Man City and Real Madrid will be the main players in the UEFA Champions League knockout stages, which begin on Tuesday.
These groups are thought to be the top contenders for the championship this year; they are the most recent winners of Europe’s top football league.The Manchester City team is performing at its best right now, even though manager Pep Guardiola has downplayed the team’s prospects of repeating last year’s treble win—winning the FA Cup, the English Premier League, and their first Champions League victory. Manchester City, riding a wave of ten straight victories in all competitions, will take on FC Copenhagen in Denmark for the first leg of the round of 16.
FC Copenhagen is making their second trip to the knockout stage since 2011.
Earlier in the season, they defeated Manchester United 4-3 and drew with City in the group stage. It is expected that Manchester City would dominate over the two games, despite the possible challenge.Despite defensive injuries, Real Madrid, which is playing RB Leipzig in Germany, is coming into the game in great form, led by star performers Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior. The only intriguing matchup in the round of sixteen is between Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan, the runners-up from the previous campaign.
Interest is also growing in the Barcelona vs. Napoli matchup, with Barcelona hoping to advance to their first Champions League quarterfinal since 2020 under departing coach Xavi Hernandez. Barcelona, who are hoping to move past previous disappointments, will put Napoli to the test as they struggle to equal their output from the previous season.
With difficulties in the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich is scheduled to play Lazio in the hopes of making a comeback in the Champions League, while PSG, which has a history of losing in Europe, believes that this season may be their last with Kylian Mbappe. With Mbappe’s future in doubt, PSG takes on Real Sociedad, led by Luis Enrique, hoping to shake their reputation as a team that performs poorly in the Champions League.
The Champions League is ready for exciting matchups as the knockout stages get off, with supporters keen to see if the favorites will advance or if underdogs can pull off big upsets.