While Real Madrid embarrassed the European Champions, Chelsea, 3-1 at home, not many paid attention to the Yellow Submarine’s win over Bayern Munich. Mcebo Mpungose previews.
The UEFA Champions League is back with the second round of the quarter-final round, with games perfectly poised for what should be an interesting watch this evening. While Real Madrid embarrassed the European Champions, Chelsea, 3-1 at home, not many paid attention to the Yellow Submarine’s win over Bayern Munich. Mcebo Mpungose previews.
31/20 Real Madrid | Draw 49/20 | Chelsea 33/20 (21:00)
Last week Real Madrid showed again why they are referred to by many as Royalty in the Champions League, sweeping aside defending champions Chelsea with what could’ve been a bigger scoreline.
While this could’ve been expected by some having seen The Blues collapse against Brentford (where they ended up losing 4-1), Chelsea is still European and World Champions, and have – on paper at least – a better squad than Real. That didn’t stop the Karim Benzema show though, with the evergreen Frenchman helping himself to a hat-trick.
Over the weekend in the Premier League Chelsea emphatically returned to winning ways with a massive thrashing of Southampton whom we all feared was about to catch another 9 goal whipping.
Tuchel kept his back 3 as was against Madrid but opted to rest Reece James by deploying Ruben Loftus-Cheek on the right-wing-back role.
Timo Werner looked sharp (relative to Timo Werner standards) even though he missed one or two sitters. Mason Mount too. In midfield, N’Golo Kante looked better than he was against Real. However, for the second leg, Thomas Tuchel should may consider injecting a bit more energy by partnering him with Mateo Kovacic.
Late in the second half, Tuchel played Reece James at right centre-back, probably testing the waters to see if he can handle Vinicius Juior for the team. If he is able to keep him quiet for most of the night, they should be able to keep a leash on Karim Benzema… not an easy task considering he’s on 6 goals in the UCL.
Carlo Ancelotti will set up his team to be safe at the back, tight in midfield but with a threat to counterattack should Chelsea come out guns blazing in an attempt to swing the tie.
Verdict: Chelsea win/draw + BTTS at 12/10
Chelsea seemed to be back to their best at the weekend and they’ll come out with a point to prove against Real. They should get something from the game if they apply if they hit the heights they did against Southampton at the weekend. Whether or not that will be enough to overturn the 3-1 first leg defeat remains to be seen.
1/4 Bayern | Draw 52/10 | Villareal 8/1 (21:00)
The Bundesliga Champions are in a bit of a pickle here. While they had most possession and chances in the first leg, they could only manage four shots on target. Just this past weekend they wobbled to a 1-0 victory against 14th-placed Augsburg.
What will worry most Bayern fans is also the transfer talk regarding their top marksmen Robert Lewandoski with rumours circulating about him agreeing to join Barcelona on a three-year deal. Julian Nagelsmann also has to answer the Leroy Sane question soon, with his form dropping drastically this season.
Villarreal, whose form of late has been patchy at best, could potentially be a tough nut to crack under Unai Emery, especially when the campaign reaches its business end. Remember how they beat United in last season’s Champions League final?
Their star player Arnaut Danjuma looks on top form in the competition with six goals to his name, the last coming against the Bavarian giants. They are winless in their last three in LaLiga. though and that should worry Unai a lot with his team looking likely to miss out on European competition next season.
Verdict: Half Time/Fulltime: Draw/Bayern 31/10
This game is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for most Villareal players and they’ll head into this one with high intensity to protect their lead. They may hold out for a time against the Bavarians, but I expect the hosts to get over the line in the end.
