Champions League Round of 16 – First Leg Review

The group stages of the Champions League have always been exciting and we were treated to some great games such as those between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid and the 3-2 win by Rostov over Bayern Munich.  However, nothing compares to the knockout stages of the competition and we have witnessed some fantastic games in the first leg of the Round of 16 ties.

In fact, we have seen two spectacular matches in particular, one which saw Paris Saint-Germain defeat Barcelona 4-0 and the other a high scoring affair between Manchester City and Monaco.

Barcelona travelled to Paris as one of the favourites to win the Champions League this season but left the French capital as one of the outsiders.  It was a fantastic performance from Unai Emery’s PSG team and they dominated the match from the first whistle to the last.  Pressing Barcelona at all times, even when Andre ter Stegen was in possession, Barcelona could not find any rhythm and that’s how it remained throughout the 90 minutes.  It was one of the most disjointed performances seen from a Barcelona team on the European stage for many years and Luis Enrique has a massive job on his hands, to turn this tie around.  In truth, Barcelona first need to concentrate on winning the second leg, never mind the tie.

The match between Manchester City and Monaco was always going to be entertaining but no one could have predicted what happened in the first leg at the Etihad Stadium.  Both teams attacked each at will and the flow to the game was immense.  First Manchester took the lead but within no time at all, Monaco were in-front.  Manchester City found an equaliser, only for Monaco to then move ahead 3-2.  It was looking like a great night for the Ligue 1 club but Manchester City were not finished and came back with an astonishing burst of three goals without reply, to leave Pep Guardiola’s team with a two-goal advantage heading into the second leg.

Elsewhere, Borussia Dortmund will be disappointed to not only have lost their match 1-0 at Benfica but to have failed to get any away goal.  The visitors were the better team but failed to take their chances, with Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, normally so reliable in-front of goal, being the main culprit.  Napoli gave a good account of themselves at Real Madrid and opened the scoring in spectacular fashion through Lorenzo Insigne.  However, Real Madrid came back into it and a tremendous volley from Casmemiro gives them a 3-1 advantage to take to Naples for the second leg.

Bayern Munich enjoyed another dominating victory over Arsenal, who were in the match until half-time but crumbled badly in the second half, eventually going down 5-1.  Atletico Madrid also look to have their tie sewn up, thanks to a clinical 4-2 away win at Bayer Leverkusen.  Juventus came away from Porto with a 2-0 win and with the away goals in the bank, should see off the Portuguese, while Leicester will be happy with their away goal in Seville, despite trailing 2-1 from the first leg.  Can Claudio Ranieri produce some magic in the Champions League, as he did in the Premier League last season?

We are set for some very exciting matches in the second leg of the Round of 16 ties in this seasons Champions League.  We could have goals galore in the Stade Louis II as Monaco look to hit back against Manchester City and the atmosphere is sure to be electric as Borussia Dortmund and Napoli look to overturn first leg deficits.  Will Barcelona be able to produce a miracle and come back against PSG and can Arsenal do the unthinkable at home to Bayern Munich and overturn a 5-1 deficit?  There’s plenty to look forward to the second legs.