with the first four uefa champions league last 16 first leg ties all done and dusted, it’s now up to the likes of atletico madrid, manchester city, juventus and leicester city to take centre stage and step up to the mark.
on tuesday, paris saint-germain thumped the mighty barcelona 4-0 at the parc des princes, whilst benfica secured a narrow 1-0 home win over borussia dortmund. meanwhile, arsenal lost 5-1 at bayern munich, as real madrid beat napoli 3-1 on wednesday. some of those results sent huge message out to the other teams and this year’s champions league looks as captivating as ever.
on tuesday and wednesday of next week, bayer leverkusen play atletico madrid, manchester city welcome monaco, juventus travel to porto and sevilla host premier league champions leicester city.
take a look at our live odds comparison, best betting odds, tips, analysis and previews on the next four last 16 first leg cl matches, which includes the intriguing looking fixture between manchester city and monaco.
diego simeone’s atletico madrid, who were losing finalists last season, travel to germany to face roger schmidt’s bayer leverkusen on tuesday. leverkusen finished runners-up to monaco in group e, while the madrid outfit beat bayern munich to top spot in group d.
despite being away from home, los colchoneros head to the bayarena as the 5/4 favourites with sky bet. meanwhile, you can get a home win at 5/2 at bet365, with the draw coming in at 23/10 (sporting bet).
simeone’s men are currently fourth in la liga, seven points adrift of leaders real madrid. as for leverkusen, they are well off the pace in the bundesliga, sitting ninth on 27 points. werkself have won just two of their last six league fixtures.
these two met at this stage two years ago, with atletico progressing to the quarter-finals on penalties. in an evenly contested two-legged tie, where both sides won their home legs 1-0, there was hardly anything to split them. we predict more of the same to unfold in this one, and we believe sporting bet’s 23/10 for the draw is worth having a punt on.
pep guardiola’s manchester city welcome leonardo jardim’s monaco to the etihad stadium on wednesday. city made it through to the last 16 by finishing runners-up to barcelona in group c. meanwhile, monaco beat bayer leverkusen and tottenham hotspur to top spot in group e.
with monaco going great guns in ligue 1, this could be a tricky tie for man city. however, after an indifferent start to the year, four wins on the bounce in all competitions have put guardiola’s boys back on track domestically.
the manchester club go into wednesday’s champions league fixture as the 8/13 favourites with sky bet, whilst the draw is available at 33/10 (betvictor). the best odds you can get on the away win are 9/2 with bet365.
we’re predicting city to edge a close encounter on home soil next week. like we said, monaco are no pushovers, and the citizens will have to be at their best. even though they are odds-on, we still think sky bet’s best odds of 8/13 are good value and well worth having a punt on.
on wednesday, nuno espirito santo’s porto welcome massimiliano allegri’s juventus to fortress estadio do dragao. with both teams flying high in their respective domestic leagues at present, wednesday’s showdown in portugal has all the makings of being a fascinating affair.
even though the dragons are unbeaten in any competition on home soil this season, they go into this one as the underdogs with the bookies. in fact, ladbrokes are offering very good odds of 13/5 for nuno’s men to take a first leg lead to italy with them. juventus, who have won their last five serie a matches on the spin, are the 5/4 favourites at betfair.
with porto a point behind benfica in the primeira liga, and juve seven points clear at the summit of the italian top flight table, this is a difficult one to call. these two have not met since the 2001 champions league, with the game in porto ending in a goalless draw.
looking at the live odds comparison, the draw is available at the very tempting price of 23/10 at bet365. although both would prefer to take a lead to the second leg, this one ending all square may not be such a bad result for either. we’re predicting these two to cancel each other out, and we like the look of bet365’s odds of 23/10 for the draw.
last up, claudio ranieri’s leicester city begin their knockout journey at the ramon sanchez pizjuan, as they take on jorge sampaoli’s sevilla. wednesday’s champions league match will give the foxes the chance to put their woeful premier league form on hold.
leicester head to seville with nothing to lose. every european game has been a bonus fixture for the foxes faithful this season, and the supporters have enjoyed every single minute of it. despite sitting 17th and only a point above the drop zone in the premier league, leicester have been a breath of fresh air in the champions league this term.
ranieri’s men go into this one as the 15/2 underdogs with betfair (and others – check out our odds comparison for full details). however, sevilla, who are third in la liga, are available at just 8/15 (coral) to make home advantage count.
leicester would no doubt take a draw and run with it before a ball is kicked at the ramon sanchez pizjuan on wednesday. we believe if they play their cards right, they are certainly capable of leaving spain with a result. according to our live odds, the best betting odds you can get on this tie to end all square are 10/3 at betfred and that’s our tip here.