UCL round of 16: 5 things we learned

The UEFA Champions League always brings a special feeling with it. Star players and the biggest teams across country boundaries on the biggest stage in club football is the dream of football fans and the UCL tends to deliver.

It gets even more exciting when the big teams get matched up against each other from the knockout rounds. The 2018/19 UCL round of 16 first leg ties have been an exciting watch and it bodes well for the second leg ties.

Lyon and Liverpool held Barcelona and Bayern Munich respectively to goalless draws. This hands the advantage to the away team in the second leg. The three other English sides fared differently. Manchester United was beaten at home by French champions, PSG while Manchester City and Tottenham earned victories to take back to the second leg.

Roma and Real Madrid earned a narrow advantage over their respective oppositions while Juventus and Atletico Madrid proved to be the matchup of the round as predicted by many football fans and pundits. Atletico took a 2:0 advantage to Turin for the second leg.

Here, we consider five things we learned from the first leg of the UCL round of 16 action.

#1 Barcelona have to pick up

At the start of this season's UCL group stage, Lionel Messi announced to the world via the Spanish radio station, Catalunya Radio, that it was imperative that they lift the UCL trophy after repeated seasons of knock out heartbreak to Atletico Madrid, Roma and Juventus.

"It's time. This year we have the Champions League again. We've gone out in the quarter-finals three years in a row and the last time was the worst of all, because of how we played and that we came with a result that was in our favor. We have to focus on the Champions League for the club, the team, and the fans. We have a spectacular team – that's why we say that, because we can compete for the Champions League."

Barca's UCL campaign started off brightly with three consecutive victories in which they scored 10 goals and conceded only two. The other three games of the group saw a drop off in performance levels and results. One narrow victory and two draws with four goals scored and three conceded saw questions raised about Barca's chances of realistically winning the UCL title.

Barcelona's tame showing in the first leg draw against Olympique Lyonnais has seen those questions raised as the Catalans could not get the all-important away goal against the French outfit. The second leg will be a tricky tie for the Catalans as the away goal rule remains in place and hands the advantage to Lyon on paper.

Meanwhile, Barcelona are still struggling with their stars like Luis Suarez, Phillipe Coutinho and Samuel Umtiti. During the game against Lyon, Suarez surpassed 24 hours without a goal or an assist in the Champions League.

Coutinho continues to struggle for form and confidence in a Barca shirt while Ousmane Dembele increasingly looks like a player that can be either absolutely brilliant or totally useless.

If Barca must emerge victorious as continental champions at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium in June, they must pick up very quickly or face the prospect of knock out elimination yet again.

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#2 Juventus are in real trouble

Allegri and Juve have a difficult second leg ahead

On the biggest of occasions, Massimiliano Allegri paid the price for his pragmatism and the Italian giants are in real trouble ahead of the second leg in Turin. The script did not go as planned for Juventus as they leave Wanda Metropolitano having much to do in the second leg.

The game was played at a frantic pace early on with rash challenges from both sides causing a stop-start encounter that eventually settled with both sides bossing the possession for intermittent periods in the first half.

Atletico Madrid started the second half brighter and should have taken the lead twice when Diego Costa and Antoine Griezmann somehow could not find the back of the net. Quickfire goals from the Uruguayan pair; Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez eventually gifted the advantage that Atletico Madrid's second-half play deserved.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Dybala and Mandzukic were unable to affect the game as Juventus struggled for an away goal. Considering how tight this Atletico Madrid defence is, Juve have a fight on their hands to overcome this deficit.

#3 Thomas Tuchel proves his worth

Thomas Tuchel is proving his worth in the UCL

The PSG job has become increasingly difficult for managers as domestic success is no longer considered enough for the club. Laurent Blanc and Unai Emery lost their job as PSG managers because they were unable to deliver in Europe.

The appointment of former Borussia Dortmund man, Thomas Tuchel as the replacement for the dismissed Emery was met with as much scepticism as a fanfare. Tuchel has always been a highly rated manager but many felt the appointment was wrong because he had won only the domestic cup with Dortmund and was now being asked to deliver continental success.

His reputation as a difficult man made it even more ridiculous considering he was being drafted to coach some of the biggest egos in the game.

After a dismal showing at Anfield, the German tactician has picked his team up and led them to first place in a tough group and a convincing victory over Liverpool at the Parc des Princes.

Manchester United's resurgence under the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and the absence of key men like Neymar and Edinson Cavani meant that the pressure was on the former Dortmund manager and he delivered.

His formation and tactical in-game tweaks made sure that the United attack was stifled and restricted to just one shot on target. With Kylian Mbappe and Angel Di Maria in the attack, the Parisians were able to put two away goals past United and keep the tie firmly in their favour.

#4 Bayern will miss "Robbery"

Bayern Munich will miss Ribery and Robben

The iconic duo of Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben team up to be called "Robbery" by the media and fans of the Bavarian giants. They have dominated the Bayern flanks and caused havoc to the opposition for more than ten years. With them set to leave at the end of the season as a result of age and fitness issues, it will prove difficult for the German giants without them consistently.

Against Liverpool, Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry were drafted in to play the flanks and they did a decent job of things. However, one will think that prime Ribery and Robben on the flanks for Bayern would have caused more havoc than Coman and Gnabry could muster.

On repeated occasions when Gnabry was shown unto his left by Andy Robertson, fans of Bayern would have been hoping that it was the former Dutch international, Robben that was unleashing the missiles at Alisson's goal.

Coman contrived to waste the ball the few times it was presented to him. Ribery would have linked up better with David Alaba and Robert Lewandowski as they have done to devastating effect in previous years.

The two men are set to depart at the end of the season and the Bavarians must look for more quality replacements for the duo if they are to compete for continental success. Coman and Gnabry are young players and may still come good but the Bavarians will miss their iconic flying wingers.

#5 Tottenham did the job in the first leg

It is generally believed that an away first leg is an advantage for a team in the UCL knock out stages. This is why UCL group stage leaders are automatically awarded a first leg tie away from home.

Borussia Dortmund have been in devastating form in the Bundesliga and some considered them favourites for this tie especially considering they played away first and the second leg at home.

However, it seemed like Tottenham did not read the scripts and set about outplaying their opposition before potentially closing out the tie with two sucker punches in the last ten minutes.

Dortmund came to Wembley with the reputation of playing quick transition and effective counter-attacking play. Spurs totally stifled any Dortmund counter attacks and they opened up their opposition and take a three-nil lead to the second leg.

It must be said that the tie is not over yet but Dortmund will have to pull off a fightback of epic proportions to win the tie.

Edited by Victor R. Lopez M.