ROME (ANSA) – ROME, FEBRUARY 20 – Klopp against Ancelotti, Salah against Benzema. The super challenge at Anfield is the second malicious joke of the round of 16 draw after PSG-Bayern. And if the Germans skewered the Parisians in the first leg creating a surprise, this time it would be the success of Liverpool receiving Real Madrid after a disastrous start to the season. This will be the highlight of the second week of the return of the Champions League after the World Cup, which reserves the debut of Inter and Napoli, opposing Porto and Frankfurt, while Manchester City are busy in Leipzig. Four other Italians will be on the field in the second leg of the play-offs of the other two cups. The road between Juve and Rome is uphill, after the draw with Nantes and the defeat of Salzburg. A little more attention in the Conference will be needed by Lazio who have to defend Immobile’s goal in Cluj, while Fiorentina play smoothly in the return match against Braga after the 4-0 victory in the first leg.
Emotions and entertainment are expected in Liverpool where the European and world champions arrive, just down in La Liga, but leaders Barcelona remain in the sights. Klopp hopes to have better luck than the last few times: the Reds left Real in the 2018 and 2022 finals, and were eliminated in the 2021 quarter-finals. Liverpool seem to have taken a sabbatical year: clear success in Newcastle (but the fans contested the charter return from Newcastle) brought the team closer to fourth place as the top three should not escape Arsenal and the two Manchester sides. Klopp supports the newcomer Gakpo in Salah and Nunez while Ancelotti relies on the tested duo Benzema-Vinicio jr. The clear victory at Arsenal seemed to have relaunched Manchester City’s chances of the Scudetto, which then held back in Nottingham. But Guardiola does not want to risk a new flop in the Champions League and knows well that he has to take Leipzig with a grain of salt, from which they were beaten in the 2021 group stage, with qualification already achieved. The citizens will rely on De Bruyne behind the trio Mahrez, Haaland and Grealish.
All of Europe awaits Napoli’s restart with curiosity after the group stage show and the triumphal march in Serie A. Osimhen and Kvara are ready to put on a show and Spalletti wants to take advantage of the relative tranquility with which he can face the championship he is dominating. Eintracht doesn’t seem to have any chance patches, but the coach preaches prudence also considering the excellent progress of the Germans since January. Inter arrives at the match against Porto in good shape with Lukaku’s return to goals, the gradual recovery of Brozovic, the splendid condition of Dimarco, Mkhitaryan and Lautaro. But Porto, even in a transitional season like this, are tough. And the bench is the old fox Sergio Conceicao, who in the past eliminated Roma, Juve and Milan. For Inter, the 20 million he would earn from the next round counts a lot.
In the Europa League, a repeat of the show between two healthy teams such as Manchester United and Barcelona is expected, with the goal challenge between Rashoford and Lewandowski. Triple result after the sparkling 2-2 of the Nou Camp. The temper shown by Juve and Roma in the league give the fans hope for the comebacks with Nantes and Salzburg. Juve can have an inspired Di Maria, Roma are grappling with the recoveries of Abraham, Dybala and Pellegrini. Among the other matches, Union Berlin-Ajax was very uncertain after the 0-0 draw in the first leg. In the Conference Italiano he will be able to make a turnover in Fiorentina against Braga and also think about the disappointing league standings. Immobile’s return to goals bodes well for Sarri’s return to Cluj. The curiosity is that six games out of eight ended 1-0 in the first leg.
Source: Ansa
Brayden White, a veteran sports writer at Global Happening, brings his wealth of knowledge and expertise to the sports section. With over a decade of experience, he is committed to delivering high-quality coverage of the latest games and events.
