1
21:00
The last notes of the Champions League anthem have faded away and the ball is rolling in the Estádio José Alvalade. The hosts play in their usual green and white shirts over white shorts. The guests from England are dressed in royal dark blue today. Here we go.
1
21:00
game start
20:58
The Champions League anthem sounds.
20:57
The teams have just entered the pitch in front of sold-out stands in the pouring rain.
20:42
Coach Carlo Ancelotti made three changes after the goalless draw at Villarreal CF for the Spaniards, who have not scored in their last four competitive games away from home and who have not only reached the round of 16 in two of the last three seasons. Mendy, Modrić and Benzema edge Marcelo, Valverde and Bale onto the bench.
20:36
On the side of the French, who recently celebrated four wins in a row in the national elite class but were eliminated from the Coup de France by a penalty shoot-out defeat against OGC Nice, coach Mauricio Pochettino is in contention compared to the 1-0 home win against the Stade FC made three personnel changes. Instead of Bernat (not in the squad), Simons and Draxler (both on the bench), Mendes, Danilo and Di Mariá start. Neymar sits on the bench.
20:33
Incidentally, the two teams have already faced each other in a knockout round of a European competition in the 2011/12 season. At that time it was the round of 16 of the Europa League, in which the Portuguese won the first leg in Lisbon 1-0. After losing 3-2 away in the second leg, the Leões advanced on away goals. Consequently, the Citizens still have a score to settle with Sporting. So far, however, Manchester City has only won one of six competitive games in Portugal. Most recently, there was a particularly bitter defeat in Southwest Europe, where the Sky Blues lost to Chelsea in the 2021 Champions League final.
20:27
Real Madrid CF only allowed themselves one slip in the first phase of the competition with a sensational home defeat by Champions League newcomers FK Sheriff (1-2); in Group D, which also included FC Internazionale Milano and FK Shakhtar Donetsk, Los Blancos, who lead the Primera División by four points after 24 rounds, won the remaining five games.
20:26
Manchester City, on the other hand, are the defending champions in the Premier League. The Sky Blues have won 20 of their 25 league games and are already nine points ahead of Liverpool. On Saturday there was an easy 4-0 away win at Norwich City that saw Pep Guardiola rotate. Accordingly, today’s starting lineup has changed to five positions: Stones, Rodri, Laporte, Cancelo and De Bruyne start today for Aké, Gündoğan, Zinchenko, Fernandinho (all four benches) and Walker (red suspension).
20:19
Last Friday, reigning national champions Sporting CP made a guest appearance at current leaders FC Porto. Doomed to win, the Leões even led 2-0 after 34 minutes. After three sending-offs, Rúben Amorim’s team of eight couldn’t get more than a 2-2 draw. The manager makes three changes to his starting XI compared to that game today: Pedro Porro, Pedro Gonçalves and João Palhinha are preferred to Zouhair Feddal, Nuno Santos and Manuel Ugarte (all three benches).
20:15
Paris Saint-Germain FC, still awaiting their first major international title after winning the 1996 European Cup Winners’ Cup, finished second in Group A behind Manchester City FC and ahead of RB Leipzig and Club Brugge KV. Similar to the domestic Ligue 1, which the Rouge-et-Bleu still leads confidently, they also allow themselves some fluctuations in the premier class in terms of play and draw their class primarily from their individual quality.
20:13
The success of the Verde e brancos largely depends on defensive stability. Of all 16 teams that survived the Champions League preliminary round, no team conceded as many goals as the Portuguese (14 in total). The Sky Blues don’t bring the best defense in Europe either. Pep Guardiola’s squad have conceded goals in ten of their last eleven matches in the premier club – including all six of this season’s group stage games.
20:09
Ten weeks after the end of their group phase, the Champions League is back on Tuesday with the first two round of 16 first leg games from the winter break. Spread over five weeks, the eight participants in the next stage of the knockout phase will be determined, who will keep the chance of the big triumph in St. Petersburg at the end of May. One of the highlights of the last 16 is the clash between title contenders Paris Saint-Germain FC and Real Madrid CF.
20:07
Sporting CP are only in the round of 16 in the premier class for the second time and definitely don’t have a good memory of this round. In 2008/09, in their only appearance so far in the Champions League round of 16, the Portuguese lost 12-1 after aggregate against FC Bayern. Today it could be just as difficult for the Leões, who face a tough and dangerous opponent in last season’s highly decorated finalists.
20:00
Hello and welcome to the Champions League on Tuesday night! Two favorites, Paris Saint-Germain FC and Real Madrid CF, meet in the round of 16. The first leg at the Parc des Princes is scheduled to kick off at 9 p.m.
20:00
Good evening and welcome from the Estádio José Alvalade. Here the Sporting Clube de Portugal welcomes Manchester City in the Champions League round of 16 at 21:00 today.