25/26 Champions League Round Of 16 Second Leg Full Previews: Team News, Form Guide and Things to Watch for Every Game

25/26 Champions League Round Of 16 Second Leg Full Previews: Team News, Form Guide and Things to Watch for Every Game

Following the completion of all the first legs in the UCL round of 16 ties last week we are set up for some absolute crackers in the second leg, multiple remontada’s on the cards as well as one of the greatest UCL underdog stories to continue?

We’ll go through each game and have a preview, looking at team news, form guide and some things to have a look out for…

Sporting CP vs Bodo/Glimt

Kicking things off with the early kick off on the Tuesday is Sporting CP vs Bodo/Glimt. Bodo/Glimt currently playing out of their skin as they look to progress through to the Quarter Finals of the UCL for the first ever time in their history. They take a 3-0 lead heading into the second leg so you’d expect them to see this one out considering they took a two goal lead back to the San Siro and dealt with Inter Milan, so how difficult could going to Lisbon be?

Team News

• No expected changes for Bodo/Glimt as they remain fully fit, a big advantage they have over all the other clubs is that their season has already finished so they have no risk of further injuries in other games and it shows considering no one is out injured.
• Boost for Sporting as Pote and Araujo return from suspension while loannidis, Quenda, Mangas and Kochorashvili are all expected to remain out injured for the second leg

Form guide

Bodo/Glimt:

• Atletico Madrid 1-2 Bodo/Glimt
• Bodo/Glimt 3-1 Inter Milan
• Inter Milan 1-2 Bodo/Glimt
• Molde 1-2 Bodo/Glimt
• Bodo/Glimt 3-0 Sporting CP

Sporting CP:

• Moreirense 0-3 Sporting CP
• Sporting CP 3-0 Estoril
• Sporting CP 1-0 FC Porto
• Braga 2-2 Sporting CP
• Bodo/Glimt 3-0 Sporting CP

Arsenal vs Bayer Leverkusen

The Gunners will be high on confidence following a dream weekend for them as they won against Everton 2-0 and then Manchester City dropped points following their 1-1 draw away at West Ham. Leverkusen themselves are coming off the back of a dramatic 1-1 draw at home to Bayern Munich as the German champions were reduced to nine men during the game but still managed to escape defeat as Bayer Leverkusen rue missed chances.

Arsenal being the home side for this tie will undoubtedly be expected to progress through. Arsenal have won every home UCL game this season so confidence will be high but Bayer Leverkusen know they were unlucky not to beat Arsenal in the first leg so are always well in this tie despite being the underdogs.

Team News

• Arsenal picked up an injury vs Everton as Timber went off with a suspected ankle sprain and is expected to miss this game, other than that no new injury concerns for Mikel Arteta as Odegaard, Trossard remain doubtful with Merino out for the rest of the season.
• Bayer Leverkusen had the return of Tella over the weekend vs Bayern Munich to help boost their squad but an injury for Martin Terrier leaves his inclusion in the match day squad a doubt. Arthur, Vazquez, Bade, Flekken and Ben Seghir remain out.

Form Guide

Arsenal:

• Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea
• Brighton 0-1 Arsenal
• Mansfield 1-2 Arsenal
• Bayer Leverkusen 1-1 Arsenal
• Arsenal 2-0 Everton

Bayer Leverkusen:

• Bayer Leverkusen 1-1 Mainz
• Hamburg 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen
• Freiburg 3-3 Bayer Leverkusen
• Bayer Leverkusen 1-1 Arsenal
• Bayer Leverkusen 1-1 Bayern Munich

Chelsea vs PSG

The first potential English Remontada of the Round of 16 takes place at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea trailing 5-2 in this tie and will have very little confidence going into this one, Liam Rosenior and the players are under huge amounts of pressure following their 1-0 defeat to Newcastle over the weekend, the first time Chelsea have lost to the Toon at home for 14 years. PSG are well rested as the French Football Association allowed them to postpone their league match vs Nantes in preparation for this game and because of this it hands a huge advantage to the French side.

