Liverpool vs Real Madrid and more: betPawa BIG match insights
This season’s Champions League round of 16 is well underway, so we’re previewing all 4 of this week’s ties so that you’re ready to take it all in. There are 4 former European champions in action across Tuesday and Wednesday with 25 triumphs between them, so there’s no shortage of class and quality.
Then 2 more super clubs battle it out in the Europa League on Thursday, with Man Utd and Barcelona contesting the second leg of their play-off knockout clash.
Here are all of the BIG match insights you’ll need.
Tuesday 21st February
Serie A leaders tend to score from all angles
It can be a bit of a mixed bag with Eintracht Frankfurt. Often dazzling and dangerous, they’re also capable of shooting themselves in the foot and suffering surprising defeats. Frenchman Randal Kolo Muani and Japanese star Daichi Kamada are their 2 most important creative outlets, with Muani arguably emerging as their most important player, purely through his direct output of goals and assists.
The Bundesliga side pipped Sporting to second place in an exciting group behind Tottenham. They aren’t nearly as free-scoring in Europe as they are in the Bundesliga, which is totally understandable. They’ll enter this tie as underdogs but won’t necessarily mind.
Not so long ago,
Well, those chances have increased with the league leaders 15 points clear of Inter at the summit, writing ahead of their Friday night meeting with Sassuolo. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, nicknamed Kvaradona by the Napoli faithful, is a breakout star who took almost everyone by surprise.
The 22-year-old Georgian had the difficult task of replacing departed club legend Lorenzo Insigne on the left side of their attack, but he’s done so with aplomb. He’s got 9 goals and 9 assists in Serie A to go along with 2 goals and 3 assists in the Champions League this term, directly contributing to 7 goals in his last 4 league matches prior to the game against Sassuolo. He’s one of Europe’s most in-form players.
Kvaradona, alongside Victor Osimhen, will be looking to spearhead this dark horse side all the way in Europe. Nigerian striker Osimhen will be one of the most coveted players in the world when the next transfer window opens. He has 20 direct Serie A goal contributions this season (17 goals, 3 assists). Nobody has more. The Capocannoniere (Serie A’s top scorer honour) is loading for this Super Eagle, but can he transfer his irresistible form onto the European stage?
Fascinatingly, 24-year-old Osimhen scored just 1 of Napoli’s 20 goals in the group stage, which will be hugely encouraging for manager Luciano Spalletti. They’re clearly not a 1-man team. It must be said though that Osimhen played just 81 minutes across home matches against Liverpool and Ajax in Group A.
In their impressive 4-1 win over the Reds at the Diego Armando Maradona, Napoli shared the goals around with Piotr Zielinksi (2), André-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Giovanni Simeone all getting in on the act. Osimhen scored off the bench against Ajax but did play 87 minutes in a 2-0 defeat at Anfield in the final game of Group A. That was the only match in which Napoli dropped points.
Eintracht may do well to keep the score down here at home but they’ll also fancy their chances of getting on the scoresheet themselves. Napoli only kept 2 clean sheets in their group and both came against rock-bottom Rangers, who picked up 0 points from 6 games.
A glorious rematch of the 2021/22 final
This tie is all about football royalty. With 20 European Cups between them, Liverpool and Real Madrid really need no introduction at this level.
The Reds got back to winning ways recently with an absolutely critical EPL win over Merseyside rivals Everton at Anfield, and they’re not incapable of producing stirring performances on European nights at their iconic home ground. Just ask Barcelona after the Catalans lost 4-0 there in the 2019 semi-final.
Mo Salah is back amongst the goals and has now directly contributed to 100 EPL goals at Anfield after his strike against the Toffees. He is undoubtedly a Liverpool legend, and a man for the BIG occasion.
According to Opta, Salah became the 13th player to be involved in 100 EPL goals at a single stadium (71 goals, 29 assists at Anfield). He's done so in 104 appearances, with only Alan Shearer (74 at Ewood Park) and Thierry Henry (92 at Highbury) doing so in fewer. How he’d love to channel that energy at Anfield against the most decorated team in Champions League history.
