Round of 16
Today (9 p.m.) the qualifiers open fire with Copenhagen-Manchester City and Leipzig-Real Madrid. Barça’s turn, next week
The Champions League music is playing again
Exactly two months later the ball is rolling again in the top continental competition with the round of 16. Only 16 teams can already aspire to the title, among them Barça, which, without many footballing arguments, clings to making it big. It seems impossible, right now, but it is the last bullet left for the team led by Xavi Hernández with the league already very uphill and with the rest of the titles lost. He will be there next week, on Wednesday the 21st (9 p.m.), in the first leg against Naples.
Two of the favorites open fire today
Manchester City and Real Madrid, the only two teams to make it full of wins in the group stage, face each other today. The team led by Pep Guardiola, reigning champion, faces Copenhagen (9 p.m.), one of the revelations of the competition. The Danish team qualified against the odds, in a group in which they beat Manchester United and Galatasaray, and in which the first was Bayern, against which they were able to draw a game (0- 0), the only one that did not win the Bavarian group. On the other hand, Real Madrid visit Leipzig, a team with interesting names such as ex-Blaugrana Dani Olmo and Xavi Simmons and strikers Lois Openda and Benjamin Sesko.
Madrid full of casualties
The set trained by Carlo Ancelotti is in the box, although it is doing well. He has been without Courtois and Militao since the beginning of the season, now he only has a healthy central defender – Nacho –, and he also cannot count on Bellingham, who is out for three weeks due to a muscle injury. The German team, which is not achieving the pace of Leverkusen or Bayern in the Bundesliga, is fifth, 18 points behind the team led by Xabi Alonso.
With this return of the Champions League, excitement and hope are awakened in football fans. The round of 16 promises exciting matches and surprises. It will be interesting to see how the matches unfold and which teams manage to advance to the next phase of the competition.