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Champions League Preview: Stage set for more drama in last 16 second legs
Did anyone predict the drama that unfolded in last week's Champions League knockout games? Holder Real Madrid thought it was through after a comfortable first-leg away win but was left hanging on after losing 4-3 to Schalke. Chelsea was a favorite after a 1-1 away draw in Paris, and looked certain to go through after PSG has Zlatan Ibrahimovic sent off after half an hour, only to lose on away goals in extra time to the French team at Stamford Bridge.
If this week's match-ups provide half the excitement, then it should be a fascinating couple of days in Europe's top competition.
Here is how Tuesday and Wednesday's second legs shape up, as the remaining four quarterfinal tickets are slated to be punched:
Tuesday, March 17
Atletico Madrid (0) vs. Bayer Leverkusen (1)
If FC Porto is a dark horse already in the quarterfinal draw, what does that make Bayer Leverkusen? Under coach Roger Schmidt, who has been singled out by Pep Guardiola as a coach he greatly admires, the German side out-Atletico'd the Spanish champion and a 1-0 first leg win leaves it well-placed for progression. Hakan Calhanoglu took the plaudits for his super game-winning goal–only last week his agent admitted that Barcelona was interested in the midfielder, but he was happy in Germany–but Gonzalo Castro embodied the Leverkusen approach.
The experienced midfielder, whose parents are Spanish, is a one-club man, and at only 27, this game will be number 350 in his Leverkusen career. As he posted on Facebook in 2013, after celebrating a record for Bundesliga appearances aged 26, he wrote: "234 games, 10 different positions, but one team."
Champions League: Monaco stuns Arsenal; Leverkusen edges Atletico
He is now settled in midfield, but Bild calculated he had spent 146 games out of position, either in defense or on the wing. He believes there is an anti-Leverkusen conspiracy at international level.
A former teammate of Manuel Neuer, Mesut Ozil and Mats Hummels in the victorious 2009 Euros Under-21 side, he told 11 Freunde: "Maybe I'd be in the national [team] if I had changed clubs."
After Schalke confounded expectations with a top European performance and four goals in Madrid last week, will Leverkusen repeat the feat of its fellow German side? Atletico's Liga target this season is third place, judging by Diego Simeone's response to recent draws with fourth and fifth-placed sides Sevilla and Valencia, but after four games without a win, and no goals from his strikers in that period, Atletico is not on form. Based on the first leg, it was Leverkusen who looks the more likely to advance.
Monaco (3) vs. Arsenal (1)
Some of Arsenal's best recent performances in Europe have come when the odds are stacked against the club. The Gunners beat Bayern Munich 2-0 at the Allianz Arena in March 2013 but had lost the first leg 3-1 and so was eliminated on away goals. Then there was season before that, a fantastic 3-0 second-leg win against AC Milan, with all the goals in the first half. Again, not enough to go through: Milan had won 4-0 a few weeks earlier.
Arsenal and first-leg European brain freezes are nothing new; what is so surprising about last month's 3-1 home loss to Monaco was that it came out of nowhere. Arsenal had won eight of its last nine games before the Monaco match, and has won its four matches since then. Rather than obsess about what happened, coach and players have insisted they can turn it around in Monaco. They say this despite Monaco's defensive record, which is the best in France (20 goals conceded in 28 games) and in Europe (two goals conceded in seven games).
At home, its even better: only one goal conceded in its last 12 matches at Stade Louis II (and that was a Cup match, a 3-1 win over Rennes). Perhaps most impressively of all is that coach Leonardo Jardim has not been able to pick a settled back line during that time: Tunisian Aymen Abdennour was at the African Cup of Nations and Wallace had a six-match suspension, while Layvin Kurzawa, Ricardo Carvalho and Andrea Raggi have missed a combined 25 weeks out through injury.
Carvalho played for the first time in five weeks on Friday night, and has insisted he is ready for the Arsenal game. Arsenal needs to score three goals, at least, in Monaco. The last time Monaco conceded that many in this competition, it was in 2004, the season it reached the final: it beat Deportivo la Coruna 8-3. Don't expect a similar result this time around, but it will be entertaining watching the Premier League side go for it.
Wednesday, March 18
Barcelona (2) vs. Manchester City (1)
It doesn't take long for a blip to become a crisis, and Barcelona has shown that it can work both ways. A basket case in December, with neither Lionel Messi nor Luis Enrique certain to stay past the summer, now the team is top of La Liga, and Messi is ahead of Ronaldo in the Pichichi table for top goal scorer (closing a gap of 12 goals in the last 10 games) and back in the kind of form that would scare any defense, let alone one that has just lost to Premier League relegation candidate Burnley.
In fact, when the pressure on Enrique was at its height, Manuel Pellegrini was touted as a possible replacement. Now, speculation is swirling over the future of Pellegrini in Manchester, with another title defense failing and City facing a huge task in Barcelona after it was totally outplayed at the Etihad three weeks ago.
