Barcelona look to remain unbeaten in 2025 (13W,3D) when they play host to Benfica in the 2nd leg of their round of 16 tie.
Barca claimed the first leg 1-0 on the road, despite playing 70+ minutes with 10 men on the field.
Wojciech Szczesny claimed man of the match honours in that fixture, making eight saves on the way to an unlikely clean sheet.
Still, there is reason for belief in the Benfica camp, with the Portuguese side winning their last four away games across all comps while claiming four wins from five road games in the UCL this campaign.
Barring another early red card, I’m expecting to see far more goals scored in the 2nd leg of this fixture, with Barca contributing at least one more than their guests.
Bayer Leverkusen have left themselves a massive hole to dig their way out of, after going down 3-0 to German rivals Bayern in the first leg.
This will be the third time in four weeks this pair have met, with Leverkusen failing to score in the previous two outings (1D,1L).
Xavi Alonso side will take solace in the fact they bettered Bayern 3-0 at home last season, though Vincent Kompany’s men look a different outfit this time around.
Leverkusen won’t die wondering in this fixture, I’m backing them to go balls to the wall, opening up opportunities to score at both ends of the park.
Liverpool miraculously enter the 2nd leg of their tie with PSG with a one goal advantage, after stealing victory in Paris.
Alisson Becker was the hero for the Reds, making 10 saves on the way to shutting out the French giant, while at the other end, in the 87th minute Harvey Elliott converted one of Liverpool’s two attempts on goal to secure the W.
A return to Anfield will put the Reds’ fans minds at ease, knowing their side is unbeaten at home in 19 games (17W,2D).
Now, PSG have won their last 13 away games across all comps, including their last three UCL road fixtures, but have lost their previous four matches on English soil.
If PSG can’t find a way to beat the Reds in France with a shot differential of +27, then I can’t see them fairing any better at Anfield.
Inter Milan head into their 2nd leg tie against Feyenoord as heavy favourites to progress to the quarterfinals.
The Italian champions left Rotterdam with a deserved two goal lead, and a eighth UCL clean sheet in nine games this campaign.
I Nerazzurri are unbeaten in 14 UCL games at the San Siro (12W,2D), and are looking to complete a sixth straight home victory accompanied by a clean sheet.
Meanwhile, Feyenoord are winless in their last six away games in all comps (3D,3L), failing to score in two of their previous three.
I have Inter winning to nil.
Everything is left to play for when Lille host Dortmund, after their first leg finished level at 1-1.
Both teams have scored in 11 of Lille’s last 13 games across all competitions, and in nine of their last 10 home fixtures.
Meanwhile, only Barcelona managed to score more goals than Borussia Dortmund in the UCL group stage (22G).
I’m backing both sides to score once again, combined with over 2.5 total goals in regulation time.
We head to the Metropolitano Stadium for match of the round between Madrid rivals Atletico and Real.
Real head into this match with a one goal advantage, after winning 2-1 in the opening leg, their first regular-time victory over Atletico in nine attempts (7D,1L).
Atletico have only lost one game at home to Real since September 2019 (2W,4D).
This derby has never been short of goals, with both sides scoring in each of the pair’s last 10 meetings, eight of which finished as a stalemate.
I’m backing Real to progress to the quarterfinals with another scoring draw against their little brother.
This match looks to be a formality for the Villans, who left Belgium with a two-goal advantage from the opening leg against Club Brugge (3-1).
Club Brugge will have to create history should they progress to the quarterfinals, after failing to win any of their previous 16 trips to English shores (2D,14L).
The Villans are unbeaten across their last 15 homes games in all comps (9W,6D), but have relied heavily on their offence to get them out of trouble, keeping just one clean sheet over they last 10 fixtures at Villa Park.
I’m backing Villa to win at home, but not without conceding.
We wrap up the round of 16 with a foregone conclusion, as Arsenal take a 6 goal advantage into their home leg against PSV.
These two sides have met in London on five previous occasions, with the Gunners going undefeated, while keeping four clean sheets (3W,2D).
PSV has won once across their last seven away games in all comps (1D,5L), conceding 15 goals over the trip.
With the tie in the bag, I’m expecting Arteta to rotate most of his attacking options, even so, I believe the Gunners will be resolute in defence and go on to win this game to nil.