Previewing the first of four amazing matches this week in the Champions League





Last week the unpredictability of this competition hit us all with losses from three of the four sides that finished first in their group. A fact that corroborated with mg previous statement that the group stage is not much of an indicator as to how will clubs perform in the knockout stage.





Favorites PSG and Liverpool were defeated away from home but remain hopeful of a turnaround heading back to their stadium. Losing by only one goal is a big part of that and they're also better than their respective opponent, but to convert that into a positive result undee these conditions is a whole nother story.

Tottenham and Valencia will have to play significantly better in order to advance and it'll be up to Leipzig and Atalanta, a couple of inexperienced sides to close the deal after very strong performances in the first leg. It goes without saying that despite playing on the road the Italian side is in a better situation because of the goal differential.

The second slate of Champions League matches is coming up and the next four matchups are all must watch TV. With that in mind we'll get into each specific duel.









Chelsea x Bayern Munich

A rematch of the final in Munich where one of the weaker Chelsea sides of that decade that used Bertrand as basically a second leftback managed to win it on Penalties. It's obviously a special encounter between the two fan bases.





This feels like one of the more unpredictable matchups in the round of 16. We can all agree that Bayern Munich is the better side right now, but I fail to see the gap some people are throwing out there.





Chelsea have been very inconsistent this season, that was expected all along. They lost Hazard, the transfer ban, uncertainty surrounding a couple of positions and their campaign in both the Premier League and Champions League shows that.





What surprised me about this team is their ability to compete at a high level against the top sides. The Blues faced Liverpool twice this season, once in the Premier League and the other time in the Uefa Super Cup, in both affairs while they lost, one could make the argument they outplayed Liverpool and that's a rarity these days. The same thing happened against Manchester City at the Etihad. My point is that they were never overwhelmed.





Playing against sides that look to keep the possession and dominate the balance of play, actually suits Chelsea. They tend to struggle against clubs that keep a low block and frustrate them, especially at home.





If they'll go through it's anybody's guess, but this type of draw is actually a good thing for Frank Lampard's side. The Blues are playing with house money and the matchup in terms of style of play actually favours them. While Bayern have all the pressure they haven't been consistent enough to warrant such expectation.





Looking at the other end with the Bavarians all eyes are on the striker, number 9, Robert Lewandowski. The narrative for a few years now has been that the Polish forward disappears on the biggest stage. We all remembered how much Liverpool's defence frustrated him in the same round of 16 last year. Will he come through this time around? His season has been magnificent but if Bayern go out against Chelsea the narrative will only become stronger.





One of the biggest changes from this new Bayern under Hans Flick in comparison to last year when Nico Kovac was in charge is in their fullbacks. Between Hummels' sale, Boateng's struggles and Sule recent injury, Flick has taken advantage of Alaba's flexibility and moved him into a centre-back role with the Canadian phenom Alphonso Davies taking his spot at leftback. Kimmich is being used primarily as a midfielder which potencializes his skill as a distributor of the ball and Pavard is the new right back. These changes have turned Bayern Munich into amore attacking side and probably more vulnerable at the back.





I cannot wait to see how the match will unfold as neither team is known for their solid defence and with N'Golo Kanté out, Lampard will be forced to use only two "defensive" midfielders in Kovacic and Jorgjnho. It's probably too soon for Loftus-Cheek, leaving Mount and Barkley as the primary options. Either one just brings more offensive fire power into the match.





When you have Thiago and Kimmich in the midfield it stands to reason to expect seeing the team dominating the possession but given that the match is in Stamford Bridge I don't see a big gap in that statistic. Unless something extraordinary happens early.





Looking at some of the odds I have seen out there I'd go with Chelsea just based on the value but if you are asking me as an analyst





Who advances: Bayern Munich.





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That's all for now. The preview of Barcelona x Napoli will be coming later tonight



