This week’s Champions League round of 16 ties saw Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Chelsea prevail in their respective first leg of the round of 16. Madrid scraped a late win against 10-man Atalanta whereas Man City and Bayern have obtained a strong lead to advance to the next round. Here are the five takeaways from this week’s UCL games.
Tuchel on a mission to revive Chelsea
Chelsea couldn’t have found a better successor for Frank Lampard than Thomas Tuchel as the German manager has been off to a rock-solid start to his managerial stint with the Londoners. One of the looming questions was how the Blues would fare under Tuchel in the knockouts. Indeed, the former PSG boss has delivered when it mattered the most and that too against La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid. Giroud’s spectacular overhead kick handed the Blues a 1-0 win in the first leg and there would be no better feeling for Tuchel to reach the Champions League for the second consecutive year.
Simeone’s pragmatic football fell apart
Time and again, Diego Simeone’s tactic with Atletico Madrid in big games turns out to be playing a defensive style of football, which were all backfired on previous occasions and the game against Chelsea wasn’t an exception either. Simeone’s plan to concede possession and to stay compact in the defensive third went awry with a single overhead kick from Giroud.
Man City’s relentless run continues.
It is safe to say that Manchester City are clear favourites for both the Premier League title and Champions League as they eased past Borussia Monchengladbach 2-0 in the first leg. It was another clinical performance from Pep Guardiola’s men and they have now gone 19 matches without a defeat across all competition. Gladbach, who wreaked havoc on Real Madrid and Inter Milan in the group stage, had no clue against the dominant force of Citizens.
Bayern – a clear title favourites for the second time in a row.
It was Real Madrid who had previously won the Champions League four times on the trot and now Bayern are looking to take a leaf out of the Spanish giants’ book. The Bavarians showed no mercy to Lazio, winning the first leg 4-1 and putting the tie beyond doubts. Last season, Hansi Flick led Bayern to an unprecedented sextuple, announcing themselves as the best team in Europe. Flick’s men haven’t looked back since then as they continue to dominate all the formats although they suffered some setbacks few and far between. Having almost passed to the next round, Bayern remains a nightmare for all the opponents.
Real Madrid’s title hopes are bleak despite narrow win over Atalanta
Madrid would be happy to get home three points after a 1-0 win over Atalanta in the away leg. However, the victory wasn’t as convincing as many would have expected, especially when Atalanta were forced to play without a man for almost the entirety of the game. The injuries are acceptable but when you have been playing at the highest level for years you need to scrape out results no matter what the circumstance points at.
