UCL | BIG CLASHES THIS WEEK

 

Will Real be able to prove their class in a match against Liverpool, which is going through hard times? Can Eintracht stand up to the best Napoli version since Maradona? Will RB Leipzig's native walls and energy drinks help surprise Manchester City? And, finally, will Inter and Porto be able to prove themselves to fans for failures in the national championships?

LIVERPOOL vs REAL MADRID

Arguably the UEFA Champions League‘s (UCL) most blockbuster last-16 tie sees a replay of the 2021/22 and 2018/19 finals, with six-time winners Liverpool taking on defending and record holding 14-time champions Real Madrid. Liverpool will host the first-leg after finishing second in Group A, and Jürgen Klopp’s men may be breathing a huge sigh of relief after back-to-back 2-0 wins in league action has released some of the growing pressure on the German boss and his side.
Despite the Reds’ poor season by their own exceptionally high standards, a fiery Anfield atmosphere on a European night will still be expected. Although they’ve lost only one of their last 23 home games (W16, D6), Liverpool probably couldn’t have handpicked a tougher opponent to extend that record against than Madrid, especially as Klopp's side have failed to get the better of their Spanish counterparts in each of the last six H2Hs (D1, L5).

The reigning UCL, La Liga (LL), and Club World Cup champions punched their tickets to the last-16 by topping Group F, as they bid to take one step closer to a remarkable sixth UCL final in the last ten seasons. Madrid currently look like the world-beaters they’ve come to be known as, winning each of their last four fixtures with a mammoth 15 goals amassed in that time, most recently securing a 2-0 win against Osasuna as they continue to hunt down Barcelona at the LL summit.
Besides their impressive form, Los Blancos will feel they’ll still be required to up their game, having won only once in their last seven UCL visits to England (D2, L4). A potentially hostile welcome awaits manager Carlo Ancelotti too, especially since he guided Liverpool’s city rivals Everton to a 2-0 win in his last visit to Anfield, meaning he’s lost only twice in his last 11 managerial meetings with the Reds (W6, D3).

Players to watch: Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah is one UCL goal away from tying Didier Drogba (44 goals) as the highest scoring African player in the competition. Meanwhile, Karim Benzema could become the first Madrid player to ever score in six different competitions in a single season should he find the net during these two ties.

Hot stat: Only one of Liverpool’s nine previous matches in the UCL last 16 produced over 2.5 goals in 90 minutes.

EINTRACHT vs NAPOLI

Eintracht Frankfurt kept pace with the Bundesliga top-four by posting a 2-0 win over Werder Bremen at the weekend and with the damage already done by the one-hour mark, Oliver Glasner was able to rest some key players with this game in mind. This is uncharted territory for the Europa League holders though, yet they may be expecting a strong start to this two-legged tie with just four defeats across their last 30 European home games (W17, D9, L4).
Backing up that solid home form is a respectable record against Italian opponents on the European stage (W6, D3, L2), whilst Frankfurt have also progressed from seven of their ten two-legged European knockout ties! The most recent of those was in 2018/19, when Frankfurt eked out a 1-0 victory over two legs against Inter Milan.

Such a low-scoring affair is almost unthinkable when Napoli are involved. The Italians will be charging into this clash with supreme confidence after a run of three straight wins both with clean sheets and 2+ goal margins that has left them 15 points clear at the top of Serie A. That followed up a near-perfect group stage record in this competition (W5, L1), and as the top-scoring side of the Champions League group stage (G20), both short and medium-term form suggests another strong attacking display.
Napoli’s sole group stage defeat was only their third across their last 20 appearances in Europe’s premier competition (W10, D7, L3), raising hopes of their maiden progression to the final eight. Despite their hot form and warm favouritism, a Napoli victory here would go down in history as only their second on German soil at the tenth attempt (W1, D3, L5).

