Full Champions League Round of 16 predictions: Will Real Madrid advance vs. PSG?
PSG vs Real Madrid
And now for the tie of the season, PSG will go up against Real Madrid. There are so many emotions involved in this tie that I’d easily call this one to be the one fixture any football fan wouldn’t want to miss. Real will face Lionel Messi who is their former nemesis, but an unarmed one at that. Messi has been kept quiet by Madrid for seasons now. However, Los Blancos’ former captain, Sergio Ramos could very well be playing against them.
There is Achraf Hakimi still dreaming of Madrid and there is Angel Di Maria who loathes the club’s values under Florentino Perez. Costa Rican keeper Keylor Navas too has his share of complaints against the Royal Club. And, then there is Kylian Mbappe who would probably be playing against his future club because I don’t really see the deal getting finished this winter. This really is the biggest match of the year, the season, and probably one of the most iconic face-offs for years to come.
PSG has built a great squad with top talents of the game coming together. There is no doubt that the Champions League is their aim this season. Otherwise, it just doesn’t make sense to have an opening attack consisting of Neymar, Messi, and Mbappe just to win Ligue 1. Or for that matter, talents like Gianluigi Donnarumma, Georginio Wijnaldum, Sergio Ramos, Achraf Hakimi aren’t assembled to win Ligue 1 only. Anything beyond the UCL would be insulting.
Madrid on the other hand does not have the best squad in the competition and people may argue that they’d have lower expectations going into a transition, squad building phase working around younger players. But, that doesn’t mean lower chances of winning this tie.
In my opinion, I see Real Madrid as a far better and far more functioning team than this PSG squad. Carlo Ancelotti has truly hit the right gears. They have the best Goalkeeper in Thibaut Courtois, a GOAT midfield that only gets better with age, a new functioning central defensive pairing, and Europe’s most lethal duo in attack in Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior who is really hitting his real breakout season. I see Real Madrid edging past PSG after a neck-to-neck competition. Extra time, penalties, sudden death bring everything on this is the fixture of a lifetime and it’d end in a disaster for the Parisians.
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Team that goes through: Real Madrid
Final predicted last eight: Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Ajax, Manchester City, Villarreal, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Real Madrid.
The Premier League continues to dominate with four teams advancing into the last eight stages and Ajax keeps representation alive from outside of Europe’s top five leagues.