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    • Sports - Football - All Teams
    • Updated: February 17, 2020

    Champions League Round-of-sixteen Rundown: Who Qualifies?

    Champions League Round-of-sixteen Rundown: Who Qualifies?

    Europe top competition, the UEFA Champions League, finally returns this week after what has been a lengthy, suspense-ladened three months hiatus. With the draw for the Round-of-sixteen stage having been confirmed earlier in December, European elite sides will go head-to-head as they vie not only for club honors but also for league supremacy.

    This stage of the competition has been slated to occur over four weeks, with four matches set for the first and second week and the return legs coming up after a fortnight of the first legs. Beginning tomorrow, PSG will square off against German high-flying side, Dortmund, while Liverpool have to navigate a tricky away tie at the Wanda Metropolitan stadium against one of Europe's meanest defense in Atletico Madrid. 

    On Wednesday, another English side in Tottenham plays host to Leipzig, who have been on somewhat of a downward spiral in recent weeks. On the same night, in Spain, Atlanta would be battling a Valencia side that finished top of a group that contained Chelsea and Ajax in what is bound to be one of the most even of games.

    READ ALSO: Weekend European Football Roundup

    With the first leg of the remaining four fixtures set to come up next week, Allnews, in the first part of this series, have attempted to provide a critical analysis of these fixtures as well as offer an objective assessment of each team's likelihood to come out of this stage unscathed. 

    PSG vs Dortmund
    Dortmund were rewarded for their efforts in pipping Inter Milan to the second spot with a match against unarguably the most successful French team in history, Paris St. Germain. The Parisians were phenomenal during the group stages, winning all but one of their six matches, scoring 17 goals and conceding just 2 in the process. For all of PSG's league dominance, however, after having won the league six times in the last seven years, they have failed to experience European glory.

    The management of the club has never failed to hide their disillusionment at this unsavory record with several big purchases including Kylian Mbappe and Neymar Jr having been secured. Top coaches like Laurent Blanc and Unai Emery have also been appointed to rectify this defect, but so far, little progress has been made.  With Thomas Tuchel the present manager tasked with overcoming this necessary evil, a lot will be on the riding as Dortmund pays a not-so-friendly visit.

    Borussia Dortmund come into this game higher on confidence than they would have been after the results of the draw were revealed. However, they face a PSG side that has been in hot form since their last Champions League game, a 5-0 defeat of Galatasaray in December. The French Champions have played 16 games since that time, winning 14 of those and drawing just two, a 3-3 thriller against Monaco and last weekend's 4-4 draw at Amiens. The same can't be said for Lucien Favre's Dortmund side.

    In the 12 games they have played since defeating Sparta Prague in their last group game, Dortmund have had six victories, two losses, and two draws. They have also been dumped out of the German DFB Pokal and are losing ground on Bayern Munich in the race for domestic supremacy. While the addition of Erling Haaland, who has been devastating in front of goal since his arrival, would have been a huge boost to their chances, the Norwegian would be ineligible to feature for his new side, having played for Salzburg in the competition this season.

    Prediction
    PSG have exited the Champions League at this stage of the competition for the past three seasons, first by Barcelona after taking a 4-0 first-leg victory, then by Real Madrid who went on to clinch the Cup and then last season, at the hands of a miserable, injuries-ridden Manchester United side. However, while there's a chance star striker, Neymar Jr, might sit the first leg out through injury, the French team should have enough fire in their arsenal to scale through this challenge.

    PSG To Qualify

    Atletico Madrid Vs Liverpool
    Jurgen Klopp continues his defense of the initially elusive trophy he won last year as he takes his imperious Liverpool side to Spain to take on an Athletico side that have only lost one match at home - against Barcelona - since February 2019 in the first of a two-legged affair. 

    Diego Simeone's side, however, would have preferred to come into this match on the back of a better run of form. In their last seven matches, Atletico Madrid have recorded just one victory, with four losses and two draws showing how a team that had started promisingly in August has fallen to its nadir. This starkly contrasts the perfect form of Liverpool who have won 25 of their 26 Premier League games this season and are on the verge of shattering the unbeaten record held by Arsenal's Invincible side.

