Champions League Round of 16: PSG Cannot Miss Mbappe, When Do Chelsea Win Again?

1 year ago

The Champions League live streaming has officially returned with a spin that many football followers are looking forward to. Throughout the past few months, the top teams in the Old Continent have had a long time to prepare for the return date with the knockout matches of the Champions League. And victory will be the goal of all teams to gain their advantage after the first leg match.

At the moment, all the top European national championships are entering a phase of acceleration with many unpredictable developments. Therefore, all teams will need to have the plan to use personnel and rotate appropriately so that the quality of competition can be guaranteed for both different arenas.

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Paris Saint-Germain vs. Bayern Munich

One of the most interesting matches in the round of 16 of the Champions League this season must be the clash between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich. Perhaps, both teams clearly understand that the Champions League will be the playground that needs to be prioritized throughout the season. 

If either team is eliminated from the most prestigious playing field on the old continent too soon, all momentum for the rest of the season will disappear. However, overcoming the opponent will certainly not be an easy task when personnel-related issues affect the implementation of the intentions of both coaches.

 

Perhaps both the coaching staff and the top floor of Paris Saint-Germain have felt how important Mbappe is in the squad of the French Rich Man at the moment. He only entered the field in the second half of the game, but that was enough to show why the top of the Prince's Park field could do everything to keep him here this past summer. 

Although he has only just returned from injury, it seems that the speed and ability of the French star to sniff the sharp goals have been immediately promoted to be able to make a mark on the attack of Paris Saint-Germain. Therefore, the French rich man also understands that their task in the second leg will be difficult in the context of having to win to hold on to hope.

It will be a story related to the ambition to win the first Champions League in the club's history and related to their ability to keep two of their biggest stars, Lionel Messi and Mbappe after this summer. Especially in the context that they have had to receive 3 consecutive defeats in all competitions with their worst run of form since 2020.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side, Bayern Munich will certainly have the right to calculate in the second leg series after having an advantage away.

As mentioned, being eliminated from the Champions League in the first knockout round can be a disaster for the Allianz Area team. And they certainly do not want their team to walk unconsciously for the rest of this season.

VAR and semi-offside technology

In addition, VAR is also the focus of this match. During the past few days, the technology to assist the referee has left many scandals because of the referee's mistake in the confrontation between Arsenal and Brentford in the previous round. And it is the video referee technology that has also denied two goals against the German champions of Kylian Mbappe since being launched in the second half. 

 

 

The first time Mbappe put the ball into the net of Bayern Munich was not too controversial when the French striker was behind the entire opponent's defense. Less than 10 minutes later, the French striker continued to put the ball into the net of the German champions, and this second offside caused many reactions from the fans.

Of course, the VAR referee cannot forget the line in this situation, like the mistakes in the Premier League arena. And this time, the black kings are also supported by advanced semi-automatic technology. It is also the technology that helps fans get the most accurate view of the situation leading up to Mbappe's goal. And perhaps when they can witness this image with their own eyes, instead of the lines as in the past, fans can completely admire the decision of the referees.

Tottenham Hotspur vs. AC Milan

Leaving aside the main confrontation, the last 16 of the Champions League teams also had a clash between Tottenham Hotspur and AC Milan. The last match between the two teams in an official playground took place a decade ago in the most prestigious division of the old continent in the 2010 - 2011 season. Perhaps it would not be an exaggeration to say that both clubs are in a crisis.

 

 

With both of them having an unstable series of performances, it only takes one moment to decide the whole match. And Brahim Diaz did not miss his chance to become the fastest Latin American player to score in the knockout stages of the Champions League since Ronaldinho's goal in 2010. 

Having the advantage at home will help Milan's Red and Black Fire have a good mentality before marching to England in the second leg. With the position of the reigning Serie A champion, coach Stefano Piolo's teachers and students will have their careful calculations to take Milan deeper into the Champions League this season.

Meanwhile, coach Antonio Conte will need to find a way to pull the Spurs out of the current crisis if he does not want to be knocked out of the continent's most prestigious playground in the knockout round. An attack by Sons or Kulusevski will be evaluated slightly better than the trio of representatives of Serie A. But it seems that the goal is still a problem that the London team will need to find a solution to if they want to reverse the position in the second leg.

Chelsea vs. Dortmund

Besides the confrontation between Paris Germain vs. Bayern Munich, the match between Chelsea and Dortmund live tv will also attract a lot of attention from fans. Partly because this can be seen as an even match, and partly because fans want to see how Chelsea, after spending heavily last winter, will play in the Champions League.

Graham Potter and his students probably also understand that the Signal Iduna Park home team is a challenging name to deal with at the moment. 

 

 

Positive signs appeared in the Premier League this past weekend when the most notable rookies of the Blues such as Enzo Fernandez and Joao Felix all know how to leave their mark. But the former Brighton captain still has a lot of work to do at the moment when a loss with a minimum score has left them facing all kinds of pressure.

The London representative broke their streak of three consecutive draws with a defeat in a place where perhaps their ability to compete for titles is much more appreciated than the race in the Premier League. It is fair to say that the individuals or exactly the rookies of Chelsea had a not-bad match against the high-performance opponent Dortmund in the round-of-16 match. 

But the inherent problem of the Blues during the past time is the sharpness in the last third of the field. This is the missing element to be able to help them finish the match. On the other hand, the expensive rookies of Stamford Stadium still seem unable to adapt to the new color when they carry too much expectation and pressure to revive a lack of direction at the moment. 

Chelsea has set a record for the amount of money spent in January by a team, but they also only got one win in the last match. Meanwhile, on the opposite side, Dortmund spent only 13 million euros last winter and a total of 104 million euros for the whole 2022 - 2023 season. However, they know how to optimize what they have in hand. 

It was this season's rookie, striker Karim Adeyemi, who scored the goal that ended Chelsea with the steps that once made him a brand in the Bundesliga when he surpassed Enzo Fernandez - the most expensive contract in Premier League history. Perhaps it has been a long time since the fans of the black gold team have witnessed such an inspiring and sublimated Dortmund in both the domestic arena and the European playground.

It will be impossible to predict any scenario that can play out in the second leg of this season's Champions League knockout stages. Each team has partly shown its strengths and weaknesses after the last match. They also face different pressures and expectations to be able to work towards the ultimate goal of a title. And with what happened in the first leg series, we have the right to hope for the most unpredictable developments, as well as see the attraction of the most prestigious tournament for club level this season.