Champions League: Suarez conquers, Messi misses, Juventus prevails
In the first leg, Luis Suarez took the plaudits with both goals in his first game back in England, and along with Messi and Neymar, the front three are closing in on a record goals tally. At the moment the three have 82 goals combined, just 19 goals short of the 101 total that Messi (38 goals), Samuel Eto'o (37) and Thierry Henry (26) combined to score in 2008-09, the season in which Barcelona won all six competitions it entered.
Barcelona has 11 Liga matches, one Copa del Rey final and, you would imagine, at least two more Champions League ties after this one to play–although Messi's penalty miss at the end of the first leg has left the door cracked ajar for City to make it interesting.
Borussia Dortmund (1) vs. Juventus (2)
Can Dortmund really get over its mediocre domestic season and conjure a run deep in the Champions League? It has been a knock on coach Jurgen Klopp, albeit a harsh one, that this side can't combine domestic and European form. Saturday's goalless draw against FC Cologne was more like the old days from earlier in the season, at least without the defensive howlers.
Perhaps the players' minds were on this game, but Marco Reus looked like a player who was rushed back from injury, while Henryk Mkhitaryan limped off with a nasty-looking knee injury. Dortmund has been Jekyll and Hyde all season and it must be infuriating for Klopp; when it's good, it is very good.
The news is more positive for narrow first-leg winners Juventus, which welcomed back Andrea Barzagli over the weekend after nine months out with an Achilles injury and was indebted to sub Alvaro Morata's winner at Palermo to move 14 points clear at the top. "Borussia, we're on our way!" ran the Tuttosport headline while coach Massimiliano Allgeri, who has already improved on his predecessor's European return last season (group stage failure) needs to decide if Barzagli is ready for such a big game so soon.
The fact is, for all the genius of Andrea Pirlo and Paul Pogba in Juve's midfield, this tie could turn on the simple issue of which Dortmund decides to turn up.
GALLERY: Tifos around the world
Best soccer tifos from around the world
Galatasaray fans display a sensational "Rocky" tifo ahead of their clash against rival Fenerbahce. It didn't inspire a victory, though. The Turkish rivals played to a 0-0 draw.
Borussia Dortmund fans channel their 1963 cup triumph over Benfica ahead of the teams' second leg in the Champions League round of 16 at Signal Iduna Park.
Hapoel Be'er Sheva fans turn to Moses for tifo inspiration, with his splitting the Red Sea illustrating how "impossible is nothing" in their Europa League series against Besiktas.
Fans of Tunisia's Club Africain display this pointed tifo at a friendly against PSG, whose Qatari owners have pumped millions and millions into the club.
U.S. fans in Columbus, Ohio, make a "One Nation, One Team" statement ahead of the USMNT's World Cup qualifying match against Mexico on November 11, 2016.
Germany fans display their heart for the team colors ahead of a World Cup qualifier against Czech Republic in October 2016.
Italy fans spell out their support for the Azzurri ahead of a massive World Cup qualifier vs. Spain in October 2018.
Iceland fans keep up their world-famous passion for the national team during a World Cup qualifier against Turkey in October 2016.
Fans in the United Arab Emirates set their sights on reaching the 2018 World Cup in Russia during a qualifying match vs. Australia in September 2016.
Colombia fans send a massive jersey around the stadium during a World Cup qualifier vs. Venezuela in September 2016.
Seattle Sounders fans turn to Game Of Thrones for inspiration in a game against the Cascadia rival Vancouver Whitecaps in September 2016.
Djurgardens fans go all out in Sweden for a match against AIK in September 2016.
Zulte Waregem fans prepare Kortrijk for the absolute worst in this Belgian top-flight match in September 2016.
Seattle Sounders fans turn their pop culture reference to Poltergeist in March 2016 ahead of the season home opener against Sporting Kansas City.
The Timbers Army doubles down on their Eastbound and Down theme, adding another wrinkle during the club's MLS Western Conference final first leg vs. FC Dallas on November 22, 2015 at Providence Park.
Fans make a French flag tifo at Wembley Stadium during the singing of Le Marseillaise ahead of England's friendly vs. France, which took place days after the terrorist attacks in Paris.
The Timbers Army referenced Eastbound & Down's Kenny Powers with their "Cup Bound and Down" tifo for the Portland Timbers' MLS playoff elimination game against Sporting Kansas City on October 29, 2015.
Brondby IF fans display a gladiator holding up a lion's head during the team's Danish Alka Superliga match against FC Copenhagen, whose logo is a lion's head, on September 27, 2015.
New England Revolution fans equate Jermaine Jones to Indiana Jones on their quest to capture the 2015 MLS Cup on September 26, 2015.
New England Revolution fans display a Lion King theme in honor of Orlando City FC's first visit to Gillette Stadium on September 5, 2015.
Red Bulls fans take a shot at NYCFC's two summer arrivals, 37-year-old Frank Lampard and 36-year-old Andrea Pirlo, ahead of their third MLS meeting of 2015.
Germany fans in Cologne salute their World Cup champions ahead of a friendly against the United States in June, 2015.
Real Madrid fans went all out prior to the second leg of the 2014-15 Champions League semifinal vs. Juventus.
