Champions League Round of 16 First Legs Preview - Gameweek 1

The Champions League will soon be back with us as the round of 16 draws near, with us being treated to some very interesting ties. If you’re as excited for the return of the Champions League as we are, have a look through our round of 16 preview for the first round of ties.

Champions League holders will be one of the first teams kick-off the round of 16 as they return to the setting where they won their 6th European title as they head to the Wanda Metropolitano to face Atletico Madrid. The Spanish side finished second behind Juventus in their Champions League group and will be looking to get past the round of 16 for the first time since 2017. Naturally, as a result of winning group E, Liverpool have the luxury of playing away first and will be looking to take a decent result back to Anfield for the second leg.

The same evening will see a tasty meeting between Borussia Dortmund and PSG at the Signal Iduna Park. The sides have only met on 2 occasions as they were drawn in the same group during the 10/11 Europa League, with both games ending as a draw. Along with Barcelona, Dortmund qualified from this season’s ‘group of death” as they beat Inter to second place in the group. PSG, on the other hand, enjoyed an easy route to the round of 16, winning 5 of their group stage games, with 1 of the wins coming as a 3-0 win over Real Madrid in Paris. After their embarrassing Champions League exit to Manchester United last season, PSG will be looking to make amends for last season as they look to win their first Champions League title.

Let’s be honest, unless you’re an Atalanta or Napoli fan, you’re not going to remotely care about this tie, but it’s a thing so we might as well go through it. With their hopes for Champions League qualification looking on the brink of death, a late surge from Atalanta, as well as a late collapse from Shakhtar Donetsk and Dinamo Zagreb, sent the Italian side to the round of 16 with 7 points, with no other side this season qualifying with fewer points. Valencia also pulled off a big shock during their journey to the round of 16, as a 1-0 victory over last season semi-finalists Ajax in Amsterdam sent them to the top of the group, with Ajax moving down to the Europa League.

The second English involvement in the round of 16 will see Tottenham host Bundesliga title hopefuls RB Leipzig at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and will be looking to pick up better results than they did last time they faced German opposition, as they endured 2 defeats to Bayern Munich in the group stage, including a 7-2 home defeat. Despite only picking up 3 wins during the group stage, with no group winner winning fewer games, RB Leipzig won group G and will be looking to get past the round of 16 for the first time in their short history.