Champions League expert panel for the round of 16: “Did Bayern have a certain premonition?”

BACKGROUND

Everything from the beginning: After UEFA committed a faux pas, the draw for the round of 16 in the Champions League had to be repeated. The eight encounters have now been finalized.

There are already sonorous duels in the round of the last 16. While PSG face Real Madrid, Liverpool will have to play Inter Milan and Atletico will host Manchester United first. With their neighbor RB Salzburg, FC Bayern Munich has a supposedly feasible opponent.

What are the chances of the respective teams? Who will make it to the quarter-finals? Seven experts agree GOAL and SPOX their assessments.

The participants: Nizaar Kinsella (Chelsea-Korrespondent GOAL), Neil Jones (Liverpool-Korrespondent GOAL), Charlotte Dunker (United Correspondent GOAL), Mario Cortegana (Real Correspondent GOAL), Marc Mechenoua (PSG correspondent GOAL), Jonathan Smith (City-Korrespondent GOAL), Simone Gambino (Series-A-Korrespondent GOAL), Stanislav Schupp (editor GOAL and SPOX)

CL draw: “Real have renamed UEFA”

Nizar Kinsella: “Chelsea are the reigning champions and can therefore beat any team. Lille is certainly the best possible and easiest lot when you see PSG runner-up in the group against Real, for example. The chances are good that Chelsea will advance and then go on to the next round meets a top-class. In view of the ambitious goals in the Premier League, the Cup and the Club World Cup, that’s not ideal. “

Neil Jones: “I think Liverpool will be less happy with Inter than with Salzburg, RB would of course have been the supposedly easier opponent. Inter are tough given their form, but Liverpool are favorites in these duels. They have this season at San Siro already beaten Milan. At the same time, it is in Liverpool’s hands that Atletico, Manchester United, PSG and Real, two potential rivals for the title, will be eliminated in the round of 16. “

Charlotte Duncker: “Even if United wouldn’t have liked to play against PSG, they won’t be too pleased with Atletico. It may be an even tougher task than the original draw. PSG have many world-class players but United have beaten them before ( 2019, round of 16). Atleti is a well organized and trained team. It will be difficult to get past them. However, Ralf Rangnick now has two months to prepare his team for the task. The current form does not speak for United, but im February could look very different. “

Mario Cortegana: “PSG are of course a much worse lot than Benfica. Currently I see Real ahead, but the difference is minimal and the starting position could be completely different in February. Real are very, very angry. They have UEFA in VERGUEFA [vom spanischen vergüenza: Schande] renamed. Real considers the repetition to be completely unacceptable and has already expressed this before the second drawing. “

CL draw: “The best news for PSG is …”

Marc Mechenoua: “Since the beginning of the season, PSG have been lacking consistently good performances and consistency. They have so far not managed to dominate a game for more than 45 minutes. The record is poor, but PSG have shown two things so far: That they can score anytime and can often get out of bad situations. The development of the team is still not really visible. In contrast to Real Madrid. Against Real, the players can now show that they have made progress. I see the chances with 50:50. The best news for PSG is that they have avoided Bayern and Liverpool. The game brings with it some interesting stories: the possibly imminent departure of Mbappe, the return of Lionel Messi to Spain, the return of Achraf Hakimi and Sergio Ramos about their ex-club and the reunion with Carlo Ancelotti, not to mention the discussion about Zinedine Zidane as a possible successor to Mauricio Pochet tino. “

Jonathan Smith: “Manchester City have had bad experiences with Lisbon, where they failed in the quarter-finals of the final tournament in 2020 against Lyon. All in all, however, they will be satisfied with Sporting and, above all, happy not to face Atletico. Villarreal, the first lot, would have been the supposedly easier opponent. “

Simone Gambino: “It wasn’t a nice afternoon for the two Italian teams because the first draw was definitely better for them than the second. Juventus now have to play against Villarreal, a team with a coach Unai Emery who has a lot of international experience, with good players like Gerard Moreno, Arnaut Danjuma and Yeremy. Villarreal is much more dangerous than Sporting, which Juve had drawn first. It looks similar at Inter. It was unfortunate for the Milanese as they now have to play against one of the best teams next to Bayern Munich : Liverpool. The Reds want to win the title again. Klopp’s counter-pressing and the impressive performances of Mohamed Salah should cause Inter worry. First, the Nerazzurri Ajax were drawn. That would probably have been better for Inter, even if the Dutch are also a respectable one Team are. “

Stanislav Schupp: “Did Bayern already have a certain premonition? After the first drawing, the record champions wrongly posted Salzburg as their opponent instead of Atletico. Now it was RB in the second attempt. Instead of compactly oriented Simeone football, there is now a young, aggressively strong and fast switching game The Salzburg offensive to Karim Adeyemi will pose one or two problems for the Munich defense. Bayern’s sometimes wild, unstructured switching game could also play into the cards for the Austrians, because this way RB can clear the gaps benefit from strong pressing in the center. “

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