Lazio fans display a stunning eagle tifo ahead of the Rome derby against AS Roma in their penultimate Serie A match of the 2014-15 season.
Barcelona fans bid farewell to veteran midfielder Xavi with this banner at his last league game at Camp Nou before he departs for Qatari club Al Sadd.
Fans at Anfield pay tribute to Steven Gerrard in his final home match as a Liverpool player in May 2015.
Juventus fans state their case to beat Real Madrid in the 2014-15 Champions League semifinals and reach the final in Berlin.
Fans at Benfica's Estadio da Luz remind rival Porto who the Primeira Liga reigning champion is during an April 2015 match in Portugal.
New York Red Bulls fans send a pointed message to their NYCFC counterparts prior to the teams' first MLS meeting in May, 2015.
Inter Milan's Curva Nord announces its presence ahead of the April 2015 Derby della Madonnina–the annual clashes between city rivals Inter and AC Milan.
Bayern Munich fans implore their club to (translated) "Never give up" in the Champions League quarterfinal second leg vs. Porto. Bayern then turned a 3-1 first-leg deficit into a 7-4 aggregate win and a place in the semifinals.
Dortmund fans commemorate their 1997 Champions League trophy in the club's clash vs. Juventus–the opponent on the wrong side of that title bout.
Portland Timbers fans speak out against homophobia with this tifo in a 2013 match against Chivas USA
Atletico's supporters display a banner reading "Atleti crushes" before the Spanish league match between Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona at the Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid,
Borussia Dortmund fans put on a remarkable display ahead of a UEFA Champions League quarterfinal second leg match.
Brondby IF fans unveil a tifo ahead of a match in Denmark against Randers FC.
FC Barcelona fans display a huge banner in memory of former head coach Tito Vilanova.
Galatasaray fans support their team during the UEFA Champions League Group D match between Borussia Dortmund and Galatasaray at the Turk Telekom Arena in Istanbul.
The American Outlaws unveil a huge tifo ahead of a 2014 World Cup send-off match between the USA and Turkey at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J.
Marseille's supporters use paper sheets to create an "OM" (Olympique de Marseille) tifo at the beginning of the French L1 football match between Marseille and Genoble.
Seattle Sounders fans display their tifo that shows coach Sigi Schmid playing cards and holding a Royal Flush before a match against the Portland Timbers.
Panathinaikos Athens fans display a banner during the UEFA Europa League match against Dynamo Moscow.
Fans of the Saudi Al-Hilal team celebrate after the scoring of a goal against Uzbekistan's Bunyodkor.
Seattle Sounders fans unveil a tifo inspired from the “Build a Bonfire” chant, featuring Sounder players holding torches on horseback ahead of a game against the Portland Timbers.
Fans of Hertha BSC before the Bundesliga match between Hertha BSC and Werder Bremen in Berlin.
Sporting Kansas City fans channel their inner Mario ahead of the 2013 MLS Cup final vs. Real Salt Lake.
Brondby IF fans.
Thousands of Barcelona fans hold up cards to spell out "Barca! Orgull," which translates to "Barcelona pride" ahead of a Champions League clash with Bayern Munich at Camp Nou.
Fans raise a tifo celebrating “Community, Club and Country” ahead of a CONCACAF Gold Cup match between the USA and Belize in Portland, Oregon.
Vitesse fans unfurl a massive Eagle banner at the Dutch Eredivisie match against Ajax at the GelreDome.
Valencia fans drape a banner featuring a king for a Copa del Rey ("The King's Cup) match against Atletico Madrid.
Juventus fans make a statement in Turin in a match vs. Inter Milan.
Dortmund fans put on another strong display at a Bundesliga match against Mainz 05.
German fans boast the newest star earned by the national team, symbolizing its 2014 World Cup triumph, at a Euro 2016 qualifying match in Dortmund.
Real Madrid fans make a point to display the club's 10 European championships ahead of the October 2014 clash against rival Barcelona at the Bernabeu.
San Jose Earthquakes fans unleash a massive tifo to mark the opening of Avaya Stadium, MLS's newest soccer-specific venue, in March 2015.
Barcelona fans show all who the real 12th man is ahead of the March 2015 Clásico vs. Real Madrid.
Ahead of a clash with Mexican foe Monterrey, Tigres players are treated by this message by its fervent supporters.
Standard Liege fans have a pointed message for Steven Defour, who departed the club for Belgian rival Anderlecht.
Orlando City fans mark their club's inaugural MLS game vs. fellow expansion side New York City FC with a statement that the Lions' "reign begins now."
Real Madrid fans salute Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo after he captured the most prestigious individual prize in world soccer again.
Vitesse fans pay homage to Operation Market Garden ahead of an Eredivisie match against SC Heerenveen.
Sevilla's fans deploy a giant banner in the stands before the UEFA Europa league final match between Benfica and Sevilla.
Fans in Liverpool’s Kop End at Anfield commemorate those lost in the Hillsborough disaster.
Lyon fans during a game against Saint Etienne.
A journalist, broadcaster and consultant, Ben Lyttleton also wrote the book on PKs with his “Twelve Yards: The Art and Psychology of the Penalty Kick.”