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The fixtures for the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 have already been decided. The RO16 matches would be played on February 12 & 13/19 & 20, and March 5 & 6/12 & 13. The match-ups for the same are given below:
#1 Ajax vs Real Madrid
#2 Schalke vs Man City
#3 Man United vs PSG
#4 AS Roma vs FC Porto
#5 Tottenham vs Borussia Dortmund
#6 Atletico Madrid vs Juventus
#7 Lyon vs Barcelona
#8 Liverpool vs Bayern Munich
At least 3-4 of the 8 match-ups mentioned above promise to be exciting and competitive. We now take a look at the top 3 match-ups of the round of 16.
#3 Tottenham Hotspur vs Borussia Dortmund
Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham have probably been the most improved English club in the last few years, and are continuing their good run in the Champions League as well. They qualified from a tough group, comprising Barca, Inter, and PSV.
They beat Inter 1-0, and drew with Barca 1-1 in their last group match, qualifying at the expense of the Italian giants. Tottenham are in 3rd position on the English league table, and look like the only serious challengers to Liverpool and Manchester City.
They have some very good players at their disposal, in the form of Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli, Toby Alderweireld, and Hugo Lloris. They can prove to be a handful for any team on their day.
Eriksen is their playmaker, and has been linked to Real Madrid lately. Should he leave Tottenham for Real in January, the former would be considerably weakened. Kane has scored 13 goals in 23 matches this season, and remains one of the most potent strikers in the world.
Dortmund meanwhile continue to lead the Bundesliga by a handsome margin, and have also topped their group having Atletico Madrid. They have some very exciting attacking players like Marco Reus and Paco Alcacer in the line-up.
Axel Witsel, the Belgian midfielder, pulls the strings in the midfield, and right-back Lukasz Piszczek has also been superb this season. Moreover, Dortmund are a very fearsome proposition to face on their home ground, the Westfalen Arena. It should be a very absorbing contest in which Dortmund have a slight edge.
#2 Atletico Madrid vs Juventus
In this match-up, the runaway leaders of Serie A meet the 3rd placed team in LaLiga. Juventus have one of the strongest squads in Europe, with players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Paolo Dybala, Giorgio Chiellini, and Leonardo Bonucci.
They topped their group also comprising Man United and Valencia. Juve would really fancy their chances in the Champions League this time, after having lost in the final twice in the last 4 years. They also have been bolstered by Ronaldo’s arrival, as the Portuguese star has already scored 12 goals from 21 matches for them.
Atletico on the other hand, have been a very solid team under Diego Simeone for the last few years, and would pose a serious challenge to Juve. Antoine Griezmann continues to be their talisman, but they have some other players like Diego Costa, Diego Godin, and Saul Niguez, who are all consistent performers.
Atletico finished second to Dortmund in their group, but their strong attack can really trouble the Juve defence in this match-up. However, Juve would have the edge in this tie.
#1 Liverpool vs Bayern Munich
Liverpool are the league leaders in the PL at the moment, and their German coach, Jurgen Klopp, would get to visit his homeland as they face Bayern in a very exciting match-up.
Bayern are 3rd on the Bundesliga table at the moment, after having recovered somewhat from a terrible start. They topped their group also comprising Ajax Amsterdam and Benfica, and are always a dangerous opposition in the Champions League.
The 5 time champions have players like Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben, and Robert Lewandowski in their attack who can trouble even the best defenders in the world on their day.
They also have some exciting young players like Serge Gnabry and Niklas Sule in their line-up. However, a relatively slow Bayern defence might be tested against the pace and guile of Mohamed Salah, Xherdan Shaqiri, and Sadio Mane.
Liverpool are also 5 times champions themselves, and one of the most exciting teams to watch in Europe. However, they had considerable difficulty in qualifying from their group, and had to beat Napoli in their last match in order to qualify.
Their defenders would be tested against the Bayern attack, but their exciting forward line gives them a slight edge in this tie. Much would also depend on the midfield battle between these two sides, as both have some hard-working players in their respective midfields.
