
After an exhilarating night in the Premier League on Monday (Nov 7) the Champions League is all set to take centre stage as clubs eye place in the Round of 16. The night will feature defending Champions Manchester City in action who will eye a place in the knockouts while the likes of Barcelona and PSG will also take to the field in the continental tournament. Newcastle United will look to bounce back from their defeat to Borussia Dortmund as they travel to Germany for the return leg.
The defending champions could become the first team to book their berth in the last 16 when they take on Swiss side Young Boys at the Etihad Stadium. They have so far won all their matches in the Champions League, registering a 3-1 win in Zurich. They beat Bournemouth over the weekend in the Premier League with Jeremy Doku getting four assists and a goal. Along with Young Boys, if RB Leipzig beat Red Star Belgrade Group G could be settled.
Barcelona on the other hand will look to end their frustrating run of form in the Champions having last played in the knockouts in the 2019-20 season. A win against Shakhtar Donetsk could see Xavi Hernandez’s side book their place in the Round of 16 with two matches to spare. Interestingly, their last taste of Champions League knockout stage match was in 2020 when they lost 8-2 to Bayern Munich.
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In other big news, Newcastle United will look for revenge having lost to Dortmund 1-0 at St. James Park on Matchday 4. A win for Newcastle will see them in a good position to make the KOs while a defeat could be a big spanner in the work. In another group game, AC Milan host PSG with the hosts looking to score the first goal of the season. So far AC Milan have scrambled to two goalless draws while losing to PSG in Paris.
In other matches, former champions Porto host Royal Antwerp of Belgium while Italian outfit Lazio host Feyenoord in Rome. Atletico Madrid host Scottish outfit Celtic while RB Leipzig could guarantee passage in the R16 with a win in the Serbian capital against 1991 champions Red Star Belgrade.