Champions League Preview: Arsenal to build first leg lead

With four of the first-legs completed in the Champions League Round of 16, we look ahead to the remaining games with some big names and old rivals competing for their spots in the quarterfinals.

We preview two of the games below.

Inter Milan v Atlético Madrid – Tuesday 8:00pm

Inter Milan host Atlético Madrid for the first leg of their round of 16 tie. These two teams have only come across each other once before which was in the UEFA Super Cup of 2010, where Atletico dispatched the Italian giants 2-0. Ahead of this clash, Inter find themselves 3/4 favourites, with Atletico slight outsiders are 17/5.

This will be Inter’s first UEFA Champions League knockout game against Spanish opposition since the 09/10 season where Jose Mourinho’s side got the better of Barcelona under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola. They have been in fine form of late and sit almost ten points clear at the top of the Serie A, but alongside their league success is their dominance in European competition, having only lost one of their last 13 games in the Champions League, their only loss being handed to them by Manchester City in last year’s final. In those thirteen games, they have conceded just nine goals, so they’ll be hoping form is on their side against the Spanish outfit. Lautaro Martinez is favourite to hit the back of the net for the Nerazzurri at 13/10, with Marcus Thuram a close second at 19/10.

Under Diego Simeone, Atletico have won five of six games in the knockout stages against Italian sides, though their last fixture against an Italian side knocked them out of the Champions League last 16 when they lost 3-0 to Juventus. They have only won five of 18 away games against Italian sides in European competitions but have won twice at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium (San Siro), so should they perform anywhere on Italian soil, it’ll be Inter’s home ground. Memphis Depay leads the running to score in the game for the Spanish side at 10/3, with the newly crowned highest Atlético goalscorer in history Antoine Griezmann 7/2.

Porto v Arsenal – Wednesday 8:00pm

Porto take on Arsenal at home to kick off their knockout campaign. This is a fixture made up of two teams who have dealt with equal misfortune in this competition over the past couple of decades, so it should be a cracking game to watch.

Porto must be a little worried going into this game as they have been eliminated from seven of their eight Champions League knockout matches against English opposition, which warrants their odds of 19/5 as firm outsiders. However, despite Arsenal winning all three of their home games against Porto with an aggregate of 11-0, they are winless in all three matches away from home, so Porto could tap into that narrative and get onto the front foot before their trip to London. Evanilson (29/10) will be the first choice looking to do just that and etch his name on the scoresheet, with Mehdi Taremi (10/3) also with his eyes on netting in this first leg.

It’s rare you find another team that have been plagued in the Champions League as much as Arsenal have in the past 20 years, being eliminated at this round of 16 stage a record of nine times since this stage was introduced in the 2003/04 season. They have fallen at this hurdle seven times in succession, so with his revitalised squad, Arteta will be set on righting the wrongs of his club’s history in the Champions League. The last time Arsenal got past the round of 16 in the Champions League was against Wednesday’s opposition in the 09/10 campaign, so that is as good a sign as any for the Gunners.

Should they win, they’ll find comfort in the fact that each of the last five teams to eliminate Porto from the Champions League in the knockout rounds of the competition has gone to reach the final that year. Arsenal have been all goals in the Premier League in recent weeks, and has a battalion of capable individuals, all vying for glory in this game. Leandro Trossard leads the running at 7/4, followed closely by the likes of Bukayo Saka (15/8), Kai Havertz (5/2), and both Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Jesus at 12/5.

Arsenal are firm favourites at 4/6 to win on the night and there is no doubt both teams will be firing on all cylinders to re-write the history books and plant themselves in the latter stages of the competition.