UEFA Champions League
Champions League Round of 16: Second Leg Preview
As the results from the second leg of the Champions League RO16 trickle in, we’ve seen Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Manchester City secure their places in the quarterfinal, with four fixtures remaining to decide the final eight of the competition.
We preview two of the games below.
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Barcelona (1) v Napoli (1) – Tuesday 20:00
As it stands, Barca and Napoli are level going into this game, with the first tie ending 1-1. However, Barcelona are odds-on at 17/20 to get the better of their Italian opposition and proceed into the latter stages of the competition.
Barcelona remain unbeaten in their last five meetings with Napoli across all competitions, winning twice and drawing three times, and we can expect some goals in this next game as in each of those five fixtures, both teams have managed to hit the back of the net. Champions League veteran Robert Lewandowski will be a man on a mission to further his team’s chances in their pursuit of a sixth Champions League title and is as short as 13/10 to etch his name onto the scoresheet against Serie A’s current champions. Adding to the firepower of Barcelona’s attack are Vitor Roque (29/20), Ferran Torres (13/8), and Marc Guiu (13/8), who are no strangers to producing some magic when needed, especially on the big stage.
For Napoli, their chances away from home look ever-slimmer given the weight their 1-1 draw in the first leg carries. Napoli have been eliminated in each of their last 11 European campaigns when they have failed to win the first leg of a knockout at home. The last time this happened was against Barcelona in the 2019/20 season in the Champions League, where they had a similar 1-1 draw at home in the first leg, followed by a 3-1 defeat in the return leg. So, should they try and rewrite the history books and defy the statistics, their hopes will lie in the feet of frontman Victor Osimhen, who is 21/10 to score at any time during the game. Osimhen sits at fifth in the top goalscorer leaderboard in the Serie A this season despite Napoli’s rather disappointing league campaign, with their consecutive title hopes as good as gone, so they’ll be throwing the kitchen sink at this one.
At 29/10, the odds suggest that Napoli will be unlikely victors in Spain tomorrow night, with Barcelona the heavy favourites to proceed into the next round.
Atletico Madrid (0) v Inter (1) – Wednesday 20:00
This will be the first time that the Italian outfit head to Atletico’s stadium in both of the club’s histories and considering Inter have got the leverage after their 1-0 win away from home combined with their prowess in the Serie A this season, they look to be the pick in this game at 29/20.
The last three times Atletico have lost an opening leg in the last 16, they have been eliminated in the second tie. Also, since beating Liverpool in the 2020 season, Atletico have scored just three goals in eight of their UEFA Champions League knockout matches, failing to score on five occasions and given the stature of their opponents, it’s feasible this could be the case in the return fixture. Atletico remain the narrow outsiders at 19/10 and will be hoping that the home advantage proves to be more beneficial than ever. Alvaro Morata is the shortest of the Atletico lineup to score against Inter at 7/4, with the trio of Angel Correa (21/10), Memphis Depay (2/1), and Antoine Griezmann (11/5) all more than capable of netting.
For Inter, their past against Spanish opposition away from home may be a factor to demoralise the Italian outfit, having not won a game in their past 10 Champions League games against Spanish sides, last winning in Spain against Valencia in 2004. However, it is impossible to overlook their form in the Serie A, having gone 22 games unbeaten, sitting top of the table with a 16-point cushion. Lautaro Martinez is the current top scorer in the league on 23 goals, 8 goals ahead of second place Dusan Vlahovic for Juventus, and is 13/8 to net against the Spanish side. Other players looking to find the back of the net will be Marcus Thuram (23/10), Alexis Sanchez (3/1), and Hakan Calhanoglu (3/1).
From an outside perspective, Inter are certainly the team to beat and them progressing into the quarterfinal looks the likeliest outcome with the one-goal cushion they have, however, given the home advantage for Atletico, their fans will be looking to make all the difference to push their side over the line.
