Sports Blog 24/02/2016: Match Preview – UEFA Champions League Last 16 1st Leg, Wednesday 24th February 2016

With both Arsenal and Chelsea losing their 1st leg fixtures, can Manchester City avoid the same fate when they travel to Kiev at 7.45pm on BT Sport Europe?

Following Sunday’s controversial FA Cup tie against Chelsea, with Manual Pellegrini fielding a side full of so many unknowns that commentators had to be given a crib sheet, and the subsequent walloping City received from their London rivals the pressure is on this Wednesday to prove that the sacrifice was worth it. That cup exit marked City’s 3rd consecutive loss, defeats to Leicester and Tottenham in the league leaving them 6 points adrift of the Foxes at the top of the table.

At least the Champions League draw has arguably been kind to them; despite losing to Juventus twice City managed to escape what was probably the competition’s toughest group, doing the double over both Sevilla and Borussia Monchengladbach to set up their last 16 trip to Ukraine. In decent form Kelechi Iheanacho will be aiming for his first European goal, heading into Wednesday evening at a Super Mega PGM of 18-22, whilst Sergio Aguero, still the side’s top scorer with 18 goals this season, is at a Super Mega PGM of 41-48.



Though, barring Belgium’s Gent, Dynamo Kiev were the easiest draw City could have received (especially compared to their English league-mates), the Ukrainian champions have already shown an ability this season to hold their own against ostensibly bigger clubs. Clinging on for a 0-0 againt Chelsea draw in Kiev, before narrowly losing the return tie thanks to a late goal from Willian, Dynamo managed to qualify from Group G with that London loss their only defeat, a 2-2 draw at home to Porto followed by a 2-0 win in Portugal, whilst batting away the miserable Maccabi Tel Aviv in both fixtures.

However, Dynamo haven’t played since their early December victory against the Israeli champions, the huge winter break perhaps leaving them unprepared for such a big game; our Spreadex traders certainly seem to think so, at least, offering a Manchester City/Dynamo Kiev (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 0.35-0.55 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.45-2.65.

Wednesday’s other Champions League tie sees the surprisingly strong PSV Eindhoven host the La Liga chasing Atletico Madrid at 7.45pm on BT Sport 2. The Dutch champions have only lost 4 times so far this season: once in the Eredivisie (since their defeat to Heracles Almelo in mid-September they have won 15 and drawn 3, leaving them one point ahead of the similarly stellar Ajax in 1st place); once in the quarter-final of the KNVB Cup to FC Utrecht; and twice in the Champions League, to CSKA Moscow and Wolfsburg. Yet they still managed to qualify for the last 16, their 4 points against Manchester United, and their 85th minute winner against their Russian rival in the final game of the group stage, enough to see them secure 2nd place behind Wolfsburg.



Whilst PSV may be top of the Eredivise, Atletico Madrid have managed the arguably more impressive achievement of keeping up with Barcelona in La Liga, even if they have begun to slip in the last few weeks. Previously neck and neck, faltering form in their last 5 league games, with 2 0-0 draws (against Sevilla and Villarreal) and a 2-1 loss to Barca themselves, has seen Atletico slip 8 points behind the defending champions. They did, however, breeze through the Champions League group stages (granted, a group that contained Benfica, Galatasaray and Kazakhstan’s Astana), with 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. And in Antoine Griezmann they have something PSV will be missing (thanks to Luke de Jong’s suspension): a formidable forward. Griezmann has 19 goals in all competitions, and goes into Wednesday’s fixture with a Super Mega PGM of 26-31, continuing Atletico’s talent for replacing one departing star striker with another.

Though PSV have been underestimated in the past (as Louis van Gaal learnt the hard way) it seem that their Spanish opponents are slowly returning to the form that saw them win La Liga in 2013/14, leading Spreadex to offer an Atletico Madrid/PSV Eindhoven (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 0.4-0.6 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.05-2.25.

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