The UEFA Champions League round of 16 kicks off next week as Europe’s best clubs battle for glory in the most prestigious competition of the year. On Tuesday the 17th of February, Chelsea and Jose Mourinho will travel to the Parc Des Princes in France to play Paris St. Germain. The Parisians will have been looking forward to this matchup for a long time as the London based side knocked them out of the tournament last year in the quarterfinals, thanks to a late goal from Demba Ba at Stamford Bridge. Plenty of firepower will be on display as Diego Costa and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, two goal-scoring machines, head each side’s attack. The PSG manager, Laurent Blanc, will have his hands full with Mourinho’s side that has proven their dominance in England so far. Tickets for the PSG vs. Chelsea matchup in Paris are still available on the Ticketbis marketplace. The second leg between the two sides will take place on March 11th in London.
On February 18th, Schalke 04 will take on Real Madrid at the Stadion Gelsenkirchen in the first leg. Last year, the two teams met in the same round with the Spanish side thrashing Schalke 9-2 on aggregate. But the German side has been enjoying success in the Bundesliga this year, they are currently in third place and recently drew the league leaders Bayern Munich. Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti will have to account for injuries as his recent signing James Rodriguez broke his foot and will miss the rest of the Champions League. Another recent Madrid signing, teenager Martin Odegaard was included into the Champions League roster by Ancelotti and would become the youngest ever player to appear in the tournament if he plays against Schalke. The second leg will take place on March 10 in Madrid.
For the second year in a row FC Barcelona and Manchester City have been drawn together in the round of 16. On February 24th in Manchester, City will look to avenge their 2-0 loss at home against Barcelona last season. The Catalan side then defeated the English club 2-1 in Spain, making the aggregate score 4-1. Manuel Pellegrini will hope that the return of his star midfielder Yaya Toure will boost the struggling club as they will have to contain arguably the best front three in the world, Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez. City supporters are hoping to see their newest signing, Ivorian Wilfried Bony, score some goals as they paid a big fee to bring him to the club in January. The second leg will take place at the Camp Nou in Barcelona on March 18th.
Other great matchups taking place within the next weeks include Arsenal vs Monaco, Atletico de Madrid vs. Bayer Leverkusen and Juventus vs. Borussia Dortmund to name a few. Tickets to all Champions League round of 16 matches are available and going for as little $47.86 on the Ticketbis website.
