Match Preview: Sevilla - Leicester City

Leicester City's debut season has gone much better than their season in the Premier League, where they battle against relegation. On the other hand, Sevilla are in great form this season, doing fine in the league and they also managed to avoid their usual Europa League Trophy challenge.

It seems like Leicester City's season in the Champions League is coming to an end and it does not look like they could return to the competition very soon, looking at their league form. But it has been a joy to watch their fairy tale and they might pull off another miracle in the Last 16 to prove all the doubters wrong.

Leicester City vs. Sevilla (Photo: yahoosports.com)

Predicted Lineups:
Schmeichel; Simpson, Huth, Morgan, Fuchs; Albrighton, Ndidi, Drinkwater, Mahrez; Vardy, Slimani

Rico; Mariano, Rami, Lenglet, Mercado, Escudero; Nzonzi, Sarabia, Vitolo, Jovetić, Nasri; Ben Yedder

Our Prediction:
Sevilla will take advantage of Licester City's woeful away form. Result: Sevilla win 2:0.

Match Preview: Porto - Juventus

Porto finished the Group Stage behind Leicester City and are in solid form at the time. Juventus are also in very good form, winning their last match at the weekend 4:1 and will surely be confident going to Portugal.

None of the teams have ann major injury issues and will be trying to earn a positive result for the second leg. Porto have improved in defence, but Juve are very strong as well and it could be very hard for Porto to beat the Italian Champions.
UPDATE: Leonardo Bonucci will not feature in the match after an argument with Allegri.

Legendary keepers Buffon & Casillas will go head to head (Photo: football metro.co.uk)

Predicted Lineups:
Casillas; Pereira, Felipe, Marcano, Telles; Danilo, Corona, Torres, Herrera, Jota; Andre Silva

Buffon; Lichtsteiner, Rugani, Chiellini, Benatia, Alex Sandro; Khedira, Pjanić; Mandžukič, Dybala, Higuain

Our Prediction:
Juventus are in great form and will try to prove that in the first leg already. They have stability in defence an an in-form attack, so they should be able to beat Porto away. Result: Juventus win 1:0.

Match Preview: Bayer Leverkusen - Atletico Madrid

The teams will meet again after their Last 16 match in the 2014/15 season, when each won at home 1:0, and Atletico went on to win on penalties. Leverkusen have done really well in the Champions League as they have beaten Tottenham on their way to the Last 16, while Atleti won their group in front of serial bundesliga Champions Bayern Munchen.

The most notable absentee for the German team will be free-kick specialist Hakan Calhanoglu who has been banned for 4 months by FIFA for a breach of contract, related to an incident in 2011.
Atletico Madrids main worry is if their goalkeeper Jan Oblak will be fit to return after his shoulder operation, however reports are suggesting this will be the case as he has been given the green light by the doctors.

Bernd Leno saves Antoine Griezmann's header (Photo: dailymail.co.uk)

Predicted Lineups:
Leno; Henrichs, Toprak, Dragovič, Wendell; Bellarabi, Bender, Kampl, Brandt; Harvetz, J.Hernandez

Oblak; Vrsaljko, Gimenez, Savič, Filipe Luis; Koke, Saul, Gabi, Carrasco; Torres/Gameiro; Griezmann

Our Prediction:
Atletico will surely be very tight in defence as always, so it will be very hard for Bayer Leverkusen to score. Last years finalists are struggling in attack, so do not expect many goals.
Result: Atletico win 0:1.

Match Preview: Manchester City - Monaco

Manchester City will be hoping to go at least to the semi-finals like last season, but will face a very good Monaco team, which is surprisingly the leading team in Ligue 1 and also won their group in the Champions League where they eliminated Tottenham.

Both teams are in good form and this could be a very entertaining match. The main concern for Man City is the injury to their new signing Gabriel Jesus, who had a fantastic start to his Man City career, scoring 3 times before his foot injury, which will keep him out for approximately 2 months.

