2022 UCL Round of 16 Predictions for the 1st Leg

As the most important and prestigious football event, along with the World Cup, of course, the UEFA Champions League is considered the true battleground of the best in this sport. The schedule for the Champions League is long. For the 2021-2022 event, the preliminary round draw was on June 8, 2021, and the final will be on 28 May 2022. But the real excitement starts with the Group stages. For this year’s Champions League the first group stage matchday was on 14/15 September and the last one on 7/8 December. Read on to see the predictions for the 2022 UCL Round of 16.

The round of 16 will have eight matchdays, four for each leg. The first leg match days will be on 15/16/22/23 February and the second leg match days on 8/9/15/16 March. It will last a month in total. In this article, we’re focusing on the 1st leg matchups only. If you’re also interested in our 2022 UEFA Champions League winner predictions that’s great. We try to cover everything about this prestigious event. The group stage was very eventful. There was plenty of upset, some teams completely dominated their opponents, and we’ve also had last-minute changes to the rankings. Liverpool, Ajax, and Bayern were the only teams to emerge unbeaten from their groups. The elimination of Barcelona and Dortmund in the group stage is fairly unusual but not impossible. 

There Were Some Complications With This Year’s Round of 16 Draw

The Round of 16 draws took place on 13 December, followed by an unexpected re-draw. Soon after the mistake, the official UEFA Champions League account tweeted the following: “Following a technical problem with the software of an external service provider that instructs the officials as to which teams are eligible to play each other, a material error occurred in the draw for the UEFA Champions League Round of 16.”. The original 2022 UCL Round of 16 predictions were also taken down quickly after. The re-draw took place approximately 3 hours after the original event. This is what the original fixture looked like:

Paris Saint-Germain vs Real Madrid

Sporting CP vs Manchester City

Inter Milan vs Liverpool

RB Salzburg vs Bayern Munich

Villarreal CF vs Juventus

Chelsea vs LOSC Lille

Atlético Madrid vs Manchester United

Benfica vs Ajax

Fans were most excited about finally seeing the matchup between Leo Messi’s PSG and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYHHzhzRW0w

They were also the ones who voiced their disappointment over the re-draw. We put the official fixtures in order. Check out the predictions for the 2022 UCL Round of 16 in the next section. The result for the finalized Round of 16 matchups is the following:

Paris Saint-Germain vs Real Madrid

Sporting CP vs Manchester City

Inter Milan vs Liverpool

RB Salzburg vs Bayern Munich

Villarreal CF vs Juventus

Chelsea vs LOSC Lille

Atlético Madrid vs Manchester United

Benfica vs Ajax

PSG and Real Headlight the First Gameday

For the first match of Round 16, Real Madrid heads to Paris on 15 February. The last time the two teams met in the Champions League was during the 2020 group stage where the game ended in a 2-2 draw. It’s also important to note that the game was played in Madrid. When it comes to head-to-head record, Real has 3 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss.

The opposite is true for PSG but despite not winning as often they’ve scored 7 goals in total while Madrid has 8 to their name. With the addition of Lionel Messi last year, PSG is feeling confident that they’ll win their first-ever Champions League title this year. 20Bet Sportsbook already offers many odds for the game. PSG has a 1.94 (51.5%) chance of winning, 3.69 (27.1%) of drawing, and 3.52 (28.4%) of losing against Real.

The game between Sporting Lisbon and Manchester City will take place at the same time as the PSG-Real match. The Citizens head to Portugal for their first Champions League game against Sporting. Yes, you’ve read that right, the two teams haven’t met in this competition before. City made it out of Group A with 12 points in first place, while Lisbon finished with second place and 9 points. They’ve made it over Dortmund on goal difference. Manchester is looking to redeem themselves after last year and is aiming no lower than the trophy itself. Their odds of winning is 1.31 (76.3%) against Sporting. The chances of a draw and a loss are 5.3 (18.9%) and 8.61 (11.6%) respectively. The last time Guardiola won the Champions League as a manager was with Barcelona in the 2010-2011 season. Will this year be different?

UCL Round of 16 – Is This The Best Gameday?

