UCL is back!
The CHAMPIONS LEAGUE –
Round of 16 – (First Leg)
The first-leg from the first half of the of the 16 teams in the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League ‘Round of 16’.
FEB 14.
AC Milan (Italy) vs. Tottenham Hotspur (England)
Paris Saint-Germain (France) vs. Bayern Munich (Germany)
FEB 15.
Borussia Dortmund (Germany) vs. Chelsea (England)
Club Brugge (Belgium) vs. Benfica (Portugal)
AC MILAN vs. TOTTENHAM
It was a tight race for the four teams in that group: Frankfurt, Sporting CP, and Marseille.
It was a tight race in ‘Group D’ for all the teams but Tottenham limped their way to the top of the group. AC Milan came in second in ‘Group E’, with both of their defeats coming against another London Club; Chelsea.
Girond vs. Kane? A rematch of the 2022 World Cup semifinal?
AC Milan’s recent history against Tottenham isn’t a good one but their history in this competition is one of the best. Real Madrid is the only club with more titles than AC Milan.
Domestically, both AC Milan and Tottenham have been inconsistent.
PARIS ST. GERMAIN vs. BAYERN MUNICH
The last time PSG and Bayern Munich played against each other was in the 2021 Champions League final with Bayern Munich came out ‘1-0’ winners.
Domestically, both clubs are working on defending their league titles.
Bayern Munich had a perfect record in ‘GroupC’ – winning all 6 matches and outscoring their opponents ‘18-2’. This was a group that had Barcelona, and Inter Milan.
Paris St. Germain was not as perfect at Bayern Munich but they also remained unbeaten. They missed out on winning ‘Group H’ because of the number of away goals scored.
They were unbeaten in a group that included Benfica, and Juventus.
DORTMUND vs. CHELSEA
Dortmund has won every game since the restart of the Bundesliga season (6 games – 5 wins in the league and one cup win), while Chelsea is without a league win in three straight matches (3 draws).
With Manchester City in ‘Group G’, Dortmund met expectations by finishing in second place and had their only defeat in the group come in their away game against Manchester City.
Chelsea topped ‘Group E’ with their only defeat coming against Dinamo Zagreb in their group opening match.
CLUB BRUGGE vs. BENFICA
Domestic league form and results from the group stage will point to Benfica as the favorite in this tie.
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE : RANKING AFTER THE GROUP STAGE
(** did not advance to the Round of 16)
1| Bayern Munich - 114.00 points
2| Napoli - 109.17 points
3| Liverpool - 90.67 points
4| Benfica - 79.33 points
5| Paris Saint-Germain - 79.33 points
6| Real Madrid - 69.67 points
7| Manchester City - 69.33 points
8| RB Leipzig - 56.17 points
9| Porto - 52.00 points
10| Chelsea - 48.83 points
11| AC Milan - 43.67 points
12| Inter Milan - 36.33 points
13| Barcelona - 34.17 points **
14| Tottenham Hotspur - 33.83 points
15| Borussia Dortmund - 32.17 points
16| Club Brugge - 31.33 points
17| Ajax - 28.17 points **
18| Eintracht Frankfurt - 27.83 points
It’s the Knockout playoff rounds in the UEFA Europa League, and the UEFA Conference League.
EUROPA LEAGUE:
FEB 16. – EUROPA LEAGUE – Knockout Round Play-offs – First Leg
Barcelona (Spain) vs. Manchester United (England)
Juventus (Italy) vs. Nantes (France)
Sporting CP (Portugal) vs. Midtjylland (Denmark)
Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) vs. Rennes (France)
Ajax (Netherlands) vs. Union Berlin (Germany)
Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) vs. Monaco (France)
Sevilla (Spain) vs. PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
RB Salzburg (Austria) vs. Roma (Italy)
CONFERENCE LEAGUE:
FEB 16. – EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE – Knockout Round Play-offs – First Leg
Qarabağ (Azerbaijan) vs. Gent (Belgium)
Trabzonspor (Turkey) vs. Basel (Switzerland)
Lazio (Italy) vs. CFR Cluj (Romania)
Bodø/Glimt (Norway) vs. Lech Poznań (Poland)
Braga (Portugal) vs. Fiorentina (Italy)
AEK Larnaca (Cyprus) vs. Dnipro-1 (Ukraine)
Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova) vs. Partizan (Serbia)
Ludogorets Razgrad (Bulgaria) vs. Anderlecht (Belgium)
MIDWEEK DOMESTIC LEAGUE CLASHES
ARSENAL vs. MAN CITY (English Premier League)
Arsenal must avoid defeat, Manchester City must win.
Arsenal needs to avoid defeat to keep their lead.
Manchester City must win to move on equal points with Arsenal.
1| Arsenal (21 games) - 51 points
2| Manchester City (22 games) - 48 points
REAL MADRID vs. ELCHE (Spanish La Liga)
After winning their 5th Club World Cup title, Real Madrid will be back in Madrid to look for a win (against Elche) to catch a Barcelona side that looks to be off with the La Liga title. Real Madrid will hope to get a win to reduce the gap at the top to 8 points.
1| Barcelona (21 games) - 56 points
2| Real Madrid (20 games) - 45 points.
