English
Arabic
Chinese (Simplified)
Dutch
French
German
Italian
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
The draws of the UEFA Champions league round of 16 has been drawn with three English teams taking part in the exercise and having another opportunity to progress to the quarter-final stage. Its really going to be a tough one for the trio of Leicester City, Manchester City and Arsenal who are going to face Sevilla, Monaco and Bayern Munich. Sport Intelligence looks into their chances of progressing to the next stage.
LEICESTER CITY VS SEVILLA :This is arguably going to be Leicester City’s greatest test in Europe, qualifying ahead of a Spanish side that have failed to get to this stage in the past three seasons, but won the Europa in all of the three seasons after leaving the group stages of the champions league.
Sevilla may have won the Europa three consecutive times, but they will also want to prove that they are a team to reckon with as far as the Champions League is concerned. That will be a hard knot for Ranieri and his men to crack when both teams clash in the round of 16.
Leicester City who made their debut in Europe this seasons had a smooth run in the group stage, finishing top in their debut but recording their worse defeat of 5-0 to Porto in the final group stage match. That loss showed that they lack the character to go far in Europe, but it practically looks like they have sacrificed their top four position in the premier league to enable them make impact in Europe. It is a 50-50 chance for Leicester City to move on to the next stage.
Manchester City vs Monaco: Pep Guardiola and his men must necessarily prove a point when they face the French side in the round of 16 of the champions league. Manchester City reached the semifinal stage of the champions league last season for the first time under former manager Pellegrini, it is however expected that Pep improve on that feat.
Guardiola as a manager has a pedigree in the champions league, he has reached the semifinal of the champions league in all his career as a manager while in charge of Barcelona and Bayern Munich, and it is expected that he replicates same with City. Hence, Monaco is not expected to stop City under Pep from moving to the next stage of the champions league.
The fact that Manchester City beat Barcelona for the first time in their history at the group stage of the champions league, is enough evidence to show that City would want to move from a second tier club in Europe to the elites club, and their dream of going further can not to be impeded by Monaco. Manchester City have a 65% chance of moving to the quarterfinal stage.
Arsenal Vs Bayern Munich : This is arguably England’s biggest test in the round of 16 stage of the champions league, as Arsenal face the German biggest side as far as European football is concerned.
Wenger and his men will really need to work hard to cause an upset and deny Bayern an opportunity to go further, as Bayern have enjoyed three consecutive semifinals under former manager Pep Guardiola. Ancelotti who is now in charge will definitely not want to take the team backward in European football, and that will certainly mean end of the road for Arsene Wenger and his men.
Their last eight meetings in the uefa champions league favours Bayern, who have had 4 wins, while Arsenal had 3 and a 1-1 draw stand between the two sides, but it is going to be a new story when they clash again. Arsenal are currently in top form, while Bayern are practically struggling under Ancelotti to win matches, but that will not take away the experience of the Italian manager who gave Madrid their 10th champions league title. Arsenal have 45% chances of progressing to the next stage.
Discussion about this post