There hasn’t been such an interesting pair in the UCL round of 16 as Manchester City vs. Real Madrid, for a long time. The rematch between these two sides is in the middle of the attention, and the fans can’t wait for it to start. Meanwhile, a bit less hyped, but equally exciting matchup will be the one between Juventus and Lyon, where Ronaldo and the boys have to chase the deficit from the first leg.
Manchester City vs. Real Madrid
The Citizens have a 2-1 lead form the opening match, and they are in a solid position before this one. They don’t have Sergio Aguero, but even without the Argentinian, they are massive favorites to take down Real and advance to the next stage.
Meanwhile, Los Blancos played a magnificent second part of the season, winning ten straight events following COVID-19, and clinching La Liga title before closing the campaign with a draw in Leganes. Just to remind you that this team trailed Barca once the season restarted and that they survived multiple challenges after that.
Zidane’s boys are adaptable to almost any tactics coming from the other side, and they rely upon the tough defense, which eventually brought them the title. Meanwhile, Karim Benzema was unstoppable on the other end of the pitch, and with him in charge, the Madridians scored two or more goals in 8 contests following the restart.
As for Manchester, they didn’t try too hard in the English Premier League but wanted to stay warm for the Champions League tasks and to keep their best players in shape. As you saw yourself, the Citizens were losing some games against much weaker teams, but one the other side, demolishing Liverpool 4-0, completely humiliating the Reds who were crowned as champions the week before.
This should be one very efficient matchup, because Real has nothing to wait for, but needs to attack right from the first whistle. Los Blancos are aware that as time goes by, City will become more and more confident, which is why they need to go full speed immediately. This approach will create circumstances for a high-efficient affair at Etihad. Therefore, over 2.5 goals and both teams to score is our recommendation here. Odds at BetXChange for that are 0.72.
Juventus vs. Lyon
The Old Lady has to show its character and beat the Kids, otherwise, their fans are going to experience another harsh frustration. It seems that the majority of them would trade multiple Serie A titles for just one shot at the Champions League trophy and that they aren’t satisfied with domestic successes anymore.
On the other side, Lyon is coming without pressure to Turin, and all they need to do is to play their game, exactly like they did in the first leg. They had several friendly games recently, and although Lyon won more than they lost, we need to say that the overall impression wasn’t that satisfying. The defense was shaky, allowing two goals often, and that is something you simply can’t do against Juve.
We need to say that Juve also didn’t look very confident recently and that the Italian champs lost three in the previous four. In all of them, Sarri’s boys conceded at least two scores, which is unbelievable for Juve, especially when it comes to such a frequency.
Still, we believe that this squad has enough power to overcome all the adversities, including a deficit from the first leg, and to beat Lyon with a two-goal margin to continue its adventure in the most prominent European football competition.
The odds on Juve’s triumph are at 0.40.