Team News

• Chelsea have just the two injuries to worry about, Levi Colwill and Estevao so I’m sure we’ll be seeing a fully fit full strength Chelsea starting XI come Tuesday
• PSG just like Chelsea have no new injury news as Fabian Ruiz and Ndjantou both remain out meaning an expected strong starting XI for the European Champions

Form Guide

Chelsea:

• Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea
• Aston Villa 1-4 Chelsea
• Wrexham 2-4 Chelsea
• PSG 5-2 Chelsea
• Chelsea 0-1 Newcastle

PSG:

• PSG 3-0 Metz
• PSG 2-2 Monaco
• Le Havre 0-1 PSG
• PSG 1-3 Monaco
• PSG 5-2 Chelsea

Manchester City vs Real Madrid

And moving onto the second English remontada as Manchester City will be looking to come back from 3-0 down to progress through to the Quarter Finals. The mood in the City camp will be down as they drop points to Arsenal over the weekend as they drew 1-1 with West Ham, but they’re going to have to forget about that result quickly in order to focus on this match. Real Madrid have conceded three goals just three times all season so statistically they should be alright but as they say, “90 minutes is a long time in the Etihad”.

Team News

• No new injuries for City as they escaped unscathed vs West Ham as they have just the two injures in Gvardiol and Lewis who also both missed the first leg.
• Real Madrid’s injury list is a lot longer, Asencio and Militao remain a doubt along with Mbappe however he has travelled to Manchester so there’s always a chance he’ll start. Along with those doubts Mendy, Alaba, Caballos, Bellingham and Rodrygo are all ruled out.

Form Guide

Manchester City:

• Leeds 0-1 Manchester City
• Manchester City 2-2 Nottingham Forest
• Newcastle 1-3 Manchester City
• Real Madrid 3-0 Manchester City
• West Ham 1-1 Manchester City

Real Madrid:

• Real Madrid 2-1 Benfica
• Real Madrid 0-1 Getafe
• Celta Vigo 1-2 Real Madrid
• Real Madrid 3-0 Manchester City
• Real Madrid 4-1 Elche

Barcelona vs Newcastle United

Moving to the early kick off on the Wednesday as Newcastle travel to Barcelona as they look to reach the quarter final of the UCL for the first time in their history. Barcelona will be looking to avoid any embarrassment on the European stage as they will be heavy favourites to qualify for the next stage as fan expectation is to go on and win the whole tournament. However we know Newcastle will travel in immense numbers and their whole fanbase will be hoping for a night to remember in Barcelona.

Team News

• No fresh injury concerns for Hansi Flicks side but their injury list is a long one. De Jong, Kounde, Christense, Balde, Torrents and Fernandez are all ruled out but these players were also out in the first leg.
• For Newcastle a fresh injury of Joe Willock as he came off against Chelsea over the weekend, Krafth, Schar, Miley and Guimaraes are the absentees for Eddie Howe

Form guide

Barcelona:

• Barcelona 3-0 Levante
• Barcelona 4-1 Villarreal
• Barcelona 3-0 Atletico Madrid
• Athletic Club 0 -1 Barcelona
• Newcastle 1-1 Barcelona

Newcastle:

• Newcastle 2-3 Everton
• Newcastle 2-1 Manchester United
• Newcastle 1-3 Manchester City
• Newcastle 1-1 Barcelona
• Chelsea 0-1 Newcastle

Bayern Munich vs Atalanta

A tie that is the only one that is 100% dead and buried, following a 6-1 thrashing Bayern Munich take an untouchable lead going into the second leg in Munich. Goals from Stanisic, Gnabry, Jackson, Musiala and then a brace from Olise put the Germans 6-0 up before Pasalic scored a consolation 93rd minute goal. Despite Atalanta probably not admitting it but the main job here is to not get completely embarrassed, if they were to comeback it would almost certainly be the greatest comeback in the history of sport.

