Eight teams will walk out to the pitch this week to take a lead into the second legs of their respective ties. The action will commence with two clashes on Tuesday: Celtic vs. Juventus and Valencia vs. PSG. Two blockbuster matches will take place on Wednesday as well; Manchester United will travel to the Bernabeu to take on Real Madrid while Borussia Dortmund will travel to Ukraine to take on Shaktar Donetsk.
Here are ten pre-match talking points prior to the action:
1. Will Fraser Forster be able to keep out Juventus’ attack?
Forster was beyond brilliant in the group stages for Celtic. He restricted Barcelona to only two goals in the first meeting and just one in the second. He was a large part of Celtic’s legendary win over the Catalans. Forster is an excellent keeper without a doubt. On Tuesday, he will have to keep out strikes from the likes of Mirko Vucinic, Fabio Quagliarella and Nicolas Anelka. How will Forster fare?
2. Will Juventus rise to the occasion?
Juventus’ troubles are no secret; they had to rebuild to a certain extent for the past couple of seasons to finally land the Serie A title in 2012. Juventus is leading Serie A again this season. They had a few wobbles at the beginning of this year; they were knocked out by Lazio of the Coppa Italia. Juventus has not been in the Champions League quarter-finals since 2006. Juve will have to rise to this massive occasion to be back in the quarter-finals.
3. Will the Juventus players be affected by Neil Lennon and Celtic’s passionate fans?
Celtic’s fans spurred their side onto victory against Barcelona. The fans of the Glasgow side are amongst the most passionate in Europe. The most passionate fan is perhaps the one on the touchline, Neil Lennon. Lennon is always emotionally involved in Celtic’s matches. Will the sight of Lennon and the passion of the Celtic fans cause the Juventus players problems?
4. Will the absences of Thiago Motta and Thiago Silva from PSG act in Valencia’s favour?
Motta and Silva are proven players on the European stage. Motta has a Champions League winners’ medal to show for previous efforts. Silva was a great servant for AC Milan. Both these players are absent from the French side ahead of a tough away clash. Valencia is currently in good form under their manager Ernesto Valverde. The absences of Motta and Silva could help Valencia gain a narrow advantage from the first leg.
5. Will Zlatan Ibrahimovic rise to the occasion in the Champions League?
Ibrahimovic has had an incredible amount of domestic successes in his career. He has been able to score goals in whichever league he has played in. However, Ibrahimovic has failed to produce on the biggest stage of all, the UEFA Champions League, more often than not. Currently, he is hitting all the right notes in France for PSG. Against Valencia, he will have to produce the goods in a competition which never saw his true form.
6. Will Jose Mourinho steal the spotlight once again?
A famous celebration against Manchester United as manager of Porto really earned Jose Mourinho a special place in the football world. Mourinho and his players did not get along well towards the end of last year. The Portuguese’s decision to bench Iker Casillas did not get down well with everybody. Will Mourinho be in the spotlight for his decisions once again?
7. Will Cristiano Ronaldo produce against his old side?
The clash between United and Madrid will mean a lot to Ronaldo. The Portuguese superstar earned his stardom at United. He was voted the best player in the world when he was a United star. He broke plenty of records and carried his side through plenty of matches. Ronaldo has definitely had a good time at the Bernabeu too. However, according to some critics, he is no longer as good as he was when he was in England. Will Ronaldo prove them wrong by producing his best against United?
8. Does Sir Alex Ferguson have yet another surprise in store?
Sir Alex Ferguson has made some brilliant decisions in his coaching career. He has surprised even United fans by his selection at times. Sir Alex knows that he has a monumental task ahead of him; overcoming Real Madrid is always difficult. However, the wily Sir Alex always has a trick up his sleeve. Will he surprise everyone once again on Wednesday?
9. Will the long winter break affect Shaktar?
The Ukrainian league shut down in early December and is set to resume in March. Hence, Shaktar has not played professional football for a long time. Dortmund, on the other hand, has already played four times since the resumption of the Bundesliga. Sometimes, lack of competitive football affects a football team badly. Will Shaktar be affected badly by this long break?
10. Will Borussia Dortmund bring their best form to Europe once again?
Dortmund did not demonstrate their best form in the Bundesliga in the first half of the season. However, they were brilliant in every European match. The team from the Ruhr is coming into this one on the back of a thumping at the hands of HSV. HSV’s physical approach caused Robert Lewandowski to lose his head. He was sent off in the first half for a foul on Per Skjelbred. With no Bundesliga title to chase unless Bayern suffers an unthinkable collapse, will BVB bring their best to the UEFA Champions League?
The four clashes this week overall are different kinds of clashes. The clash between Celtic and Juventus is one between two former winners who have not seen European glory for a long time. The clash between Valencia and PSG brings a new name into the spotlight in the UEFA Champions League in PSG.
Manchester United and Real Madrid, two giants of the competition will meet once again. Finally, Dortmund and Shaktar will meet in a clash of ‘surprise packages’. Dortmund of course is another former winner of this competition.
Who will win the clashes? Tune in to find out this week!
