Champions League Preview: Atletico Madrid Vs. Chelsea & Lazio Vs. Bayern Munich
Published February 23, 2021 by Sol FH
The Champions League Round of 16 continues with two matches tonight at 20:00 GMT.
The Champions League returned last night and we saw a major upset by Porto over Juventus (2-1) and an excellent match that went to Dortmund over Sevilla (3-2). Now, we focus on the matches tonight and tomorrow night to see which teams will advance to the quarterfinals.
Atletico Madrid vs. Chelsea
Chelsea is at National Arena tonight to take on Atletico Madrid in Leg 1 of their Round of 16 match. Although this is supposed to be the home match for Atletico, they won't be playing in Spain.
The Blues were happy with their Champions League draw two months ago, when they learned they would be playing the Spanish squad Not taking anything away from Atletico, but, Chelsea could've faced a stronger team at this stage.
Since taking over the interim position of manager, Thomas Tuchel has done a great job of steadying the Stamford Bridge players, winning five and drawing two matches. That hasn't been the case for Atletico, as the team has won only two of its last five with a loss and two draws.
Atletico is traditionally a very tough team to beat, but, Diego Simeone's side has conceded 10 goals over their last seven games. The La Liga club has had a great record against English teams in the Champions League. They have made it to the Champions League Finals twice and the Europa League Finals thrice, in the last 11 seasons. Against English sides, Atleti has been victorious in nine matches (two-legged knockout matches).
Odds too close to call
At bet365 Sports, Atleti is the favorite, but, only by the slightest margins. ATM is at 2.70 to win outright in Leg 1, while the Blues are at 2.87. A draw is the best bet at 3.00.
Lazio Vs. Bayern Munich
The second of the two matches on the program for tonight is between Lazio and Bayern Munich. Lazio will host Bayern at Stadio Olympico, the largest stadium in Rome. The Italian side finished behind Dortmund in Group F, which gave them keys to their first CL knockout stages since 2000.
On the other side of the equation, Bayern Munich, the reigning CL champions comfortably destroyed Group A.
Let's face it, Bayern Munich will only lose this match if a miracle is somehow achieved by the Italians. Lazio has moved into the top 4 in the Serie A table and it might be just the right time for them to face a stronger team like Bayern, but, don't expect much as Bayern is synonymous with the Champions League.
Bayern Huge Favorites
bet365 Sports also likes Bayern's chances to win outright in this match posting odds at 1.72 for them. Lazio is behind at 4.50, while a draw is at 4.00.
The odds in the article at the bookmaker mentioned above were accurate at the time of writing, on Feb. 23 at 7:00 GMT.
