Our Champions League Tips for the RO16 1st Legs - 15/02/22

After what feels like an age, Champions League football finally returns and is back with a mouth-watering tie as Paris Saint-Germain host Real Madrid. Both sides are in good form domestically, and sit top of their respective leagues looking on course to claim titles at the end of the season.

PSG and Madrid have both been clinical in front of goal, as in scoring 51 and 48 goals respectively are their leagues top scorers. In the Champions League, Real comfortably topped their group, however, PSG could only finish second behind Manchester City.

Both sides have fallen victim to the infamous round of 16 re-draw, with PSG previously facing Manchester United and Los Blancos playing Benfica, arguably receiving a harder tie against one another in the re-draw. Add the Kylian Mbappe sub-plot into the mix, and this tie is shaping up to be a classic. Moreover, given the consistent attacking output of both sides all season, we expect this one to be a straight shoot-out, with our tip over 3.5 goals priced at 6/4.

Premier League leaders Manchester City travel to Portugal to face Sporting Lisbon as Pep Guardiola will fancy his side to win the tie comfortably. Hosts Sporting have enjoyed a fine Champions League campaign, finishing second in Group C ahead of Borussia Dortmund, however, will have wanted to avoid the Citizens in the draw.

Domestically, Ruben Amorim’s side sits second and hold the league's best defensive record, although will face a tough test on Wednesday with the Sky Blues averaging three goals per game in the Champions League this season.

The Citizens enter this one in superb form, with Guardiola’s side unbeaten in 15 league games since a surprise loss to Crystal Palace back in October. In the Champions League, Algerian Riyad Mahrez has been the standout performer for them, scoring five times in six games and we back him to continue his form, priced at 13/8 to score and City to win.

Much like PSG and Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Liverpool are another two clubs who may feel somewhat aggrieved at their new opponents for the round of 16, having previously drawn to Ajax and RB Salzburg, respectively.

Inter are top of Seria A, although after a 2-1 defeat in the Milan derby and a 1-1 draw to Napoli last time out, their lead has been reduced to just one point with Napoli and AC Milan hot on their heels. Visitors Liverpool sit second in the Premier League, winning their last three games and in scoring 60 goals are the league's top scorers. After facing one another in the AFCON final, forwards Mohamed Salah and Saido Mane will be welcomed back for the trip to Milan, with the Egyptian being the Reds star man this season scoring a league-high 16 goals.

Both sides have been serial goal scorers this campaign, and we expect an action-packed first leg when these two meet on Wednesday night, with our tip both teams to score in both halves priced at 10/1.

Hosts RB Salzburg make their debut in the knockout round as they welcome Bayern Munich to Red Bull Arena with Matthias Jaissie’s side finishing second in their group behind LOSC Lille. Domestically, Salzburg are well clear at the top of the Austrian Bundesliga, with German wonder kid Karim Adeyemi the league's top scorer with 14 goals as they look to be cruising to the title.

Bayern Munich are amongst the favourites for the Champions League once again, and in scoring the most, conceding the least, and winning all six group games, they have been the most dominant so far in the competition, especially as they were part of the pack that sent Barcelona to the Europa League by them finishing third in their group.

Despite a shock loss to VfL Bochum at the weekend, Bayern sit top of the Bundesliga with three wins from five including a thrilling 3-2 win over RB Leipzig. Although Salzburg has been impressive in recent weeks, Bayern’s form in the Champions League is immaculate, and we expect the Bavarians to win this one in style priced at 10/3 to win 3-0, 3-1, or 3-2.