On 16 February we’ll get to see Inter against Liverpool on their home turf, Milan. The last time these two saw each other in the Champions League was in the 2007/2008 season. So yeah, one could say some things have changed since then. Liverpool’s most recent title came in 2019 in a 2-0 win against Tottenham. The Reds also dominated the group stage this year, finishing with an incredible 18 points and no losses. The all-time head-to-head record of Liverpool-Inter is 3-1. However, odds on online sportsbooks in Germany are not as one-sided as some would expect. Inter’s chances of winning are 3.3 (30.3%) but Liverpool’s aren’t high either, with 2.1 (47.6). The odds for a draw is 3.43 (29.2%) so this is a game where anything can happen. Who do you have winning the first leg?

Again on 16 February, the Austrian champions will face the German champions. Bayern will head to Salzburg for their 1st leg matchup. The Bavarians are a force to be reckoned with and they prove it each year in the Champions League. They finished first in their group with an unbelievable goal difference of 19. They’re also one of the reasons why Barcelona hasn’t made it out of their group. Despite Salzburg’s 10 points in the group stage, they managed just fine and performed well. Bayern is 2-0 against the Austrians in the Champions League and won 3-1 in their last matchup. As the 2019/2020 champions they’re also heavily favored on online sportsbooks in Germany. According to 20Bet Sportsbook, they’re winning with 1.35 (74.1%). Salzburg has a good team but there are not many that could stand in the way of the Bavarian machine.

Current Champions Chelsea Have The Chance To Shine on February 22

Current Europa League champions Villarreal will face Juventus for the first time in the Champions League on 22 February. After an unbeaten run in the Europa last season, Villarreal emerged from their group with 10 points, only one behind United. The first game will be played in Spain and experts are giving pretty even chances for both sides. Villarreal is on 2.91 (34.4%) odds of winning while Juventus is at 2.49 (40.2%). A draw is also likely with 3.07 (32.6%) odds. Juventus finished top of their group with 15 points, before reigning champions Chelsea. It’s been a long time since The Old Lady won the title but they’ve always put out a great performance. How far do you think the Italians will go this season? Chelsea beat them 4-0 in the group stage so are they ready to head for the finals?

Titleholders Chelsea will welcome the French champions in London for their 1st leg matchup. LOSC Lille finished top of their group with 11 points but they could’ve performed better. According to online sportsbook news in Germany, their chances against Chelsea are not looking good. Their odds of winning in London are only 7.94 (12.6%) while a draw is more likely at 4.93 (20.3%). The two sides met twice before in the UCL but only in the 2019/2020 season. While the round of 16 predictions doesn’t favor LOSC, we shouldn’t count them out. Underdogs have surprised people countless times before. January trade rumors surround many Chelsea players so a lot of things can change until we get to Round 16 in February. Make sure to keep an eye on odds and prediction changes for the UCL on 20Bet Sportsbook.

Last Day Matchups For the UCL Round 16 1st Leg

Surprisingly Manchester United only faced Atlético Madrid twice in history, both in the 91/92 Cup Winners’ Cup. Neither team’s performance in the group stage is to be praised honestly. Atlético only finished with 7 points and United was relying on UCL Ronaldo. Speaking of United, their performance in the Premier League has been dreadful. The January transfer window can cause massive changes to the club. And Atlético isn’t in a better position either. The predictions for their UCL Round of 16 first matchup are not that interesting. For the 23 February game, which will be played in Madrid, the odds of United winning are 2.92 (34.2%) Despite the home ground advantage Atlético’s chances are not much better at 2.43 (41.2%). Everyone knows that Cristiano Ronaldo is a different beast in the UCL but can he save a sinking ship?

The final game of the UCL Round of 16 1st leg will be Benfica Lisbon vs Ajax Amsterdam. The two sides met multiple times in the Champions League, the last time in the 2018/2019 season. However, Benfica’s head-to-head record against Ajax is W1 D2 L4, which doesn’t radiate too much hope. Ajax has been on a tear in the group stage, finishing undefeated and 18 points. Ajax midfielder Dušan Tadić recently broke the record for most assists ever in a calendar year, previously held by Leo Messi. The two sides will play the first game in Lisbon but odds on online sportsbook sites in Germany are not in favor of Benfica. 20Bet Sportsbook has the Portuguese winning at 3.46 (28.9%) and the Dutch at 2.06 (48.5%). If Benfica doesn’t win at home their chances of making it out of the UCL Round of 16 will start disappearing.

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