And what about Real Madrid? They’ve fallen adrift in the LaLiga title race but their Champions League pedigree can simply never be questioned. The defending champions got past PSG, Chelsea and Man City in last season’s knockout stages before vanquishing Liverpool in the final thanks to a goal from Vinícius Júnior. They’ve also just collected more silverware in the shape of the Club World Cup. It’s in their heritage and DNA as a club.
Both Liverpool and Real Madrid aren’t where they want to be domestically right now, but that will only strengthen their resolve to go deep in the Champions League in 2022/23.
Wednesday 22nd February
2 former winners with strong defences
2010 winners Inter are struggling to keep pace with Napoli in the Serie A race so manager Simone Inzaghi will be sharpening his focus on Europe. The Nerazzurri did well to qualify ahead of Barcelona in their group, and they’ve also looked a lot tighter in defence of late, conceding just 1 goal in 4 domestic encounters prior to their weekend clash with Udinese.
2004 champions Porto won Group B with Iranian striker Mehdi Taremi bagging 5 of their 12 goals to date. He’ll be the main danger to a much-improved Inter backline. They’ve also been defensively sound of late, giving up just 2 consolation goals in the 9-match winning run they were on prior to the weekend. Do these indicators point to a tightly-contested, tactical tussle?
Haaland leads the line for reinvigorated Man City
RB Leipzig have gone slightly off the boil in the Bundesliga, drawing with Köln and losing to surprise title hopefuls Union Berlin prior to their meeting with Wolfsburg. They were super solid in the group stages though, winning 4 on the trot to comfortably secure their passage to the knockouts after a difficult start. André Silva and Christopher Nkunku are the clear and present dangers for Man City with 3 goals apiece in the Champions League this term.
2021 runners-up and defending EPL champions Man City struck a massive psychological blow in their own domestic title race with a recent win at Arsenal, a result which followed consecutive league defeats on the road, against Man Utd and Tottenham.
Erling Haaland, a scorer of 26 goals in his first 22 EPL games after his strike at the Emirates, also has 5 Champions League goals to his name this term. He has scored 28 times in 23 appearances in Europe’s elite club competition. That is quite ridiculous. Haaland was signed to take City to the next level on the BIGGEST European stage. Let’s see how he and his teammates fare against a dangerously unpredictable Leipzig outfit.
Thursday 23rd February
Old Trafford battle can’t come soon enough
This Europa League play-off tie is delicately poised at 2-2 after a breathless first leg. United snapped a losing streak of 4 matches against the Catalans to set themselves up nicely at fortress Old Trafford. That being said, United’s last defeat at the Theatre of Dreams (writing before their weekend clash with Leicester) did come against Spanish opposition in the shape of Real Sociedad.
Marcus Rashford’s brilliant strike from an acute angle at Camp Nou was his 14th goal in 16 matches since WC22, underlining the massive consistency he’s finding in his game right now.
Barcelona’s midfield metronome Pedri was withdrawn 4 minutes before half time and Barça will be sweating over his fitness ahead of the second leg. Another excellent young midfielder, Gavi, will definitely be absent at Old Trafford through suspension after his yellow card. It’s a massive blow for the visitors.
Manager Xavi might also reconsider his selections at the back. Regular central defender Andreas Christensen was left out in favour of ex-Chelsea man Marcos Alonso. The Spaniard had a night which some would say sums him up as a defender; he scored but also looked uncomfortable in his own box. For a side that conceded just 7 goals in their first 21 LaLiga games this term, Barcelona looked vulnerable against a pacy and incisive United attack.
Erik ten Hag has defensive dilemmas of his own though with converted central defender Luke Shaw looking uncomfortable against the aerial excellence of Robert Lewandowski. Shaw isn’t the first player to have a tough time against the Pole and he won’t be the last.
Ten Hag’s stunning run to the semi-finals with Ajax in 2019 already seems to prove his credentials at the top level of European football. Barcelona counterpart Xavi could guide his team to LaLiga success this season but the jury is still out on his tactical nous on the European stage. What a match we have in store.