Lille, March 16 (BUS): A look from the Associated Press on what’s happening in European football on Wednesday:
Lille vs Chelsea (0-2)
Turmoil’s side are sweeping Chelsea in a bid to protect their two-goal lead against Lille to extend their Champions League title defense into the quarter-finals. The club can only operate under license from the British government – after owner Roman Abramovich has been penalized – and its ability to spend and make money is restricted.
At least on the field, Chelsea appear unfazed by the uncertainty over a necessary sale of the club – with Thomas Tuchel keeping the Blues third in the Premier League. French champions Lille have recently rediscovered their defensive form – they played their fifth consecutive league game without conceding a sheet last week – but the scoring proved even more problematic.
Without the injured Renato Sanchez, Lille coach Jocelyn Jorvenic would likely give a key role to American forward Tim Weah in a 4-4-2 system. “We played well in the first leg. We shared possession, but offensively, we weren’t dangerous enough. We need to be more clinical in half of them,” said Jorvinek.
Juventus vs. Villareal (1-1)
The last time Juventus passed the Champions League Round of 16, Massimiliano Allegri took over the Bianconeri to return to victory over Atletico Madrid in 2019. After back-to-back qualifiers at home over the past two years under Maurizio Sarri and Andrea Pirlo, respectively, Allegri has become Returning to responsibility at Juventus, the team faces another Spanish team.
Juventus have three key players – captain Giorgio Chiellini, forwards Paulo Dybala and Federico Bernardeschi – who have come back from injury. But Allegri said the three players would start sitting on the bench: “They don’t have 90 minutes on their legs but they could be three great substitutes.” Defender Leonardo Bonucci is still out due to injury. It was not clear if Villarreal coach Unai Emery would be able to count on Raul Albiol, Etienne Capoy, Gerard Moreno and Juan Foyth, who have both suffered injuries.
The race for the title that seemed a few weeks ago is heating up. Manchester City’s draw with Crystal Palace means Liverpool can narrow the gap with the leaders to a point with a win over Arsenal. Jurgen Klopp’s side are currently racking up eight league wins, and striker Mohamed Salah is expected to be in the squad after a foot injury forced him out during Saturday’s win over Brighton.
Spurs are the next visitor to Brighton for another match on Wednesday, leaving the race for the top four after Saturday’s loss to Manchester United and leaving Spurs six points behind fourth-placed Arsenal, who have a game in hand. United, West Ham and Wolverhampton are also in a diversified position in order to qualify for the Champions League final.
Germany
Mainz returns to the Bundesliga matches after the outbreak of the Corona virus, with a home match against second-placed Borussia Dortmund. And Bo Svensson’s team sustained 20 injuries between the players and the technical staff, which led to the postponement of two matches. Dortmund’s visit was the first to be postponed, followed by the match scheduled for last weekend in Augsburg.
Since then, most of the affected players have tested negative for COVID-19, but as Svensson said on Tuesday, that doesn’t mean they will be fully fit to visit Dortmund. They still have to play. Dortmund is looking for a win to reduce the difference with Bayern Munich, the league leaders, to only four points, with eight rounds remaining.