Champions League returns: first matches, favorites, where to watch
Kyiv • UNN
On February 11, the Champions League last-16 matches with four pairs of teams will start. Brest will face PSG, Real Madrid will face Manchester City, Borussia will face Sporting, and PSV will face Juventus.
On Tuesday, February 11, in the first match of the Champions League 1/16 finals, French Brest and PSG will meet, Andrey Lunin's Real Madrid will fight Manchester City, Borussia will visit Sporting, and PSV will compete with Juventus. UNN tells you about the first matches of the Champions League, who is the favorite and where to watch the matches.
French derby
The first match of the Champions League last 16 will feature French teams Brest and Paris Saint-Germain. The match, which will start at 19:45, will take place at the Stade de Roudouroux stadium in Hengam.
“Brest and PSG have met twice this season in Ligue 1. In September, as part of the 4th round of the French championship, the Parisians celebrated a 3-1 victory, losing during the match, and in February, PSG crushed Brest 5-2 away.
In the upcoming match, the Parisians will not be helped by their main midfielder Warren Zaire-Emery, who is recovering from an ankle injury. PSG also lost several key players, including Marco Asensio, who was loaned to Aston Villa, and Randal Kolo Mouani, who was loaned to Juventus. The main central defender Milan Skriniar also left the team, having been loaned to Fenerbahce. In addition, midfielder Javi Simons joined RB Leipzig for 50 million euros.
However, it is worth recalling that PSG strengthened their winter transfer window with the Georgian from Napoli, Kvicha Kvaratskhelia, who has already scored and assisted for his new team.
At the same time, Brest, which lost to Shakhtar Donetsk in the current CL draw, will not be helped by defender Bradley Loco and midfielder Jonas Martin, who have been in the team's infirmary for a long time.
Bookmakers give PSG a confident victory at 1.4. Brest can be bet on at odds of 7.3, and a draw at 5.1.
For the ninth time in the last 5 years
In the second match on Saturday at 22:00, Real Madrid, which is represented by Ukrainian goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, will visit Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
The last time the teams met was in April last year in the Champions League quarterfinals. Then in the first match the teams played to a 3-3 draw, and in the return match the match went to penalties (1:1), where thanks to two saves by Andriy Lunin, the “creamy” team was stronger than the “townspeople”.
In total, the teams have met 8 times over the past 5 years. Real Madrid is currently the leader in La Liga, being in first place, which cannot be said about Guardiola's wards, who are in 5th place and are gradually recovering from a series of failures.
In the last round, Real Madrid drew 1-1 in the Madrid derby against Atletico Madrid, and Man City won a strong-willed victory against Leyton Orient, the 3rd strongest team in the English division.
“Manchester City strengthened their offseason with Omar Marmush for €75 million and Abdukadir Husanov for €40 million.
In the upcoming match, Manchester City will be without winger Jeremy Docu, midfielder Rodri, and Vitor Reis, who was acquired from Palmeiras in the winter for €37 million. At the same time, defenders David Alaba, Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, Antonio Rüdiger, and midfielder Lucas will not play for Real Madrid.
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Bookmakers do not have a clear winner of the match, giving almost equal odds. Real Madrid's odds are 2.9, while Manchester City's are 2.3. The draw is estimated at 3.7.
“Borussia with a new coach will try to spoil Sporting's mood
The third match will take place at the Estadio José Alvelade stadium, where Borussia Dortmund, led by new coach Niko Kovac, will visit local Sporting. The last time the teams met was in 2021 as part of the Champions League group stage.
Back then, the teams celebrated one victory each. In the first match, Borussia defeated the Portuguese 1-0 at home, and in the return match, Sporting proved to be stronger, 3-1.
“Borussia is currently in 11th place in the table, having lost to Stuttgart 2-1 in the last round. At the same time, Sporting, having drawn with Porto 1-1, continues to lead the Portuguese league.
In the upcoming match, Borussia will be without left back Rami Bensebaini and midfielder Felix Nmecha, who are recovering from injuries. Forwards Ginny Katamu and Nuno Santos, as well as midfielder Morten Juhlmann will not play for Sporting in this match.
Bookmakers give Sporting a slight advantage with odds of 2.3. Borussia can be bet on with odds of 3.05, and a draw with odds of 3.6.
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“PSV to face Juventus again
Another match on Tuesday at the Allianz Stadium in Turin will feature local Juventus and Dutch PSV. The teams have already played against each other this season. In the first round of the Champions League, the Zebras proved to be stronger than PSV - 3:1.
“Juventus is currently in 5th place in Serie A, having beaten Como 2-1 last round, while PSV shares first place with Ajax with 51 points each.
As already mentioned, Juventus strengthened its lineup with Kolo Mouani, who scored 5 goals in 5 matches for the new team. At the same time, PSV lost several of their players, while signing Tyrell Malasia from Manchester United.
Before the match, both teams were missing several key players. In particular, Bremer, Kaljulj, Juan Cabal, Andrea Cambiaso, and Arkadiusz Milik will not play for the Old Lady in this match.
“PSV will be without Olivier Boscaglia, Serginho Dest, Fodé Fofana, Richard Ledesma, Ricardo Pepi and Malik Tilman.
Bookmakers are giving Juventus a landslide victory. You can bet on the Zebras to win at odds of 1.9, and on PSV to win at 4.1. The odds for a draw are 3.5.
Live broadcasts of the matches will be shown by Megogo service.