Team News

• No new injuries for Bayern however Kimmich and Olise are both suspended for this match following a build up of yellow cards. They’re added to a long injury list as they join Ulreich, Daiber, Urbig, Neuer, Davies, Kiala and Musiala in a mix of doubts for the game or completely ruled out.
• Just the two players ruled out for Atalanta as Musah is ruled out through suspension and then Raspadori through injury.

Form Guide

Bayern Munich:

• Bayern Munich 3-2 Frankfurt
• Borussia Dortmund 2-3 Bayern Munich
• Bayern Munich 4-1 Borussia Monchengladbach
• Atalanta 1-6 Bayern Munich
• Bayer Leverkusen 1-1 Bayern Munich

Atalanta:

• Sassuolo 2-1 Atalanta
• Lazio 2-2 Atalanta
• Atalanta 2-2 Udinese
• Atalanta 1-6 Bayern Munich
• Inter Milan 1-1 Atalanta

Liverpool vs Galatasaray

Another tie where the English side is trailing as Liverpool will have to undo a one goal deficit as they welcome Galatasaray to Anfield, however they won’t be welcoming the away fans as there’ll be none due to a UEFA ban. With the game taking place at Anfield you’d expect Liverpool to still go through but we’ve seen how incredibly inconsistent they’ve been all season so you never know. With the likes of Osimhen, Gabriel Sara and Yilmaz it’ll be hard to keep this Galatasaray side quiet.

Team News

• Alisson is fit for their weekend game vs Tottenham so he’ll be back in goal midweek and as well there were no new injury worries for Arne Slot as Bradley, Leoni, Bajcetic, Endo and Isak all remain sidelined for the reds.
• Same for Galatasaray as they survive their game vs Basaksehir without any new injury concerns. Sanchez however has been ruled out through suspension following his yellow card vs Liverpool last week

Form Guide

Liverpool:

• Nottingham Forest 0-1 Liverpool
• Liverpool 5-2 West Ham
• Wolves 2-1 Liverpool
• Wolves 1-2 Liverpool
• **Galatasaray 1-0 Liverpool

Galatasaray:

• Galatasaray 3-1 Alanyaspor
• Alanyaspor 1-2 Galatasaray
• Besiktas 0-1 Galatasaray
• Galatasaray 1-0 Liverpool
• Galatasaray 3-0 Basaksehir

Tottenham vs Atletico Madrid

And our final UCL game is the car crash that is Spurs and Atletico Madrid. Following the first leg Atletico Madrid have a 5-2 lead going into this game and a lead that is surely impossible for Spurs to comeback. In any other season this game would normally still be up in the air but not this season as Spurs have been the worse they’ve ever been as they face relegation from the Premier League.

Atletico took a 4-0 lead inside just 22 minutes in the first leg and despite Tottenham restricting pulling the deficit back to three goals this tie is surely all but done. Atletico held on in their Copa Del Rey game vs Barcelona so I’m sure they’ll fare just fine against a Tottenham side with problems all over the pitch.

Team News

• With the worst injury list in probably the whole world Tottenham will be missing 13, yes THIRTEEN players. Romero, Palhinha, Gallagher, Bissouma, Davies, Udogie, Kulusevski, Maddison, Bergvall, Bentancur, Kudus and Odobert are all out or doubts with an injury while Richarlison is suspended due to a build up of yellow cards.
• Atletico Madrid have no fresh injury concerns following their 1-0 win over Getafe just the three injuries as Oblak, Barrios and Mendoza are ruled out.

Form Guide

Tottenham:

• Tottenham 1-2 Newcastle
• Tottenham 1-4 Arsenal
• Fulham 2-1 Tottenham
• Tottenham 1-3 Crystal Palace
• Atletico Madrid 5-2 Tottenham

Atletico Madrid:

• Real Oviedo 0-1 Atletico Madrid
• Barcelona 3-0 Atletico Madrid**
• Atletico Madrid 3-2 Real Sociedad
• Atletico Madrid 5-2 Tottenham
• Atletico Madrid 1-0 Getafe