Champions League matchups as Chelsea resumes title defense

Madrid, Feb. 21 (BNA): A look from the Associated Press on this week’s Champions League round of 16 first-leg matches:

Tuesday

Chelsea vs. night

It’s the only match left untouched after the Champions League draw was replayed after a glitch. Chelsea would be happier now.

The European champions can still host a side that suffered a disturbing collapse, as Lille moved from the French champion’s lowest season to midfield, 23 points clear of Paris Saint-Germain in the lead. By contrast, Chelsea have recovered from their wobbles to win back-to-back Premier League matches to make their dominance of third place safer.

Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel just needs to get record holder Romelu Lukaku to be prolific. Apart from two goals in this month’s march to the Club World Cup title, the forward has not scored against a top-tier opponent since December in England. He managed just seven touches in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace – the fewest by any Premier League player in 90 minutes since Opta started scoring over the past two decades. Tuchel blamed the general lack of fluency with his players looking “a little tired, a little tired” after the Abu Dhabi trip.

Lille also faces frustration in attack with striker Jonathan David’s goals stalled. The Canadian striker achieved the first half of the season with three goals in the Champions League in the group stage and 12 goals in the French League this season.

But he suffers from a drought and has not scored in the last six league matches. Lille coach Jocelyn Jorvenek appears to have stabilized the defense and headed to London after two clean sheets.

VILLARREAL VS. Juventus

Juventus are hoping to return to the quarter-finals after being eliminated by Porto and Lyon at this point in the past two seasons with the now-defunct away goals rule. I’ve advanced past the Round of 16 three times in a row before that. Massimiliano Allegri’s team has been eliminated from two consecutive draws in the Italian League and won only one in the last four matches of the competition.

Villarreal, who are playing in the Round of 16 for the first time in 13 years, are entering the match with striker Arno Danjuma at his best after being sidelined for nearly two months with an injury. The Dutchman, who only made his third appearance for the Spanish club since his return, scored a hat-trick in Villarreal’s 4-1 win at Granada in La Liga on Saturday. This extended the team’s unbeaten streak to four games in all competitions and left European champions and reigning champions Unai Emery close to the Champions League places of qualification.

Wednesday

Atletico Madrid VS. Manchester United

If Ralf Rangnick is to win a trophy during his interim tenure as Manchester United coach, it can only be by handing him the club’s fourth European Cup. The German side is already out of the FA Cup, but has overseen a recovery in the Premier League since a shot by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, collecting 25 points from 12 games to lift United from sixth to fourth.

One indication of the 63-year-old’s inexperience in coaching is that the match at Atlético is the first time he has managed a team in the Champions League knockout stage since Schalke’s side were defeated in the semi-finals in 2011 – by Alex Ferguson. United.

Rangnick has been subject to reports of the challenges facing United coaching and it was significant that he referred to the ‘unity’ that emerged in Sunday’s 4-2 win over Leeds in the Premier League. The result, he said, was “the best answer they could give to some of the articles last week that there was some turmoil in the locker room”.

Atlético leads the longest serving coach remaining in the Champions League this season. But after celebrating a decade in charge in December, Atletico are experiencing one of their most turbulent moments under Diego Simeone. The team is inconsistent – like United – and Simeone is feeling the pressure.

There was an encouraging 3-0 win over Osasuna in La Liga but Atletico had lost four of their last six games in all competitions before Saturday, including eliminations from the Spanish Super Cup and Copa del Rey.

Like United in England, Atlético is currently chasing a fourth and final spot in qualifying for the Champions League in Spain. It is likely that Simeone will face Manchester United without Daniel Wass and Matthews Cunha due to injuries, while Thomas Lemar remained in isolation with the Corona virus. While Atletico are the reigning Spanish champions, United have not won a title since the 2017 Europa League under Jose Mourinho.

Benfica vs. ajax

Ajax shone in the group stage, winning all six matches as Sebastian Haller became the first man to score 10 goals in the first six matches in the competition. The Dutch leaders are dominant at the domestic level, winning their last seven matches to take a five-point lead at the top of the Eredivisie.

Benfica reached the last 16 by helping to eliminate Barcelona with a win and a draw against the five-time European champions. But Benfica’s confidence is not high now, with only two wins in five matches in all competitions. The last setback was a 2-2 draw with Boavista, who is threatened with relegation in the Portuguese league, after advancing 2-0 until the 74th minute. The result was another blow to the Portuguese force, which ranked only third in the league standings, behind rivals Sporting Lisbon and leaders Porto. It’s a stagnation overseen by Nelson Verissimo, the B-team coach who took over after Jorge Jesus was sent off at the end of last year despite the results against Barcelona.

Already played

Only one match looks like a bargain after last week’s first batch of the first leg as Manchester City beat Sporting 5-0 in Lisbon.

Liverpool are well positioned to advance after their 2-0 win over Inter Milan. But Paris Saint-Germain only beat Real Madrid 1-0 at home and Bayern Munich drew 1-1 with Salzburg.