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The first legs of the UEFA Champions League Knockout Phase Playoffs are in the books, and eight clubs will secure a spot in the Round of 16 by the end of the day this Wednesday. There was drama in the first legs, but there will be plenty more today and tomorrow, as no club truly sealed their fate after the first leg. The eight teams that played last Wednesday will now play today, while last week’s Tuesday slate will take place tomorrow.
I’ve reviewed today’s slate and identified my favorite UEFA Champions League picks you can fade or follow before today’s second legs begin.
As I said, we had plenty of drama in last week’s contests, and Paris Saint Germain and Borussia Dortmund are the only clubs with a multi-goal lead going into this week’s games. They both play on Wednesday but secured 3-0 victories on the road to virtually secure their spot in the Round of 16. However, many clubs will not count their eggs before they hatch, and Tuesday’s slate of games should be extremely competitive.
Bayern Munich had a two-goal lead at Celtic before the hosts grabbed a second-half goal to make today’s match interesting, while Club Brugge secured a 2-1 victory thanks to a penalty kick in stoppage time. The other two matchups today feature AC Milan hosting Dutch side Feyenoord while AS Monaco travels to Portugal for a match against Benfica. While the Portuguese hosts secured a 1-0 victory against Monaco, who played with 10 men for 38+ minutes, AC Milan will need their home support behind them, as they were shut out in the Netherlands last Wednesday.
Here are the four games on today’s schedule, along with the current score aggregate:
Tuesday, February 18
As you can see, each game ended by a one-goal differential, so each club believes they still have a strong chance of advancing to the Round of 16. AC Milan and Atalanta will try to come back in front of their home fans, while Bayern Munich and Benfica aim to defend their leads with their home faithful behind them.
I nailed both of my Champions League predictions for last week’s slate of games, and I intend to follow that up with more picks today. As I’ve mentioned a few times, today’s slate features four games that could go either way in terms of who will advance. Bayern Munich and Benfica are the two teams most likely to go through, as they have a goal lead in the tie while playing at home, but I expect AC Milan and Atalanta to make their ties interesting.
AC Milan hosts Feyenoord with a one-goal deficit, and I predict Joao Felix will score his second goal since joining the Italian side. He scored in his debut against AS Roma at the start of the month, and while he hasn’t found the back of the net in his three games since, he’s played 84+ minutes in each appearance and is an important part of their attack. The entire Italian squad didn’t play at their best last week, as they produced just 0.57 xG in the first leg, but I expect that to change at the San Siro, as they’ve gone unbeaten at home in 12 straight matches in all competitions. Expect the hosts to make a comeback, as Felix should fuel the scoring.
The second of my Champions League predictions will sound familiar, as I’m repeating one of my picks last week. Expect another goal from Bayern Munich ST Harry Kane. The English international was held scoreless this past weekend against Bayer Leverkusen for the first time in six matches, but he should have no issues scoring again against this Celtic squad. Kane has found the back of the net in four of Bayern’s previous five matches at Allianz Arena, and he should continue that trend today.
Luke Lindholm is an avid basketball, baseball, football, hockey and soccer fan who specializes in writing promotional content for multiple sportsbooks and prediction-based articles across a variety of sports. His work has been featured on prominent websites including Sports Illustrated, Pickswise, Men’s Journal, TheStreet, Athlon Sports and more. He started as a college football handicapper for Pickswise in 2016 and is a current member of the Pickswise NFL handicapping team.