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Champions League Power Rankings: Round of 16 – Leg 2

For the 2nd leg of the tournament, I’ve re-ranked the 16 teams in UEFA Champions League and i’ll also give you my predictions on the 2nd leg match ups. I’ve also added VAR to this piece which will recap my predictions of the 1st leg match-ups. Feel free to write your comments below or via Twitter (@30minlunchbreak) if you agree or disagree with my rankings, predictions, or players to watch, hope you ENJOY!!!! – Social Mike​ (SM)

Free Kicks

  1. Manchester City (4) ⬆️
  2. Barcelona (2) ↔️
  3. Liverpool (3) ↔️
  4. Juventus (1) ⬇️
  5. PSG (6) ⬆️
  6. Borussia Dortmund (4) ⬇️
  7. Real Madrid (7) ↔️
  8. Bayern Munich (8) ↔️
  9. Atlético Madrid (10) ⬆️
  10. Tottenham (11) ⬆️
  11. Manchester United (9) ⬇️
  12. Roma (13) ⬆️
  13. FC Porto (12) ⬇️
  14. Ajax (14) ↔️
  15. Lyon (15) ↔️
  16. Schalke 04 (16) ↔️

VAR

In my previous piece, we went over the match-ups from Leg 1 and I made predictions on each of the matches. Lets recap the games and see how the predictions went.

PSG vs Manchester United (SM: Man U)

Result: PSG 2-0 Win ❌ (SM: 0-1)

FC Porto vs Roma (SM: Roma Win)

Result: Roma 2-1 Win ✅​ (SM: 1-1)

Borussia Dortmund vs Tottenham (SM: Borussia Dortmund Win)

Result: Tottenham 3-0 Win ❌​ (SM: 1-2)

Real Madrid vs Ajax (SM: Real Madrid Win)

Result: Real Madrid 2-1 Win ✅​ (SM: 2-2)

Barcelona vs Lyon (SM: Barcelona Win)

Result: Draw 0-0 🆘 (SM: 2-2-1)​

Liverpool vs Bayern Munich (SM: Liverpool Win)

Result: Draw 0-0 🆘​ (SM: 2-2-2)

Juventus vs Atlético Madrid (SM: Juventus Win)

Result: Atlético Madrid 2-0 Win ❌​ (SM: 2-3-2)

Manchester City vs Schalke 04 (SM: Manchester City Win)

Result: Manchester City Win 3-2 ✅ (SM: 3-3-2)​

Leg 2 Match-ups

PSG (5) vs Manchester United (12)

Mar 6, 2019 | Parc des Princes | Paris, France

Players to Watch

Marcus Rashford Marco Verratti

PSG head into the 2nd leg with a 2-0 advantage over Manchester United who be with out the likes of Paul Pogba, Man U will will now count on the rest of the team to pull off the tall task at the Parc des Princes. Although not impossible the Red Devils will definitely have their work cut out for them as they’ll have to score early here to keep the pressure on PSG hoping to come out victorious earning Ole the biggest win of his coaching career. (Written on 3/6/19)

My Prediction: PSG​

3/6/19 Update: Manchester United defeat PSG 3-1 (3-3 Agg). Man U advances on away goals. (Prediction made before kickoff. See tweet below)

FC Porto (13) vs Roma (12)

Mar 6, 2019 | Estádio do Dragão | Porto, Portugal

Players to Watch

Justin Kluivert Yacine Brahimi

Roma edged out a 2-1 victory in the 1st meeting over Porto and now come into their 2nd leg matchup as the underdogs. Porto will have some ground to make up but are very much in position to walk away not only with a win but a ticket to the round of 8 as well. Roma will rely on their defense to hold off an attacking Porto, but looking to at add to this lead should be the focus if they plan to continue moving on in this competition. (Written on 3/6)​

My Prediction: FC Porto

3/6/19 Update: FC Porto defeat Roma 3-1 (4-3 Agg). I’ll take my L, totally whiffed on both players here. Prediction made before kickoff. (See tweet below)

