Illustration photo – Paris St. Germain – Bayern Munich. PSG's Neymar sits in the middle on the lawn.
Milan/Paris – The Round of 16 of the Champions League kicks off with two matches on Tuesday. In the fight between two big favorites for the overall championship of Paris St. Germain challenges Bayern Munich. Struggling AC Milan take on Tottenham. The games kick off at 9:00 p.m., the return matches are scheduled for March 8.
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Photo gallery: Football Champions League 2022/23
Bayern defeated PSG in the Champions League in three of the last four matches, including the 2020 final. But the German team was not enough for the Parisians in the quarter-finals in April 2021. “Bayern is a good team that has won almost everything. We have to play against them differently than against other opponents. We need to find a system that allows us to win the ball as quickly as possible,” the UEFA website quoted France coach Christophe Galtier as saying.
< p>His charges lost the last two competitive duels, and in addition, they were missing striker Kylian Mbappé in the last three matches. In Saturday's 1:3 league defeat in Monaco, they were also without Argentina's world champion Lionel Messi.
Bayern have not lost 19 consecutive competitive matches since September and have found a winner in just one of 30 games this season. In the current edition of the Champions League, he won all six duels in the group, beating Pilsen twice.
“Paris is a tough opponent. After a perfect group stage, we did not receive a reward in the form of a more acceptable opponent. Just like us, Paris also has a first-class player,” said the coach of the Bavarian club, Julian Nagelsmann.
Tottenham have not lost four cup matches with AC Milan so far. The London team eliminated the “Rossoneri” in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup (now the European League) in the 1971/72 season and in the round of 16 of the LM in the year 2010/11. However, since the win at AC Milan in February 2011, they have not won in the cups on the soil of the Italian teams six times in a row.
On the contrary, the Milanese have not beaten the English opponents in the cups nine times in a row (including eight losses), in the LM group in this they lost to Chelsea twice this season. “Anything can happen in the Champions League. It will be an even match,” said Tottenham's Italian coach Antonio Conte, who previously managed another Milan team, Inter.
Defending Italian champions AC Milan ended their seven-game winless streak with a 1-0 win over FC Torino on Friday. They are in the last 16 of the Champions League for the first time since 2014. “They are not easy opponents at this stage. We will prepare as best we can. Tottenham is a very compact and well-organized team with strong individuals. A lot of its players know AC Milan and Italian football. I think that it will be balanced,” stated the “Rossoneri” coach Stefano Pioli.
Interesting things before Tuesday's opening matches of the Champions League round of 16:
Paris St. Germain – Bayern Munich
Kick-off: Tuesday 14 February, 21:00.
Referee: Oliver – Burt, Bennett (all English) – Kwiatkowski (video, Polish).
Balance: 11 6 -0-5 15:15.
Interesting points:
– Bayern have beaten PSG in LM in 3 of their last 4 matches including the 2020 final
– the opponents met in the LM elimination phase in April 2021 in the quarter-finals; PSG advanced after a 3-2 away win and a 0-1 home loss
– Bayern won at PSG last time after their opening 4 defeats
– PSG has been eliminated in the round of 16 in 4 of the last 6 seasons
– PSG has lost to German opponents at home in cups in only one of 11 matches (just to Bayern 2 years ago)
– PSG has lost the last 2 competitive duels
– Bayern advanced to the LM quarter-finals in 10 of the last 11 years
– Bayern defeated French opponents in the LM in 10 of the last 12 duels
– Bayern won all 6 games in the LM group this season, also beat Pilsen 2 times
– Bayern did not lose away from home in LM 25 of the last 26 games
– Bayern have not lost 19 consecutive competitive matches since September and have found a winner in only one of 30 matches this season
– teams are first in their domestic leagues
– Midfielder Vitinha (PSG) celebrates today 23rd birthday
– Ramos (PSG) and Kimmich and Mazráv (both Bayern) are in danger of being booked
AC Milan – Tottenham
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Kick-off: Tuesday 14 February, 21:00.
Referee: Schärer – De Almeida, Zogaj (all Swiss) – Fritz (video, German).< /p>
Balance: 4 0-2-2 2:4.
Interesting facts:
– Tottenham have not lost their previous 4 cup matches against each other
– Tottenham eliminated AC Milan in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup (now Europa League) in the 1971/72 season and in the round of 16 LM in the year 2010/11
– AC Milan is in the round of 16 of the LM for the first time since 2014, it has been eliminated in 5 of the last 6 round of 16
– AC Milan has not defeated an English opponent in cups 9 times in a row (including 8 losses), lost to Chelsea twice in the LM group this season. in the round of 16 of the LM in 2 of the last 3 participations
– Tottenham have not won in the cups on the soil of Italian teams 6 times in a row since the victory at AC Milan in the round of 16 of the LM in February 2011
– Tottenham is training The Italian Conte, who in the past led another Milan team, Inter
– the teams are in 5th place in their leagues
– Ballo-Touré, Krunič, Tomori (all AC Milan) and Bentancur, Dier and Lenglet (all Tott enham)
