It is officially time for the teams to win or go home at the UEFA Champions League this week, when the second leg of the playoffs of the elimination phase will take place, and at least one European champion will face an early departure.
Six teams enter this week’s action with just an advantage of a goal, including the winners of the Real Madrid Champions League and Bayern Munich, which means that the bets are high when the teams reach the field. That is especially true in Madrid, where reigning champions will face Manchester City in the most anticipated confrontation of this week. The victory of Bayern’s first stage over Celtic does not necessarily mean that they will be sure to advance, taking into account the surprising vulnerabilities of the German team that were exhibited in the last week.
Before the action begins, here is a lot of selections and predictions of the CBS sports team.
Do not miss any of the Champions League. As always, you can catch all our coverage in Paramount+, CBS Sports Network and CBS Sports Golazo Network throughout the season.
Here are our expert selections for this first day:
Tuesday Champions League Pizarra
Bayern Munich vs. Celtic
Player to see: Dayot Upamecano – The French center has a reputation for enormous quality and caulamite errors. Upamecano Temprally is marking games with much less than the latter, it looks like a robust defender in which you can trust that you avoid any harmful ricks. Still, just change that for a moment … and turn this tie on your head. – James Bege
Man of the phosphorus: Harry Kane – This is one of those games in which the English striker is not lost. The former Tottenham player is having a very solid season with 29 goals marked in the 30 games he has played in all competitions. After scoring in the playoffs of the playoffs last week in Glasgow, we can expect that it is also on the score sheet this week. – Francesco Porzio
Prediction: Bayern 3, Celtic 1 – Although the Germans were lucky several times in the first leg, they should do the job here with a minimum fuss. The Scottish giants will look for an early goal to put their hosts under pressure, but this should finally follow the path of Bayern. – Jonathan Johnson
The best bet: Harry Kane to score and Bayern Munich will lead in part time (-101)- Seeking to have a quick start at home, it is not surprising that Bayern’s attack exchanges Kane, who cannot be stopped by any team in the world at this time. But Kane just to score is not what a playable number would consider, so adding the Bayern half -time result of a quick start leads things to a more attractive number. – Chuck Booth
AC Milan vs. Feyenoord
Player to see: Mike Maignan – Lately it has not been the best time for the International of France, its clumsy close effort in the first game last week just the first error that has made lately. In an era of a visitor goal, that error and the failure of Milan of score could be expensive. Even now, he has to do. – James Bege
Party Man: Santiago Giménez – The Mexican striker had a good start at the Italian club after Rossoneri signed him from this same Feyenoord in the January transfer window. Giménez has already scored two goals in the two games in the series A who has played against Empoli and Hella Verona, but now he has called to make a difference against his former team. – Francesco Porzio
Prediction: Milan 1, Feyenoord 1 – The Italians face a task uphill after the close defeat of last week, so don’t be surprised to see a tight encounter. If the Dutch outfit scored, then it will be extremely difficult for the Rossoneri to get this out of the fire, but there is always a possibility that Milan first hit that they could turn over his head. – Jonathan Johnson
The best bet: both teams to score (-128)- Milan’s defense has left much to be desired this season and in what will be a tense clash, both teams will shoot early and, often, in what could be an open matter in Milan. We already saw in the first leg how Milan can give away a goal and even in the stadium of his house, Feyenoord can also capitalize the errors in the second stage. – Chuck Booth
Wednesday Champions League Pizarra
Real Madrid vs. Manchester City
Player to see: Omar Marmoush – After having been surprisingly absent from the XI in the first leg, the weekend hero Hattrick will surely begin at Santiago Bernabéu. It will offer just what City failed in that game, where five midfielder options combined attackers for only three shots. The events in the Etihad show that Erling Haaland cannot do it all himself. Marmush can share the load. – James Bege
Party Man: Jude Bellingham – After a disappointing weekend in which he received a red card against Osasuna after offending the referee, Jude Bellingham is called to react in one of the most important games of the season against Manchester City. While English is likely to lose some games in the Spanish League, the game against the team trained by Pep Guardiola is the perfect opportunity to forget what happened during the weekend in Spain. – Francesco Porzio
Prediction: Real 1, City 1 – Almost almost ended the level last week before Real did what they do best. This could see Pep Guardiola and his city attire against the death of the light and possibly leading the game at some point, but ultimately, European defenders should do enough to see things and move forward. – Jonathan Johnson
The best bet: Kylian Mbappe to score (-105): already finding the background of the network with a spiny end in the first leg, another goal could be sufficient to send Real Madrid to the last 16. Given the city’s defensive problems, MBAPPE will be space to explode and now that he is growing in his role in Real Madrid, the objectives will continue. – Chuck Booth
PSV vs. Juventus
Player to see: Joey Veerman – The PSV will not maintain a clean sheet (even against Juventus), so they will have to overwhelm Juventus in the attack. That means a great performance of the midfielder that leads this team in the expected assists for 90 minutes of the Champions League, while putting almost two and a half shots. – James Bege
Party Man: Randal Kolo Muani – The impact of the French striker has been outstanding on the club, since the former PSG player already scored five goals in his first five games played for Juventus, and also provided a key attendance against Inter to Francisco Concicao. – Francesco Porzio
Prediction: PSV 1, Juve 1 – The Giants of the series A leadar 2-1 and that advantage of a goal could make the difference in the classification for the 16th round. Juve is more a threat of attack since the arrival of Randal Kol Surprise if they write down the goal they need to overcome. – Jonathan Johnson
The best bet: Juventus to win (+190) – While going to the Netherlands is never an easy element, this is a line that confuses me slightly taking into account the way Juventus is. Not betting is a safer way to play this since Juventus does not have to win, but with Randal Kolo Muani and Weston McKennie take a step forward when necessary, Juventus can eliminate a result out of home. – Chuck Booth
Knockout phase playoff television calendar
All Times US/Eastner