Borussia Dortmund (6) vs Tottenham (10) ​

Mar 5, 2019 | Westfalenstadion | Dortmund, Germany

Players to Watch

Marco Reus Harry Kane

Tottenham bring a 3 goal lead with them into the 2nd leg meeting and look to hold off a feisty home team in Borussia Dortmund. Dortmund at home have been very tough to beat and even with a 3 goal deficit i’ll be sticking to my original pick here to come out with the victory. Very tough task for the home side, as the Spurs get back captain Harry Kane looking to advance into the round of 8 and continue their hopes of making a run at UCL title.​

My Prediction: Borussia Dortmund

3/5/19 Update: Tottenham defeats Borussia 1-0 (4-0 Agg). Prediction made before kickoff. (See tweet below)

Real Madrid (7) vs Ajax (14) ​

Mar 5, 2019 | Santiago Bernabéu | Madrid, Spain

Players to Watch

Vinicius Jr. Frenkie de Jong

Ajax come into their 2nd leg meeting behind by 1 score against a Real Madrid team that will be playing host, being the far superior team los Blancos should be able to close the show at home. Ajax did prove to be a tough out in the previous meeting and with a struggling Madrid as of late, the Dutch side could pull off a surprise upset here and send Real packing early so look for Ajax to press all game and try to force at least the tie.​ (Written on 3/5)

My Prediction: Ajax

3/5/19 Update: Ajax defeats Real Madrid 4-1 (5-3 Agg). Prediction made before kickoff. (See tweet below)

Barcelona (2) vs Lyon (15)​

Mar 13, 2019 |Camp Nou | Barcelona, Spain

Players to Watch

Ousmane Dembélé
Nabil Fekir

Lyon and Barcelona played to a 0-0 draw in the 1st leg, now the action heads to Camp Nou for the 2nd leg. Barcelona should return to form and get the victory at home vs Lyon as they have done more than expected in the UCL, if indeed this is the end of the road for Lyon they will go out putting together a valiant effort fighting all the way till the end.​

My Prediction: Barcelona

Bayern Munich (8) vs Liverpool (3)​

Mar 13, 2019 | Allianz Arena | Munich, Germany

Players to Watch

Thiago Alcantara
Sadio Mane

In another match up that ended in a 0-0 draw, Bayern and Liverpool get 90 more minutes to determine who gets the ticket into the final 8. Between the two teams Bayern has been the team playing the better football lately, with momentum on their side Bayern just doesn’t seem to be consistent enough to edge out the Reds in the 2nd and keep advancing in the tournament.​

My Prediction: Liverpool

Juventus (4) vs Atlético Madrid (9 )

Mar 12, 2019 | Juventus Stadium | Turino TO, Italy

Players to Watch

Pablo Dybala Saul Niguez

Round one of Juve vs Atletico did not disappoint in the 1st leg with los Colchoneros coming out on top 2-0. Juventus are down 2 scores but the stage is set for them to turn this around as they come home to protect their turf, the question now is can Juve break down Atletico’s stout defense? Or will Juve fall short and let los Colchoneros walk away with the upset in the round of 16.​

My Prediction: Juventus

Manchester City (1) vs Schalke 04 (16) ​​

Mar 12, 2019 |City of Manchester Stadium | Manchester, UK

Players to Watch

Leroy Sane Weston McKennie

The David vs Goliath battle that was supposed to be dominated by Man City, actually ended up being probably the best game of the 1st leg. City pulled out a very hard fought 3-2 victory over Schalke, and although taking the Citizens here seems like the most safe and probable outcome. But as mentioned in the 1st leg upsets make great headlines, i just don’t see it happening for Schalke as the fairytale ride will come to and end.​

My Prediction: Manchester City

Who will be crowned
CHAMPION?

Agree or Disagree? Hit me up on Twitter!

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Social Mike is a podcaster and soccer junkie. He has been covering the soccer since 2018 for the30minutelunchbreak.com. You can view all of his posts and articles, and follow him on Twitter.

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