to guide their qualification to the next phase.
Borussia Dortmund–Chelsea
Enzo Fernández poses with the Chelsea shirt, the club that paid 121 million euros for his token.
Photo: Chelsea Press.
For Wednesday, the expectation is closely related to the cross between two club models and two very different incorporation policies
.
The Chelsea phenomenon was one of the great themes of the European winter, since the millions invested to be competitive cannot be ignored.
On the Borussia Dortmund side, his way of studying the market and scouting with the players places him on the completely opposite side of the London team.
Chelsea disbursed 329 million euros to incorporate players in this transfer market.
As color data, the French Ligue 1 spent 128 million euros, the German Bundesliga invested 67 million and both LaLiga in Spain and the Italian Serie A bought players for 32 million euros.
That is to say that the Blues spent 70 million more than 4 of the most important leagues in the world.
In total, there were
eight
signings
:
121 million euros for
Enzo Fernández,
70 for
Mykhaylo Mudryk,
38 for
Benoît Badiashile,
35 for
Noni Madueke,
30 for
Malo Gusto,
12.5 for
Andrey Santos,
12 for
Datro Fofana and
11 for Joao Felix
's loan
.
Although only Enzo Fernández, Mudryk and the Portuguese could be registered.
With 31 points and located in tenth position, the English team is not going through its best Premier season.
First with Thomas Tuchel and now with Graham Potter, the team can't find their way.
All guns point to the fact that all the eggs will be put in the basket called the Champions League.
Borussia Dortmund, ranked third in the Bundesliga and only three points behind Bayern Munich, has a team with many good young assets.
Nico Schlotterbeck, Jude Bellingham, Giovanni Reyna, among others are clear examples.
They also have experienced players like Marco Reus, Niklas Sule or Raphael Guerreiro.
In other words, it has a harmonious and balanced squad, which is led by the 40-year-old Croatian Edin Terzic.
Although the duel against Chelsea is not the most favourable, the moment for both is quite different.
The Germans, accustomed to regularity and planning, and the English, in full change and confusion, present very different reality.
A very interesting game with players of great quality and a future that can be seen on ESPN from 5:00 p.m. next Wednesday.
Bruges – Benfica
Photo: EFE/EPA/JOSE SENA GOULAO
Benfica and Bruges, two of the revelation teams of the group stage, will face each other in search of a classification that places them among the 8 best in the competition
.
The Belgian team qualified as second in their group with 11 points, but the merit was that they had to face Atlético de Madrid, Porto and Bayer Leverkusen.
Product of 3 victories, 2 draws and a defeat, he was able to win his ticket.
For its part, Benfica came first in the area it shared with PSG, Juventus and Maccabi Haifa.
The Portuguese march as leaders in the Portuguese league, 5 points behind Porto, but they suffered a fundamental loss such as Enzo Fernández.
The sale of the Argentine meant pocketing an immense amount of money that helped inflate the coffers, but
the loss from football is incalculable.
Bruges will have to face the key with two strong-impact casualties
.
Ferrán Jutgla, who this season has played 31 games in which he has scored 10 goals and provided 6 assists, suffered a hip injury and is ruled out
.
Another important player like
Andres Skov Olsen is also suffering from an injury and will not be able to be part of the roster to play the series.
Hit by injuries, but confident of their group performance, the Belgian team is hoping to hit again and advance to the quarterfinals.
From 5:00 p.m. and with the Fox Sports television signal in charge of the transmission , this cross between two of the revelation teams of this UEFA Champions League
will take place .
look also
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