The Champions League has completed its Round of 16 ties ahead of the start of the quarter-finals next week.
Before the hiatus in football due to COVID-19, half of the ties had been completed. The remaining ones were completed in the last two days and we are now set for the next stage which will be played in Lisbon.
Contrary to other seasons, the quarterfinals and beyond will be one-legged ties so as to finish the tournament on time.
Who are the quarter-finalists?
Atalanta continue their fairy tale Champions League campaign after demolishing Spanish side Valencia. They will be meeting PSG who overturned a 2-1 first-leg defeat against Borussia Dortmund to progress. Atletico Madrid knocked the defending champions, Liverpool, out by beating them in both legs. Up next for them is a relatively inexperienced yet dangerous Leipzig side who knocked out last year’s finalists Tottenham Hotspur. The winners from both ties will go head to head for a spot in this year’s final.
On the other side of the draw, Lyon set up a meeting with Manchester City after defeating Juventus on away goals. Both sides clashed in last season’s group stages where City failed to beat their French counterparts in any of the two meetings. Lyon will go into the tie with full confidence gotten from knocking out Juve. City too have every cause to be confident after knocking out Real Madrid. In doing so, Pep Guardiola became the first-ever coach to knock Zidane out from a European competition.
The clash of the round is undoubtedly Bayern vs Barcelona. Two sides who have every reason to believe that this is their year. The Bavarians demolished 2012 winners, Chelsea, home and away. A 3-0 victory in Stamford Bridge was followed by yesterday’s 4-1 drubbing in Germany. Barcelona, on the other hand, pummeled Napoli 3-1 at the Camp Nou for a 4-2 aggregate win.
Lyon/Manchester City vs Barcelona/Bayern will be the semifinals fixture and it promises to be exciting. Brace yourselves up for an enthralling end of this year’s European premier club competition.
