UCL: Liverpool, Barcelona, Madrid, others in epic clash over quarter-final spot

The stage is set for the UEFA Champions League, UCL, Round of 16 second-leg fixtures.

The second-leg matches will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday.

DAILY POST reports that the first-leg fixtures were played last week.

There are currently 16 teams – Inter Milan, Feyenoord, Bayern, Leverkusen
Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Benfica, Barcelona, Club Brugge, Aston Villa, Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid, PSV, Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund and Lille in the Champions League Round of 16 stage.

Here are the fixtures for the Champions League last-16 second-leg games:

Tuesday’s fixtures:

Barcelona vs Benfica – Barca won 1-0 in the first leg last week in Portugal. The Blaugrana will hope to build on the result when they welcome Benfica at the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium. Hansi Flick’s men were unable to play their last game against Osasuna as the LaLiga game was called off following the death of their first team doctor Carles Minarro Garcia.

Benfica, on the other hand, defeated Nacional 3-0 in the Portuguese top-flight league at the weekend.

Inter Milan vs Feyenoord – This match will take place at San Siro. Inter won the first leg 2-0 against Feyenoord in Netherlands. The Serie A side head to the game following a 3-2 win over Monza at the weekend, while Feyenoord played 0-0 against NEC in the Eredivisie.

Bayer Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich – The match will take place at the BayArena. Bayern won the first leg 3-0 last week at the Allianz Arena. The Bavarians head to the game following a 3-2 defeat to VfL Bochum in the Bundesliga at the weekend, while Leverkusen won 2-0 at home against Werder Bremen. Xabi Alonso’s side are eight points behind Bayern in the Bundesliga table.

Liverpool vs PSG – The Reds left Paris with a 1-0 victory from the first leg last week. The Premier League leaders will welcome Luis Enrique’s men at Anfield. Arne Slot’s side head to the game after beating Southampton 3-1 in the Premier League at the weekend while PSG won 4-1 against Rennes in the French Ligue 1.

Wednesday’s fixtures:

Aston Villa vs Club Brugge – This match will take place at Villa Park. The first leg ended 3-1 in favour of Aston Villa at Jan Breydel Stadium last week. Both teams won their last matches at the weekend. Aston Villa defeated Brentford 1-0 in the Premier League while Club Brugge won 3-1 against Cercle Brugge in the Belgium top-flight league.

Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid – The Los Blancos won 2-1 in the first leg played last week at the Santiago Bernabeu. Real Madrid head to the game following a 2-1 win over Rayo Vallecano in their last match over the weekend while Atletico were defeated 2-1 against Getafe. Madrid currently sit in second position on the La Liga table with a point ahead of third place Atletico.

Arsenal vs PSV – This game will take place at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners won 7-1 against PSV in the first leg in Netherlands last week. Arsenal head to game after playing a 1-1 draw with Manchester United in the Premier League at the weekend while PSV won 2-1 against Heerenveen in the Eredivisie.

Lille vs Borussia Dortmund – This match will take place in France. The first leg ended 1-1 last week in Germany. Dortmund head to the game following a 1-0 defeat to Augsburg in their last game in the Bundesliga, while Lille won 1-0 against Montpellier in the French Ligue 1.

Speaking with DAILY POST on Monday, Idris Musa Adinoyi, the captain of Dawaki Rangers FC, gave his opinion about the Round of 16 second leg fixtures.

He also predicted the teams that could advance to the quarter-final stage and anticipated more epic encounter and shock results in the last-16.

“The last 16 first leg fixtures came off as entertaining and challenging as it could get. I’m anticipating the second leg fixtures to be even more epic.

“This is called the champions league for a reason and the teams are ensuring that it is living up to its name with the feeling of suspense and thrill,” Adinoyi said.

“However a shock result I believe can be in the form of Benfica or PSG or Atletico overturning their defeat and progressing ahead of Barcelona, Liverpool and Real Madrid, respectively.

“This will be a final game at this stage of the competition for eight teams for which should include with no disrespect to the teams, PSV, Feyenoord, Leverkusen, Lille and Club Brugge,” he said.

Also speaking with DAILY POST, Wakanda FC midfielder, Victor Yadima, offered his view on the last-16 second leg fixtures.

“All the round of 16 games are definitely crackers but most of all the final before final is going to be the between Real madrid and Athletic madrid.

“Of course if Liverpool walk alone in the second leg then they won’t find it easy with PSG, I find that game as unpredictable among all until after 90 minutes. I see Inter Milan, Bayern, Liverpool, Barcelona, Aston villa
Real madrid, Arsenal and Dortmund qualifying for the last-8,” Yadima said.

Similarly, Isa Saleh Sadiq, a Football Scout and the CEO of International Football Academy based in Northern Nigeria, told DAILY POST, “I am sure of 6 teams that will move to the next round. The teams are Inter Milan, Bayern, Liverpool, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Arsenal.

“In the case of Club Brugge vs Aston Villa and Dortmund vs Lille, these fixtures will be tough to predict but based on stats and morale of the teams, Dortmund and Aston Villa should be able to scale to the next round.

“But this is football and anything can happen, so we wait and see.”

UCL: Liverpool, Barcelona, Madrid, others in epic clash over quarter-final spot