Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid will lock horns

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Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid will lock horns in the Champions League on Tuesday night, with both teams looking to secure an advantage in the first leg of their last-16 tie. The home side finished second in Group A to secure their spot in the first knockout round, while 13-time winners Real Madrid claimed first position in Group D to progress to the round of 16.

Paris Saint-Germain needed a late winner to beat Rennes 1-0 on Friday night, which should have prepared them well for this blockbuster UEFA Champions League (UCL) first leg knockout clash with Real Madrid. It’s a game that sees Lionel Messi take on long-time rivals Madrid for the 46th time, but first-ever without wearing the colours of Barcelona, and he’ll hope to spur Ligue 1 leaders PSG on in their quest to level the all-time H2H record (W3, D3, L4).

The Parisians are aiming to be crowned champions of Europe for the first time ever, and this fixture against the record 13-time European champions could live up to its blockbuster billing as the last four H2Hs all produced over 2.5 goals. One of those was PSG’s 3-0 win here in 2019/20, and a repeat shouldn’t be ruled out as since their UCL semi-final defeat here to Manchester City in April, Mauricio Pochettino’s side have lost just one competitive home match (W16, D1) – and that was via a penalty shootout.

La Liga pacesetters Madrid also faced a tough domestic assignment at the weekend drawing 0-0 at Villarreal. With one competitive win in four matches (D2, L1), they’re not hitting the heights they scaled earlier in the season, when they finished the UCL group stage with four consecutive victories while conceding just once.

With their last eight UCL away fixtures seeing one or both sides fail to score (W5, D1, L2), the first goal here could be crucial. History suggests Madrid may just get it as ‘Los Blancos’ boast a formidable UCL last 16 record, losing just one of their last 11 away matches at this stage (W8, D2), opening the scoring in six of the last eight.

Date: 15/02/2022
Time: 23:00
Venue: Parc des Princes (Paris)
Pick for this match:
“Over 2.5 ” – @ 1.75 ( BETWAY )