The Champions League Round of 16,2020
Champions league round of 16 is going to be held from 19th of February. The winner and runner up from 8 groups are playing the round of 16. They are fighting in two different legs to proceed to quarter finals. The 16 respective winner and runner up clubs from each groups are
Paris Saint-Germain/ Real Madrid (Winner/ runner up of Group A)
Bayern Munchen/ Tottenham Hotspurs (Winner/ runner up of Group B )
Manchester City/ Atalanta (Winner/ runner up of Group C)
Juventus/ Atletico Madrid (Winner/ runner up of Group D)
Liverpool/ Napoli (Winner/ runner up of Group E)
Barcelona/ Borussia Dortmund (Winner/ runner up of Group F)
RB Leipzig/ Olympique Lyonnais (Winner/ runner of Group G)
Valencia/ Chelsea (Winner/ runner up of Group H)
Similarly the 3rd standing clubs of each group are playing UEFA Europa League
The clubs playing Europa after elimination from the champions league are
Club Brugge
Olympiakos
Shakhtar Donetsk
Bayer Leverkusen
RB Salzburg
Inter Milan
SL Benfica
Ajax
Round Of 16 Draw
The round of 16 draw was held on Nyon, Switzerland, on Monday, 16th of December,2019.
All the matches of first leg will be held on 19,20,26 and 27th of February . The corresponding fixtures are
- Atletico Madrid vs Liverpool (19th of February)
- Borussia Dortmund vs Paris Saint-Germain (19th of February)
- Atalanta vs Valencia (20th of February)
- Tottenham Hotspur vs RB Leipzig (20th of February)
- Chelsea vs Barcelona (26th of February)
- Napoli vs Barcelona (26th of February)
- Olympique Lyonnais vs Juventus (27th of February)
- Real Madrid vs Manchester City (27th of February)
- The first leg will be played on the home ground of runner up clubs in Group Stage.
1) Atletico Madrid vs Liverpool
Atletico Madrid are facing the defending champions Liverpool this season in the round of 16 on the 19th of February. As we talk about Atletico Madrid and Liverpool, its gonna be one of the tough matches of round of 16.
The Spanish side will host the first leg of the knockout phase in Wanda Metropolitano. Atletico Madrid on group stage has won 3 matches out of 6 in which they draw 1 and lost 2. Alvaro Morata, Saul Niguez, Koke are the key players of Atletico Madrid.The injury of Joao Felix could cost them a lot.
Diego Semione, Atletico’s manager says” We have the good players, good team. The team combination and coordination is good. I believe in my team and it is not difficult to make a move to quarter finals.”
And if we talk about Liverpool, they are having one of the best season in their history. With the talents like Trent Alexander Arnold, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Alison Liverpool are at their prime. Moreover, they are the defending champions of Europe. They are unbeaten in Premier League so far. Jurgen Klopp, the Liverpool’s head coach says that they are one of the best team in Europe. Its gonna be the tough match against Atletico Madrid.
So, both the sides are fighting to make the space in quarter finals. It will be the delightful and enjoyable match.
2) Borussia Dortmund vs PSG
Borussia Dortmund will host French champions Paris Saint-Germain in another round of 16 match in their home ground. The match is scheduled on 19th February. It is another thrilling match in this season. Both the sides are confident to defeat each other. Both the teams have good players and are in good form. Recently PSG has defeated Real Madrid in the group stage match. Borussia Dortmund has showed challenging and tough game against Barcelona in Signal Iduna Park.
The clash will be just more than the football clash. The world will witness two young talents against each other. The players like Kylian Mbappe and Dortmund’s newly signed striker Erling Haland will be the two beauties of this match. Both the clubs have good team winning mentality and strength. PSG has tough players like Mbappe, Neymar, Icardi and Di Maria. Similarly, Dortmund has players like Marco Reus, Achraf Hakimi, Erling Haland, Jadon Sancho.
3) Atalanta vs Valencia
Another round of 16 match, Atalanta vs Valencia is on the next day of the same weekend. The match will be played on Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia on 20th February. This match would also be one of the matter of concern among football fans.
Atalanta is having its great season. The current Atalanta’s team is supposed to have the best squad in its entire history. Luis Muriel, Duvan Zapata, Josip Ilicic, Alejandro Dario Gomez are the key players of Atalanta. Atalanta’s manager Gian Piero Gasperini says that the team is doing well in Serie A and so do they in UCL.
They have gotta very challenging opponent ‘Valencia’. Valencia has defeated Chelsea in the last group stage match in UCL which shows how strong they are. Rodrigo, Daniel Wass, Jasper Cilessen, Goncalo Guedes are the marquee players. Both the teams try to get space in the quarter finals.
