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The UEFA Champions League Round of 16 continues with four intriguing first-leg matchups on March 4. Club Brugge and Aston Villa, two of this season’s biggest surprises, meet again after their league phase clash. Borussia Dortmund take on Lille in a game featuring two prolific strikers, while PSV and Arsenal face off amid struggles in domestic form. Meanwhile, Real Madrid and Atletico renew their European rivalry in a high-stakes Madrid derby. Here’s a breakdown of each matchup and what to expect.
Club Brugge 1-1 Aston Villa
Both Club Brugge and Aston Villa have been surprise packages in this years' Champions League, as Club Brugge have made it to the last 16 for just the second time in modern UCL history, whilst Villa are in the competition for the first time in over 40 years and managed to qualify thought the top eight in the league phase.
These teams faced off against each other on matchday four of the league phase, with Brugge's captain Hans Vanaken tucking away a 52nd minute penalty to give his side the three points in Brugge.
Whilst Brugge are struggling in the Belgian league at the moment, with just 1 win in their last 6 games, they seem to go into another gear in the UCL and it showed in their impressive two-leg display against Atalanta in the play-off round, beating the Bergamo club in both legs despite being favoured against by most people.
Aston Villa will hope that their away form doesn't take them out of the tie in the first leg, as Unai Emery's team have just won twice and drawn once in their last 12 away games in all competitions, scoring just 9 goals and conceding 26.
Borussia Dortmund 3-2 Lille
Last year finalists, Dormtund, finally look on a better path this season under Nico Kovac after a disastrous Bundesliga campaign under Nuri Sahin, with the German giants currently 10th in the league, but under Kovac, they swiftly swept aside Sporting in the play-off round and have won back-to-back Bundesliga games for the first time this season, including a 6-0 win over Union Berlin.
Lille will look to take advantage of the unusual home form of Dortmund, as they've only won won twice in their last 9 games at The Signal Iduna Park and with a win at The Metropolitano earlier in the season, Lille will be confident going away to the most intimidating atmospheres in Europe.
Lille will be looking to make history for their club as they've never made it past the Round of 16 in the Champions League and after finishing in the top 8 in the League Phase despite having to go through the qualification rounds, they have shown they can rise up to the occasion this season.
Two of the more underrated strikers are facing off in this game, with Lille's Jonathan David having scored 19 goals in an all competitions this season, including 6 goals in 6 UCL starts, whilst Dortmund's Serhou Guirassy has scored 24 in all competitions, including 10 in 10 UCL games, making him the top-scorer in the competition.
PSV 2-2 Arsenal
Like Club Brugge, PSV have struggled domestically recently but have stepped up their game when they hear the UCL music, with the Eindhoven side without a win in their last 4 Eredivisie games, with just 1 win in their last 7, conceding a staggering 16, but during that run, they won a dramatic play-off tie against Juventus, beating the Old Lady in extra time.
Arsenal know their weakness coming into the latter stages of the season, with The Gunners without a fit centre-forward and their first choice wingers, which has seen them blank in 3 of their last 4 games in all competitions.
Arsenal scored 16 goals in the League Phase, but out of the 16, 9 of those goals were scored by players who are currently unavailable to Mikel Arteta, with none of their available players having scored more than once in the competition this season.
PSV have not kept a clean sheet in their last 11 games in all competitions, conceding 2+ goals in 9 of those games, so there may not be a better team for Arsenal's lacklustre attack to face, but they will have to be on top of it defensively, as PSV also scored 16 goals in the League Phase and have scored 27 goals in their last 12 games in all competitions.
Real Madrid 1-1 Atletico Madrid
Having faced off six times in four seasons in the Champions League between 2013/14 and 2016/17, including two finals, the two Madrid sides have not faced each other in the UCL since.
Their matchups in that period were certainly classics, with Real Madrid winning both finals in 2014 and 2016, with the first in extra time after Sergio Ramos' 93rd minute equaliser and the 2016 final on penalties, whilst their Quarter-final in 2015 saw Javier Hernandez net an 88th minute winner to send Real through and a Cristiano Ronaldo first leg hattrick in their 2017 semi-final was an all-time UCL performance.
This season the two sides have met twice and drew both games 1-1, as Atletico sit 2nd in La Liga whilst Real sit two points behind in 3rd, and they had contrasting weekends leading into this game, with Atletico beating 4th placed Athletic Bilbao 1-0 with Julian Alvarez netting his 21st goal of the season,
Real were handed a 2-1 loss with former player Isco scoring and assisting to put his old side outsiders for the title however, after their disappointing defeat to Betis, Real fans will gain confidence on the fact they will have Jude Bellingham back, having been suspended in La Liga and also Atletico have not won away at the Bernabeu since 2015.
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