The Champions League round of 16, which will make up the puzzle of the quarter-finals, continues with two very interesting matches on Spanish and English soil.

Tonight at 10:00 p.m., Unai Emery’s defending champion Villarreal meets Massimiliano Allegri’s Juventus (COSMOTE SPORT 3 HD and LIVE by Sportish) in “Theramika”.In a fight that awaits a baptism of fire in Europe’s premier inter-club competition, Vekia Signora’s attacking line has new big star Dusan Vlahovic.

At the “Stamford Bridge” Chelsea goes down against Lille at the same time (COSMOTE SPORT 2 HD and LIVE from Sportish) with fresh laurels from winning the Club World Cup, with Thomas Tuchel’s European champions looking huge favorites against French champions Jocelyn Guvernek to qualify for the quarter-finals and continue his defensive performance.

Villarreal wants to hurt the old lady

Villarreal secured a place in the last 16 of the Champions League with a great win in a match final in Bergamo (3-2 against Atalanta) and now they have to miss another Italian team to be in the 8th yellow league play the underdog role with Juventus, though Unai Emery makes it clear that the Europa League champions can do the damage.

“We’ve tried really hard to get here and we’re here because we deserve it. We don’t want recognition just if we play two good games, we want to win and pass. Juventus are one of the best Italian teams, with a lot of experience in the Champions League.

Vlahovic had scored 17 goals against Fiorentina and is already at a high level. He has great potential, he’s young, he knows how to put the ball in the net and above all he’s hungry for wins. Our opponent is definitely one of the favorites for the cup, but we won’t give up.

“We are capable of beating teams at this level and we will do the same on Tuesday with experienced players like Pau Torres, Raul Albiol and Foit.”, stressed the Spaniard in the press conference, who saw his team win last Saturday 4-1 from Granada headquarters (hat-trick Danzuma) and climb to 6th place in La Liga. Leading striker Gerard Moreno as well as Koklen and Penia are absent from the competition.

Juventus were impressive in the group stage (5 wins – 1 loss) and this fact put them on top, ahead of Chelsea, and at the same time gave them the “right” to face a theoretically easier opponent in the round of 16. Although she significantly strengthened in the January transfer window with the additions of Vlachovic (mainly) and Zakaria, the two narrow draws (1-1) against Atalanta and Torino reminded her of the serious problem she has this season in the field of development and creation .

“There are no predictions, the chances of qualifying are 50-50. Villarreal are in good shape, they are an experienced side with experienced players and they have a very good coach with a lot of achievements. They won the Europa League last year and will do it.” have the warm support of home: “We have to play smart and patient.”stressed Massimiliano Allegri, who wanted to relieve the stress that is probably on Vlachovic’s shoulders, saying:

“In 20 days we went from fourth place to Scudetto victory. Important players came, but let’s not forget that Vlahovic will make his Champions League debut, he can’t take all the responsibility. I have to protect him.”

If he’s given 60-70 Champions League games, he’ll be a different player, it’s a matter of pressure.. Dimbala and Rougani, as well as Kielini, Chiesa and Bernardeski, are eliminated from the “Theramica” match, while the participation of Bonucci, who joined the mission and traveled to Spain, is in doubt.

Possible compositions:

VILLA AREA: Ruli, Foit, Albiol, Torres, Pedratha, Kapou, Lo Celso, Parejo, Alberto Moreno, Chukueze, Danzuma

JUVENTUS: Cesni, De Silio, Danilo, De Licht, Sandro, Cuadrado, Locatelli, Zakaria, Rabio, Morata, Vlachovic

Europe inspires Chelsea and Tuhel

The 3-3 draw at the Zenit home stripped Chelsea of ​​first place in the group stage (it was behind Juventus) but the draw was particularly good with the European and World champions having been caught by the theoretically strong group. “Lille. Undoubtedly, the Blues have the first reason to qualify because of a better squad and more experience, but from the beginning of 2022 they are showing some fatigue and certainly not the freshness they had a few months ago.

“We all know how dynamic French football is and the strikers who play in it, how brave they are in one-on-ones. When they don’t have the ball, they play very disciplined and Lille will have the opportunity in this series , to play.” “From our side we respect the game, we respect the opposition and we prepare our team as we always do.”said Thomas Tuhel in view of the first Battle of Stamford Bridge, while mentioning Romelu Loukakou.

The Belgian striker had just seven touches of the ball in last Saturday’s league game against Crystal Palace (one of them off the crossbar of the game), the lowest number for a Premier League player (with 90 minutes of play). in game) since Opta started recording stats in the 2003/04 season, with the German noting:

“It can happen to attackers who are struggling to find their confidence or who are tired of finding places against a good defending side, but we have to find a solution. I don’t know what to do yet, but I know that this is the case.” The current situation is not Lukakou, nor do we want it”.

Long-time absentees James and Chillwell will find it difficult to catch Mount and Hudson-Odoi, with Athpilicueta hoping for a return, for a Chelsea wanting a good result to boost their confidence ahead of Sunday’s League Cup. .

On the other hand, Lille won first place in a group with Seville, Wolfsburg and Salzburg, exceeding all expectations because at the same time it represented a serious and good person in Europe, within the limits it had suffered with 11th place It currently occupies the Ligue 1 table to show his downward trend after winning last year’s championship.

“We started in the group and nobody gave us a chance to finish first, but we messed up the predictions. The challenge ahead of us is huge against the European champions. My players are experienced, they know , how to play such games and we have prepared well.” “Jocelyn Guvernek commented in the press conference that she had no racing problems with a view to the match at Stamford Bridge.

Possible compositions:

CHELSEA: Medi, Christensen, Thiago Silva, Riediger, Athpilicueta, Cande, Kovacic, Alonso, Haverts, Werner, Lukaku

SMALL: Zardim, Celik, Fode, Botman, Andre Goodmundson, Uea Sanchez, Baba, David Yilmaz