The final ties of the UEFA Champions League last 16 are set to take place over the next two days after four teams already secured their places in the quarter-finals last week in what proved to be another eventful round of fixtures.
On Tuesday night, Manchester United take on Atletico Madrid at Old Trafford following a 1-1 draw in the first leg three weeks ago, while Chelsea travel to Ligue 1 champions Lille on Wednesday night, having secured a 2-0 victory at Stamford Bridge in the first leg.
And Michael Owen has given his predictions on the two ties in question, revealing who he thinks will be joining Liverpool and Manchester City in the quarter-final draw on Friday.
Man Utd have it all to play for when they welcome Diego Simeone’s side to Old Trafford tonight and are still very much in the tie thanks to Anthony Elanga’s late equaliser at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium last month.
This competition represents the Red Devils’ last shot at silverware this season and as unlikely as it seems that they will win it, Owen backs them to at least progress to the quarter-finals with a gutsy 1-0 win against their Spanish opposition.
He told BetVictor : “That was a great result for Manchester away in Madrid. We all know how patchy they’ve been domestically, but I think Europe comes as a welcome distraction. This isn’t the Atletico of old when they had, arguably, the best defence in Europe, so I think United can get a result here.”
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Should United win, then that will leave just Chelsea as the only English side left to secure their place in the final eight, and they already have one foot in the door following a comfortable 2-0 victory over Lille in the first leg.
Goals from Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic have put the Blues in control of the tie ahead of their contest in France tomorrow, and despite Lille’s remarkable home record this season, Owen has belief that Thomas Tuchel’s side won’t let this one slip away from them.
He said: “Chelsea are in the driving seat ahead of this one. These types of matches are Thomas Tuchel’s bread and butter. Sit in, give nothing away, and when it comes to the point where Lille must throw everything forward, it’d be just typical that Chelsea nick one. It’s 1-0 to the Blues for me.”
Liverpool secured their place in the quarter-finals last week with a 2-1 aggregate win over Inter Milan, despite losing the second leg 1-0, while Man City cruised through after recording a 5-0 aggregate win over Sporting Lisbon.
Elsewhere, Bayern Munich also advanced to the next round after thrashing Red Bull Salzburg 7-1 to win the tie 8-2 on aggregate, while Real Madrid produced a stunning comeback to defeat Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 having lost the first leg 1-0.
Also in action this week are Ajax and Benfica, who played out an entertaining 2-2 draw in their first leg three weeks ago, as well as Juventus and Villareal, where the Italians have a 1-0 lead heading into their second leg this week.