David Silva and Radamel Falcao (Photo: irishmirror.ie)

Predicted Lineups:
Caballero; Sagna, Stones, Otamendi, Kolarov; Yaya Toure, Fernandinho; Silva, De Bruyne, Sterling; Aguero

Subašič; Sidibe, Raggi, Glik, Mendy; Bernardo Silva, Fabinho, Bakayoko, Lemar; Germain, Falcao

Our Prediction:
Monaco are in very good attacking form, especially at home, so Man City will have to make sure they keep them quiet. Expect Pep Guardiola's team to keep a lot of possession and Monaco to play on the counter attack. Result: Man City win 2:0

Match Preview: Real Madrid - Napoli

Real Madrid finished second in their Group, so they will play the first leg at home. They will try to establish a big lead as the second leg will take place in Napoli, where the San Paolo Stadium will be full of loud Napoli fans to help their team.

Real Madrid had some injury problems, with Carvajal, Marcelo, Bale and Modrič, but only Bale will not be back in time to feature in the first leg match. Napoli are in great form and will be hoping for a positive result.

Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Marek Hamšik (Photo: jafarjeef.deviantart.com)

Predicted Lineups:
Keylor Navas; Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo; Casemiro, Modrič, Kroos; Lucas Vazquez, Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo

Pepe Reina; Maggio, Albiol, Koulibaly, Ghoulam; Zielinski, Diawara, Hamšik; Giaccherini, Mertens, Insigne

Our Prediction:
Real Madrid will need to keep their defence tight, but should prove to be too strong for Napoli in attack. Result: Real Madrid win 2:0

Match Preview: FC Bayern - Arsenal

This is becoming a classic Last 16 encounter, as these two teams played each other 4 times in the last 5 seasons. Bayern were always the team to progress, could this change this season?

Bayern are not in the greatest form this season but are playing well enough to lead in the Bundesliga and they also qualified from the Group Stage with ease, in second place. Arsenal are doing very good, they had a little dip in form in recent weeks but have regained winning form after beating Hull City this weekend.

None of the teams have any big injury issues so they will go into the match with full strength. It will be a huge head-to-head with two excellent goalscorer, Robert Lewandowski and Alexis Sanchez who are the main sources of goals for their teams.

Robert Lewandowski vs. Alexis Sanchez (Photo: dawn.com)

Predicted Lineups:
Neuer; Lahm, Hummels, Javi Martinez, Alaba; Xabi Alonso, Arturo Vidal; Robben, Muller, Douglas Costa; Lewandowski

Cech; Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal; Coquelin, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Walcott, Ozil, Iwobi; Alexis Sanchez

Our Prediction:
Arsenal will try to show they can beat Bayern, but after so many disappointments we believe Carlo Ancelotti's team will progress once again. Arsenal will have trouble coping with pacy wingers Costa and Robben. Result: Bayern win 2:0

Match Preview: Benfica - Borussia Dortmund

The other match on Tuesday will be Benfica versus Borussia Dortmund. BVB surprised Real Madrid as they beat them to first place in the Group Stage. The German team is struggling in the Bundesliga and lost their last match this weekend, with Raphael Guerrero scoring their only goal in a 1:2 defeat. However, we should take into account that they rested a couple of their key players, especially in defence. Their form is much different in the Champions League though as they have been scoring for fun in the Group Stage. Benfica lost a couple of their players in the transfer window, most notably Guedes, and they lost Alex Grimaldo and Salvio due to injury, while Živković is suspended.

Benfica vs. BVB (Photo: Twitter, Jan Hagen)

Predicted Lineups
Ederson Moraes; Nelson Semedo, Luisao, Lindelof, Eliseu; Salvio, Fejsa, Pizzi, Cervi; Mitroglu, Jonas

Burki; Piszczek, Bartra, Sokratis, Schmelzer; Weigl, Castro, Guerreiro; Dembele, Reus, Aubameyang

Our Prediction:
This should be a tight encounter, BVB will be hoping to score at least one away goal as their defense is not very good at keeping clean-sheets recently. Result: 1:1

Kostas Mitroglu (Photo: goal.com)

Marco Reus (Photo: espnfc.com)

Match Preview: PSG - Barcelona

The Champions League is back with a bang, as PSG will host Barcelona in their first leg clash of the Last 16. This match should be very entertaining as both teams are very good in attack and PSG will try to prove they are capable of winning the Champions League Trophy.

PSG - FC Barcelona (image: pesedit.ge)

Barcelona are favorites in this matchup, but will have to play at their best to eliminate PSG as the French Champions have recently improved their form a lot and added German attacking Midfielder Julian Draxler to their team. He has already fit in and scored 4 goals since arriving to Paris. The key for Barca will be the return of midfield maestro Andres Iniesta who will provide dangerous balls for the attacking trio. PSG's defence will have a tough night, but they will be very dangerous on the counter attack, with Angel Di Maria and Julian Draxler on either side of Edison Cavani.

