The Five Best Matchups of UEFA Champions/Europa League Knockout Round
So as we all know by now, the draws for both the UEFA Tournaments (Europa and Champions League) took place yesterday in Switzerland. As usual, there were some pleasant surprises in the match-up pairings for the first knockout round of both competitions, as well as some other match-ups that almost put us to sleep just by looking at them.
Also as usual in European Competition, some teams that did not qualify for the knockout round of the Champions League have been inserted into Europa. That’s always a fun little shake-up. So with teams from all across Europe prepare for the back half of their seasons as well as UEFA Competition, there will be a lot on TV for you soccer crazies out there.
More from Champions League
- Barcelona kick off Champions League against Royal Antwerp
- PSV Eindhoven v Rangers: Can Gers make it through to group stage?
- Manchester City win their first Champions League
- Champions League Final: Manchester City meets Internazionale in Istanbul
- Manchester City standing on the cusp of a treble
So much that you might not know what to watch with all these great match ups on at once. Decisions, decisions, decisions. Well luckily, we’ve made the decisions for you. That’s right. Our experts (and by experts I mean me) have selected the five games to look out for in the first round of elimination for European Competition. Enjoy.
Honorable Mentions
Zenit St. Petersburg- PSV Eindhoven (Europa)
Inter Milan- Celtic (Europa)
FC Basel- FC Porto(Champion’s)
Zenit still sits atop the Russian Premier League, while PSV are fourth in the Eredivisie and barely squeaked by in the group stage with two wins, losses, and draws. Zenit is the favorite here, but Eindhoven has been a pleasant surprise in the past.
In other Europa Action, Scottish giants Celtic may actually (for the first time in a long time) stand a chance at beating a European top 5 power like Internazional in an elimination round. One level up in Champions League, upset-specialists FC Basel look to continue their good run of form against Liga Portuguesa giants FC Porto and advance to the quarterfinals.