Borussia Dortmund and Porto sealed their places in the Champions League quarter-finals after dramatic last-16 ties against Sevilla and Juventus on Tuesday and Liverpool will be hoping to follow suit on Wednesday evening.
The Reds have been in dismal domestic form but they hold a 2-0 first-leg lead going into their second leg against RB Leipzig. In the night’s other fixture, Barcelona are hoping to stage a spectacular comeback against Paris St-Germain after losing the home leg 4-1.
Reds Can Put Anfield Woes Behind Them
Having lost their last six Premier League games at Anfield, Liverpool’s players may be slightly relieved that the ‘home’ leg of their last-16 clash with Leipzig has been switched to the Puskas Arena in Budapest.
The Hungarian capital was also the venue for the first leg in which the Reds took control of the tie thanks to goals from Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah.
Mane, Salah, Roberto Firmino and the fit-again Diogo Jota provide plenty of attacking firepower for Liverpool, who are 17/10 to win the second leg.
They are still hampered by injuries in central defence and 8/5 shots Leipzig, just two points behind leaders Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, have to be respected.
The draw at 13/5 would do nicely for Jurgen Klopp but the balance of the tie should suit Liverpool’s speedy forwards and they are worth backing to seal qualification with a victory.
Both goals in the first leg came on the counter-attack and Klopp’s men can expect more chances on the break as Leipzig must take risks if they are to overcome a two-goal deficit.
Leipzig have been ruthless against the weaker teams in the Bundesliga this season but have won only one of their six meetings with top-six clubs and they may struggle to subdue a top-class Liverpool attacking unit.
Barca Bidding for Another Miracle Against Psg
Barcelona famously overturned a 4-0 first-leg deficit against PSG in March 2017, winning 6-1 at Camp Nou in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
This time around the deficit is ‘only’ three goals but PSG, last season’s runners-up, are on home turf in the second leg and should progress to the quarter-finals without too much drama.
The manner in which they dismantled Barca 4-1 in the first leg, with Kylian Mbappe scoring a superb hat-trick, suggests the French champions are once again serious contenders in Europe.
Barca are 29/20 to win in 90 minutes and 13/1 to qualify. Ronald Koeman’s men are 80/1 to progress on penalties, which would require a 4-1 away win in Paris.
A 16-game unbeaten run in La Liga has reignited Barca’s hopes of winning the Spanish title but PSG hold all the aces in this tie and Mauricio Pochettino, who took Tottenham to the final in 2019, is 33/20 to lead the hosts to a second-leg victory. The draw is 3/1.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus were knocked out of the Champions League on Tuesday night and his old rival Lionel Messi looks set for a last-16 exit 24 hours later.
Perhaps the best bet is the 1/1 about over 3.5 goals. Messi and his fellow forwards could land a blow or two on PSG but Barca’s defence was brutally exposed by Mbappe in the first leg and the quicksilver France forward could punish them again as the game starts to open up.
*All odds correct at time of writing.
