Juventus vs FC Bayern Munich
Juventus will be rueing finishing second in their group, despite having beaten Manchester City twice. Their loss to Sevilla in the final game proved costly as City now face an easy trip to Dynamo Kyiv while Juventus face the mighty Bayern Munich. The Bavarians have a great record against the Bianconeri in the last few years, having won 4 out of their last 6 games including the 3 most recent games.
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The sides last met in the 2012/13 quarterfinal stage, where Bayern defeated Juventus 2-0 both home and away on their way to winning the Champions League that year. Mario Mandzukic scored for Bayern the last time they met, but returns to the Allianz Arena sporting Juventus’ iconic stripes.
Bayern have every reason to be confident, with defender Jerome Boateng noting, “Juve are strong. They're very clever & tactically outstanding. Nevertheless, we're favourites.”
PSV Eindhoven vs Club Atletico de Madrid
Jeremy Brenet will be a disappointed man, as the PSV defender hoped to be drawn against Barcelona. PSV will console themselves with a trip to Madrid, where they face an Atletico side that qualified top of their group.
It’s a return to Spain for current PSV manager and former Barcelona player, Phillip Cocu. The Dutch side are the first team to get into the knockout stages in 9 years, with PSV themselves last qualifying in 2006/07 where they went out to Liverpool.
Conversely, Atletico Madrid have never eliminated Dutch opponents in the knockout stages in their European history. However, the Rojiblancos did eliminate PSV from the group stages in the 2008/09 season, defeating them 2-1 at the Vicente Calderon and 3-0 in Eindhoven. Given their recent history, Jeffrey Bruma, PSV’s centreback, is realistic about his side’s chances, saying “Atletico Madrid are the better team in theory, but we are certainly not without a chance.”
SL Benfica vs Zenit Saint Petersburg
Zenit qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League with ease, winning 5 out of their 6 games. The Russians narrowly lost to Gent in their last game, missing out on becoming one of the few sides to qualify from the group stages with a perfect record. Benfica qualified in a comfortable second place with 20 points, and face a familiar trip to Russia.
The two sides last faced each other in the group stages last season, with Zenit winning 1-0 at home, and defeating the Portugues side 2-0 at the Estadio da Luz. However, the Eagles beat the Russian side 4-3 on aggregate when they last met in the round-of-16 in 2011/12, coming back from a 3-2 defeat in Russia with a 2-0 victory at home.
It’s a return to Portugal for Zenit manager Andre Vilas Boas and former Benfica man Alex Witsel, with the Belgian midfielder glad to meet his former side yet again.
Dynamo Kyiv vs Manchester City
Manchester City finished top of their group with a thrilling 4-2 comeback win against Borussia Monchengladbach, thus earning a favourable draw against Dynamo Kyiv. The Sky Blues might finally make it to the quarterfinal stages of the Champions League, having gone out in the round-of-16 stage to Barcelona in the last two seasons.
City, who have been sanctioned for their fans booing the UEFA Champions League anthem, travel to a side who have been sanctioned by UEFA as well. The two sides will play behind closed doors in Ukraine, as Dynamo fans were punished for racist behaviour.
While Kyiv are massive underdogs going into the game, they can draw on history for inspiration. The Ukranians defeated Manchester City when they last met, winning 2-1 on aggregate in the round-of-16 stage of the Europa League. City director, Txiki Begiristain agrees that the fixture could be problematic, saying, “It's never easy – they've shown they have a good side by beating Porto and drawing with Chelsea.”