4) Tottenham Hotspur vs RB Leipzig
Tottenham Hotspur vs RB Leipzig, another enthralling match of round of 16. The first leg is to be played in the Tottenham Hotspur stadium on 20th February. Leipzig is challenging the league leader Bayern Munchen this season to snatch the Bundesliga title. Such performance of the home league matters in the UCL too. Timo Werner is going through the best season of his career. He has a very good stats this season. He scored 3 goals in the 6 group stage matches.
Tottenham Hotspur is passing through a very difficult situation this season in Premier League. The German side Bayern Munchen dominated Spurs in their new home ground. Despite of bad start in the champions league, Spurs still manage to make themselves in the round of 16. Jose Mourinho, the new manager of Tottenham Hotspur informs the media, ” It takes time to come in form. We have good players and we can have a good game.” After the departure of Spurs left back Danny Rose to New Castle United, the teams performance has changed.
5) Chelsea vs Bayern Munchen
The another fixture which made the fan base surprise is Chelsea vs Bayern Munchen. The first leg of the competition is scheduled to be played in 26th February in the Stamford Bridge. Both the teams are good enough. Chelsea made themselves by eliminating Dutch club Ajax. Chelsea is in a good form and is full of young talents. The club is so keen to the game under the fantastic man Frank Lampard, the new Chelsea manager. Players like Tammy Abraham, Azpilicueta, Kante, Willian, Jorginho are the marquee players of Chelsea.
Facing Bayern Munchen is not that easy. Bayern has also a team spirit. They are currently the Bundesliga leader. ‘Robert Lewandowski‘ will become a threatening name to Chelsea. The records and stats are following him this season. He has already 10 champions league goals in his name this season . Bayern is the team with most group stage goals (24 goals). The team is full of great players like Lewandowski, Thomas Muller, Philippe Coutinho, Manuel Neuer.
6) Napoli vs Barcelona
The first leg of this match will be played in San Paolo Stadium on 26th February. Both the teams are in the good form these days. Napoli seems stronger in the Serie A. Certainly the match will gonna be one of the most finest and toughest match of the tournament. Team is full of experienced players. Kalidou Koulibaly , Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens, Lozano, Milik. Moreover, Kostas Manolas the former AS Rome player is also playing for Napoli this season.
Also, Barcelona are in the good form this season. They are currently at the second position in La Liga. When it comes Barcelona there comes one name ‘Lionel Messi‘. He is the La Liga top scorer currently. The 6 times ballon d’Or man will be the greatest challenge to Napoli. Likewise, Barcelona has key players like Luis Suarez, de jong, Marc Andre Ter Stegan. The world will witness one of the greatest match of this season.
7) Olympique Lyonnais vs Juventus
The first leg will be played in Groupama Stadium on 27th February. The centre of attraction of the match will be the Juventus’ main man Cristiano Ronaldo. Lyon will have to stop this unstoppable player if they want to see themselves in the next round. Despite his age Ronaldo is performing like a youngster. He is the second Serie A top scorer this season with 20 league goals. He has set the record in his name by scoring in 10 consecutive Serie A games. The 5 times UCL winner and 5 times ballon d’Or man will be the greatest challenge to French club Lyon.
Memphis Depay, Moussa Dembele and Anthony Lopes will be the guards of the Lyon. The Juventus defenders should be aware of these lads. The attack of Depay can cost Juventus a lot. Likewise, Moussa Dembele is also in the best form. He has scored 13 goals in 23 ligue 1 games.
8) Real Madrid vs Manchester City
The most awaited match of round of 16 is Real Madrid vs Manchester City. The first leg of the knockout will be played in the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on 27th February. It is supposed to be the most toughest and competitive match of the entire tournament. Fans are supposing this to be the final of the tournament. Both the teams are good enough.
Real Madrid are currently at the top of La Liga table and considered as the most defensive team in Europe. Meanwhile, Manchester City are the team to score first 100 goals in 2019/20. It proves that the clash is gonna be something special. It will be the match of the best defending team vs most attacking team.
Eden Hazard, Karim Benzema, Casemiro, Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane, Toni Kroos will be representing Real Madrid. All the players are in best form. Likewise, Kevin de Bryune, Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero, Bernardo Silva will be the key players for the Manchester City.
In spite of, bad performance in the Premier league Pep Guardiola (Manchester City manager) says that Manchester will give tough performance against 13 times UCL winner Real Madrid.
All the second legs will be played on 11th/12th/18th and 19th of March in opponent’s home stadium
Stay tuned for more news
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