LONDON, UK — The stage is set for this season’s UEFA Champions League Round of 16 fixtures after fans witnessed some upsets in the playoffs stage in February, with Europe’s biggest clubs now competing for a spot in the quarter-final stage .
The Champions League last-16 begins this week when different European top clubs will compete for a spot in the quarter-final stage. The first leg fixtures will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, while the return leg fixtures are next week.
There are 16 teams – Chelsea, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Bayer Leverkusen, Sporting Lisbon, Galatasaray, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Atalanta, Bodo/Glimt and Barcelona – that will play in the last-16.
Only eight clubs out of the 16 will qualify for the quarter-final stage, taking place in April.
Here are some of the top fixtures for the Champions League Round of 16 first leg:
Tuesday’s fixtures:
Galatasaray vs Liverpool: The Premier League giants finished in third position on the Champions League table behind Arsenal and Bayern Munich, while Galatasaray qualified after beating Juventus in the playoffs .
Atalanta vs Bayern Munich: Bayern finished in second position in the standings just behind leaders Arsenal, while Atalanta defeated Borussia Dortmund in the playoffs.
Atletico Madrid vs Tottenham Hotspur
Newcastle United vs Barcelona
Wednesday’s fixtures:
PSG vs Chelsea: The match will take place in Paris. Chelsea qualified via an automatic ticket, while PSG progressed after beating Monaco in the playoffs .
Real Madrid vs Man City: Real Madrid qualified after beating Benfica in the playoffs, while Man City progressed via automatic ticket after finishing in the top eight positions.
Bodo/Glimt vs Sporting Lisbon
Bayer Leverkusen vs Arsenal
The first-leg matches are scheduled for March 10 and 11, while the return legs will be played the following week, on March 17 and 18 . The grand finale of this year’s Champions League will take place on May 30 at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest, Hungary’s capital.
Speaking about the Round of 16 stage, football analyst Saheed Afolabi noted: “Things start getting interesting at this stage of the competition. All the teams that made it to the last-16 did a good job to get to this stage of the competition because it is not easy. It only gets tougher from here”.
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