    During the weekend, Atletico Madrid could only manage a 2-2 draw against Valencia, their 10th of the season, while Liverpool secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Norwich. Quite fascinatingly, it is in games like this the Merseysiders tend to thrive in. While the premier league winter break might have reduced the English team's spark, the team showed it would be much more difficult to extinguish their momentum as Saido Mane came off the bench to score a late winner.

    Prediction
    Atletico Madrid have always had a fearsome defense. Despite the summer departure of defense linchpin, Godin, the team has remained resolutely glued to Simeone's philosophy, well, until recent times. With nine goals conceded in their last seven games, it will take a very big performance to keep out Jurgen Klopp's voracious attackers. If the defence is a sorry situation for the Spanish team, the story gets sourer in attack where the 25 goals they have scored this season in La Liga ranks them as the least scoring side, bar Atletico Bilbao, of the top ten. Liverpool are not only gonna be having an easy route to the quarter-finals, they are also going to be having a feast.

    Liverpool To Qualify

    Atalanta Vs Valencia 
    Atalanta play host to Spanish side Valencia, who upset all odds to advance into this round from a group containing Chelsea, as well as exciting Dutch side, Ajax. To be candid, whoever qualifies onto this next round among these two teams won't be doing so with a high goal margin. While Atalanta have the nastier attack of the two, having scored a whopping 43 goals in their last 15 matches, Valencia have shown a propensity to match the top sides when it matters.

    They held Real Madrid to a 1-1 draw, defeated Barcelona by two goals to nil and managed to put two past a belligerent Atletico defense. In Europe, In Europe, not only did they defeated Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge, but they also went on to record similar success at Amsterdam where Ajax have the penchant for humiliating their opponents with high-reading scorelines. 

    Prediction
    Atalanta are having a season to remember so far. They have scored 63 goals, the highest in Italy and sit on 4th position, a Champion's League qualification spot. The same, sadly can't be said for Valencia. They find themselves languishing pitiably in 7th place, having failed to win any of their last three games. With a match against one of Europe's most ferocious attacks up next, one will be forgiven for wondering just how much resoluteness their backline can muster.

    Atalanta To Qualify

    Tottenham vs Leipzig
    Two weeks ago, Jose Mourinho plunged the world of football into a fitful merry with his theatrical performance during his side's 2-0 defeat of Manchester City. The Portuguese coach switched from a delightful mood to one of agitation in less than two seconds to aptly describe the Londoners season thus far.

    Tottenham initially started on the right foot after letting Pochettino go, springing four wins out of five matches, including a 5-0 rout of Burnley. However, a 3-1 loss to German powerhouse, Bayern Munich, seemed to set their ship off course as the English team lost its spur,  winning just three games while losing and drawing a similar number in their next nine matches.

    In recent times, though, Jose Mourinho seems to have rediscovered his team's spark as they have gone on to win four of their last five games, including a morale-boosting 2-0 defeat of long-term nemesis, Pep Guardiola, to rise to 5th spot and within a point of 4th-placed Chelsea.

    Leipzig, on the other hand, find themselves struggling to resuscitate their season. The German underdogs, having started the season on a high, winning six of their first seven games, catapulted themselves to the top of the Bundesliga. However, there was still a tepid feeling of inadequacy about their performances and the team's knack for conceding too many chances was always going to be their greatest undoing.

    The team, before the past weekend, and a surprising 0-0 stalemate at Bayern, failed to keep any clean sheet in seven games and while their defeat of Werder Bremen finally handed them a much-needed win ahead of a feisty encounter at White Hart Lane, the team will struggle to keep a Tottenham side that has been hot on the goals despite the loss of talismanic captain, Harry Kane.

    Prediction
    Both teams, in all fairness, have an equal chance of sealing qualification. However, I'm gonna have to tilt the balance slightly in Tottenham's favor on the grounds of recent form. While Leipzig are definitely gonna get their season up and running once more at some stage, I doubt they will be finding much joy facing a more experienced side in Tottenham. The English team has the luxury of having featured in the final of the competition last year and also boasts a relatively eccentric and superior coach in Jose Mourinho. 

    Tottenham To Qualify

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