UPDATE: T.Silva is out so Kimpembe will most likely play as a CB for PSG!

Lionel Messi in action against Thiago Motta and Edison Cavani (Photo: zombie.com)

Predicted Lineups:
Trapp; Aurier, Kimpembe, Marquinhos, Kurzawa/Maxwell; Verratti, Rabiot, Matuidi; Di Maria, Draxler, Cavani

Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Pique, Umtiti, J.Alba; Rakitič, Busquets, Iniesta; Messi, Suarez, Neymar

Our Prediction:
PSG will host the first match and we expect the match to be very entertaining, so we don't believe any team will keep a clean-sheet. Cavani is in fantastic goalscoring form, while Barca's trio MSN hardly ever disappoint as well.
Result: 2:2

Neymar vs PSG (Photo: dailymail.co.uk)

Top Fantasy Picks: Forwards

Finnaly, we take a look at the top forward picks. Here is the list of the Topscorers from the Group Stage:

As already described HERE Messi was the Top performing Fantasy Player of Group Stage.

He is in fantastic form again so we believe he is still the "essential" Fantasy choice and therefore our number 1:

1. Lionel Messi (12.4)

Lionel Messi is scoring free-kicks for fun this season (Photo: si.com)

2. Cristiano Ronaldo (12.1)
Cristiano will surely be highly motivated and as Napoli don't have the strongest defence he is more than capable of scoring many points.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Photo: blogncc.com)

3. Robert Lewandowski
The draw was not very kind to Bayern as they will face Arsenal again, but Lewa is in top form so he is our 3rd favorite Fantasy asset.

Robert Lewandowski (Photo: youtube.com)

4. Antoine Griezmann (10.2)
He is the main scorer for Atletico and as they have a nice fixture against Bayer Leverkusen he is a great choice and a captain option too.

Antoine Griezmann (Photo: eurosport.com)

5. Gonzalo Higuain (9.5)
Gonzalo Higuain has proved his worth after his big-money move from Napoli and will need to be in Top form especially in the Champions League if he wishes to lift the trophy with Juve.

Gonzalo Higuain (Photo: bola.com)

Best budget option: Dries Mertens (7.5)

Dries Mertens (Photo: pasqualemadonna.blogspot.com)

Top Fantasy Picks: Midfielders

Now we focus on midfielders, here is the list of the top Fantasy Midfielders from the Group Stage:

Arsenal Star Mesut Özil (9.3) is surprisingly the top midfield scorer, although he is usually more of an assist provider, being the playmaker, he scored 4 times, including a hattrick against Ludogorets. Next is Porto's Andre Silva (6.9), who is a great Fantasy option as he plays as a striker and takes penalties as well. You could say the same for Riyad Mahrez (8.1), Leicester City's winger, who takes penalties and direct free-kicks too. Arda Turan (7.1) was a fantastic option in game week 6, but is not a good option going forward as he is very unlikely to get much game time. Yannick Carrasco (7.3) completes the top 5 and he will be a big hope to provide points in Atletico Madrid's attack.

Top 10 Midfielder Picks for the Last 16  

1. Miralem Pjanić (7.5)
The Bosnian turned up to be a great signing for Juventus and as they have a favorable fixture in the Last 16 we are tipping him to prove his value. He has great potential for assists and is also a very good free-kick taker so he is dangerous for goals as well.

Miralem Pjanić (Photo: bleacherreport.com)

2. Yannick Carrasco (7.3)
The Belgian is in great form this season and we believe he will provide a big threat from the left wing for Atleti against Bayer Leverkusen who do not keep many clean-sheets.

Yannick Ferreira Carrasco (Photo: pinterest)

3. Luka Modrič (7.1)
Luka Modrič had some injury problems this season, but we think he will show his best again in the knockout rounds. He is very important for Real Madrid's attack as he is the main playmaker along Toni Kroos, providing chances for Cristiano Ronaldo and Benzema.

