UEFA Champions League excitement returns today

It will be excitement for football fans with the return of the UEFA Champions League, as the Round of 16 ties are completed with four matches today and tomorrow.

The Champions League was suspended in March, with only four of the eight Round of 16 ties having been completed: Paris Saint-Germain defeated Borussia Dortmund 3-2 on aggregate; Atalanta overwhelmed Valencia 8-4; Atletico Madrid ended Liverpool’s reign as European champions with a 4-2 triumph; and RB Leipzig outclassed Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 overall.

The Round of 16 resumes today with Manchester City at home to Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium and Olympique Lyon visiting Juventus in Turin’s Allianz Stadium.

City hold a 2-1 lead from the first leg at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu and are being tipped to advance, though Real are a different beast compared to back in February when the Citizens won in Madrid, with Zinedine Zidane’s side having claimed a first La Liga title since 2017.

Juventus, fresh from claiming their ninth successive Serie A title will have to dig deep to overturn a 1-0 deficit against Olympique Lyon. The French side will likely be undercooked, having not played a competitive game since March after the 2019-20 Ligue 1 side was scrapped entirely when the worldwide pandemic struck.

Tomorrow’s fixtures sees Bayern Munich, who are chasing a treble after winning the Bundesliga and German DFB Pokal Cup, look to wrap up progression when they host Chelsea at the Allianz Arena in Bavaria. The match will air Live at 8:00pm. Bayern are holding a comfortable 3-0 lead.

Also tomorrow at 8:00 pm, Barcelona and Napoli will lock horns at the Camp Nou. The teams drew 1-1 in the first leg in Naples and the Champions League offers both a chance for redemption after disappointing domestic campaigns (Barca failed to defend their La Liga title in Spain, while Napoli were way off the pace of the top four in Italy’s Serie A).

The matches will be broadcast live on DStv channels.