Players to watch: After his goal on Saturday, Frankfurt’s Randal Kolo Muani joined Lionel Messi and Neymar as the only players across Europe’s top-five leagues with a double digit tally for both goals and assists (G10, A10). Watch out for Napoli’s dynamic duo of Victor Osimhen (G18) and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (G10), who have accounted for half of their team’s SA-high haul of 56 goals between them!

Hot streak: All six of Napoli’s previous Champions League round of 16 games (W1, D1, L4) have seen both teams score.

INTER vs PORTO

They might be 15 points behind leaders Napoli in their domestic championship but Inter Milan will begin their latest attempt to progress beyond the UEFA Champions League (UCL) last 16 for the first time since 2010/11 in good form, after a five-match unbeaten run in all competitions (W4, D1). This is their first meeting with Porto since they played four times in 2005 (Inter: W2, D1, L1) including a 4-2 aggregate win for the Italians at this stage in the 2004/05 season.

Losing just one of their last 12 competitive home games (W11) also suggests the Italians could take charge of the tie at the San Siro, where the last seven UCL matches they’ve hosted were won by the side scoring first (Inter: W4, L3). Simone Inzaghi’s side can have little excuse for starting slowly as he was able to rotate his squad for Saturday’s 3-1 win over Udinese.

Porto are up against it then, but few teams in Europe are in better form as they’ve won their last ten competitive matches and are unbeaten since late October (W19, D3), slugging it out with Benfica and Braga at the top of Portugal’s Primeira Liga. Four of those wins enabled them to become the only side this term to top their UCL group despite losing twice!
Two of those successes were away from home ‘to nil’, while holding Milan to a 1-1 draw here last term and Juventus needing extra-time to beat them in Turin in 2020/21 suggests they shouldn’t fear another trip to Italy. Six clean sheets across their last seven competitive away games (W6, D1) will also offer encouragement as they look to make the quarter-finals for the third time in five seasons.

Players to watch: Romelu Lukaku’s penalty against Udinese for Inter was his second goal of three this term to arrive before the 25th minute, while Pepê has netted in two of Porto’s last four games and all five of his competitive strikes this term arrived after the 40th minute.

Hot streak: None of Inter’s last 16 UCL games witnessed scoring before the 15th minute (W8, D3, L5).

LEIPZIG vs MAN CITY

RB Leipzig headed into February full of confidence after stringing together an impressive run of 18 competitive unbeaten matches (W14, D4) prior to their 2-1 loss to Union Berlin a little over a week ago. Marco Rose's team bounced back last weekend with a 3-0 win away to Wolfsburg and will hope that result can spur them on to seal a repeat of last season’s 2-1 UEFA Champions League (UCL) success here against Manchester City.
The German side’s success over City in that group stage tie handed them their fourth European success against a Premier League side (L4), with Rose’s men interestingly coming out on top in all three meetings to have taken place in Leipzig. That should boost Leipzig's confidence somewhat, as should the fact they’ve already beaten the champions of Scotland (Celtic) and Spain (Real Madrid) at home in this season’s competition.

England’s reigning champions are up next, but they’re at risk of losing that crown this year after a 1-1 draw away to league strugglers Nottingham Forest at the weekend left City two points behind leaders Arsenal while having played a game more. The UCL might therefore be a welcome distraction for the Manchester club, who will hope last season’s loss here was just a blip given they had won four successive away games against German opposition prior to that H2H defeat.
Overall, City’s UCL record on the road is one to be admired, losing just five of their last 26 European away games (W15, D6). Their form away from the Etihad in recent weeks though does raise a few eyebrows and potentially hints at an upset, with the weekend’s draw against Forest leaving City with just one win from their last five competitive away matches (D1, L3).

Players to watch: Leipzig forward and former Chelsea star Timo Wener has registered two career assists against City, and intriguingly five of his six personal H2H meetings have been settled by a single-goal margin (W3, L3). Erling Haaland has scored six career goals against RB Leipzig, his joint most against one single opponent.

Hot streak: Leipzig have failed to score in each of their last three knockout stage UCL matches (L3).

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