Champions league is back tonight and it begins with the round of 16 clashes Paris Saint-Germain vs Chelsea and Benfica vs Zenit.
The match between PSG and Chelsea is one of the most eagerly awaited matches since these sides met in the last two editions of the tournament and both times produced a wonderful and thrilling performance even for the neutral fan. In 2013/14 they played in the 1/4-finals. The Parisians won the first match 3-1, but in the second fixture Chelsea won dramatically by 2-0 and eliminated PSG because of the away goal rule. In 2014/15 both matches were far more deadlocked. The match in Paris was tied 1:1, with goals scored by Ivanovic and Cavani, and everything was going to be decided in London a week later. There a referee mistake left PSG with only 10 people in the 31st minute when the key player of the Parisians Zlatan Ibrahimovic received a red card for a non-existing foul. Even though they were a man less, PSG managed to eliminate Chelsea after extra time. The result was 2-2 and the goals were scored by Cahil and Hazard (pen.) for Chelsea and David Luiz and Thiago Silva for PSG. These teams have played against each other 7 times, 4 of which were a tie, 2 were won by Chelsea and 1 by PSG.
This season Chelsea performs more than disappointing and are now 12 in the Premier League. They were even 3 points away from relegation at one point of the season, but after the discharge of Jose Mourinho they started to perform much better and have 6 wins in their last 12 matches. At the same time PSG are 1st in their League 1 and are 24 points ahead of the second team. They have practically won the league and have nothing to play for except for winning the Champions League. On the other side Champions League seems the only way for Chelsea to play in European tournaments next season since they are far away from the top teams in Premier league so their goal would definitely be to win CL.
My prediction is that PSG would eliminate Chelsea again like last year, but maybe it would be easier this time. An easy win in the first match and a tied match in London.
Promo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyfdNy00wEQ
The match between Zenit and Benfica would be in the shadow of the other fixture today, but it would definitely be an intriguing match. Benfica perform really well this season and are one of the favorites for the title in the Portugal Primera Liga. They are only 3 points behind the 1st Sporting. However, in their last 6 matches they have only 1 victory, 2 ties and 3 losses. On the other hand, Zenit have 5 wins in their last 10 matches and are currently 4th in the Russian Premier League. They have not, however, played an official match this year which may be a big issue for them since they could not be in a top form for this extremely important match.
To reach the 1/8 finals Zenit won their easy group with Gent, Olympique Lyonnais, and Valencia with 5 wins and 1 loss. Benfica's group was harder (Atletico Madrid, Galatasaray, and Astana) and they finished 2nd with 3 wins, 1 tie and 2 lost matches.
These two sides have met 4 times in which Benfica won once and the other matches were won by Zenit. They last met in the groups of CL in the last season when Zenit won both of the matches (1:0; 0:2)
My prediction is that Zenit would eliminate Benfica with a tie in the first match tonight and a win in the second match in Russia.
Promo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdB2qpaHSaE
Comments
Post a Comment