UEFA Champions League 2nd legs Preview

This week we are treated to the 2nd legs of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 ties.

We kick off this preview by looking at the clash to be held in Turin, Italy between Juventus F.C and Celtic F.C.

Juventus come into this tie in a very comfortable state after their 0-3 away win in Glasgow. This was thanks to goals from Matri, Marchisio and Vucinic. But even though this tie may seem to be already over the Old Lady are far from taking this Celtic team lightly. Celtic have nothing to lose and will be attacking without any consequences in the hope of scoring 3 or 4 without reply to force either extra time or the unlikely win.

Juve welcome back Chiellini but i'm sure coach Antonio Conte will be resting players and handing Champions League debuts to a few bianconeri.

Celtic will be without captain Brown and likely to be without Lustig. Although the ever goal poaching class of Samaras will return in this tie after missing the 1st leg due to injury. The Scots are coming off a shock loss to Motherwell and an unconvincing win away to St Mirren. Whilst the Italians are coming off a 3-0 demolision of Siena and a solid 1-1 draw in their top of the table clash with Napoli.

Prediction = Juventus v Celtic... 2-0 (5-0 aggregate for Juventus)

We then travel to Paris where PSG will host Spanish side Valencia.

This game is delicatly poised and could go either way after the 1st leg finished 1-2 for the away side PSG. The 1st leg held at the Mestalla was a firey affair which PSG dominated until Valencia found a goal and then ofcourse the sending off of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

PSG are coming off a solid 2-0 win over Marseille and a shock loss last weekend to Reims 1-0. David Beckham is expected to make his Champions League return after a succesful stint at the L.A Galaxy.

Valencia could be a threat as they will come into this knowing they have to score more than 1 goal to qualify to the Quater Finals. The Spanish side are coming off 2 consecutive 2-2 draws to Real Zaragoza and Levante.
I'm expecting a fats flowing game of Football with plenty of goal mouth action, so should make for great neautral viewing.

Prediction = PSG v Valencia... 2-2 (4-3 aggregate for PSG)

The highly anticipated return of Cristiano Ronaldo to Old Trafford is the next stop of this preview and what a show the Theatre of Dreams will have for us.

Manchester United come into this tie with the slight advantage of having the away goal due to the first leg ending 1-1 with goals from Welbeck and Cristiano Ronaldo.

But something that I believe even the biggest Real Madrid supporter would admit is that their away form is better than their home form so this is poised for a great match of football that we could be talking about for years to come.

United are coming off a crucial away win at QPR and a 4-0 thumping at home against Norwich where we saw Shinji Kagawa come out of his shell and score a sublime hat trick. Ofcourse RVP will be a constant threat along with Wayne Rooney but it's the flanks where I'll be focusing my attention on this one. Valencia vs Di Maria will be a key match up and i also expect Ronaldo popping his head on the flanks with Benzema occupying the sol strikers role.

Real Madrid are coming off 2 outstanding results vs Barcelona. The first was the 2nd leg of the Copa Del Rey where they travelled to the Camp Nou and demolished Barca 3-1. The second was this weekend at the Bernabeu and won 2-1 with a late Sergio Ramos header.

I do expect goals in this match up and for plenty of goal mouth action and quite simply the team that takes their chances will come up trumps.

Prediction = Manchester United FC v Real Madrid CF . . . 1-1 (Real Madrid on penalties after Extra Time)

The last match of this preview sees us travel to Dortmund, Germany for the clash between Borussia Dortmund and Shakhtar Donetsk.

This will be an interesting match up that showed great glimpses of football in the 1st leg in Ukraine. Shakhtar play a fabulous brand of attacking football but will be without Willian who left for Anzhi and was a pivotal part of their attack.

The first leg ended 2-2 and Shakhtar will feel lucky after Lewandowski should have had the visiros walking away from that tie 3-2 in front.

Never the less Dortmund are in command with 2 away goals and Shaktar need to score goals and win in this tie to have a chance of qualifying.

Dortmund are coming off a 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich and a 3-1 home win against Hannover 96. Whilst Shakhtar are coming off a loss to Dinamo Moskva and a 4-1 home win vs Volyn. But those results mean nothing with this tie subsequently up for grabs if Shakhtar score first.

Prediction = Borussia Dortmund vs Shakhtar Donetsk . . . 2-1 (4-3 on aggregate for Dortmund)