Luka Modrič (Photo: sportskeeda.com)

4. Kevin De Bruyne (9.4)
5. Arjen Robben (8.4)
6. Julian Draxler (8.5)
7. Marek Hamšik (8.5)
8. Mesut Ozil (9.3)
9. Andres Iniesta (7.9)
10. Andre Silva (6.9)

Best Budget option: Steven N'Zonzi (6.0)

Steven N'Zonzi (Photo: espnfc.com)

    

Top Fantasy Picks: Defenders

Now it is tame to have a look at the Defenders. Here is the list of the top performing defenders from the Group Stage:

Two Sevilla Defenders are on top of the charts, with Sergio Escudero (6.0) being the topscorer with 37 points. The left wing-back scored once and had 5 clean-sheets. Mariano (6.0) has 2 assists from the other side of the 5 man back line. Leonardo Bonucci (6.1) and Dani Alves (6.1) of Juventus are the next two on the top scoring charts and have a favorable fixture in the Last 16 against Porto. Porto's Alex Telles (4.8) completes the Top 5 with 2 assists and 3 clean-sheets.

The teams with the biggest potential for keeping clean-sheets in the Last 16 are Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Sevilla, Real Madrid and Manchester City.

Top 10 Defender Picks for the Last 16
1. Diego Godin (6.0)

Diego Godin (Photo: sempreinter.com)

Diego Godin just mad the top 10 among the top Fantasy UCL Defenders, however we believe Atletico will be very strong in defence again when the knockout stages begin. He is the core of Atleti's defence and will be the key for keeping clean-sheets. Furthermore, he has proved many times he is capable of scoring when it matters the most and he will be a big weapon for last years finalists on set-pieces.

2. Alex Sandro (5.4)
The ex-Porto star was in the shadow of Dani Alves and Leo Bonucci in the Group stage, but we are tipping him to prove himself in the matchup with his old club. He is very offensive, so he could easily get a couple of assists or even a goal.

Alex Sandro (Photo: 101greatgoals.com)

3. Mariano (6.0)
Sicnce Sergio Escudero is currently still injured, Mariano is our top defensive pick from Sevilla. He plays very high up the pitch and could continue his great form from the Group Stage.

Mariano (Photo: futbol.as.com)

4. Sergio Ramos (6.2)
5. Filipe Luis (6.1)
6. Adil Rami (6.0)
7. Marcelo (6.4)
8. David Alaba (6.5)
9. Aleksandar Kolarov (5.2)
10. Jordi Alba (6.3)

Best budget option: Nicolas Pareja (4.6)

Nico Pareja (Photo: eonsports.com)

Top Fantasy Picks: Goalkeepers

We will have a look at the Goalkeeper picks, taking into account how the defenses are performing and most importantly the next round fixtures.

This is the list of the top goalkeepers of this years UEFA Champions League Fantasy game:

The best Goalkeeper of the Group stage was Atletico Madrid's Jan Oblak (6.1), but he is currently recovering from an injured shoulder and probably won't be fit in time for Atleti's match against Bayer Leverkusen. This means Miguel Angel Moya will step in - he could be a real bargain at the price of 5.0.
Sevilla's Sergio Rico kept 5 clean sheets and is also a fantastic option, especially as Leicester City is not in great attacking form. Legendary keeper Gianluigi Buffon (6.6) completes the top 3, but is the most expensive option available.

TOP 5 Goalkeeper picks for the Last 16:
1. Sergio Rico (5.7)

Sergio Rico (Photo: espnfc.com)

Sevilla have been excellent in defense, the 5-man back line seems to suit them very much in the Champions League and their next fixture is petty kind as Leicester are currently struggling for goals, especially away from home.

2. Gianluigi Buffon (6.6)
Juventus are always reliable at the back and therefore Buffon is a good choice. They should get at least one clean-sheet in the two matches against Porto.

Gigi Buffon (forzaitalianfootball.com)

3. Miguel Angel Moya (5.0) 
One of the best defenses in Europe, so their goalkeeper is always a smart Fantasy pick. Moya is second choice though and he will lose his place when Jan Oblak returns from injury.

4. Keylor Navas (6.0)
Real Madrid have been quite poor at keeping clean-sheets, but we believe they will start performing when it counts the most.

5. Manuel Neuer (6.4)
Same goes for Bayern, they have struggled keeping clean-sheets but they are also known to perform the best when it matters the most. Arsenal is in good form this season, but Manuel Neuer is one of the worlds best keepers and will do his best to ensure Bayern go through again.

Best budget option: Alphonse Areola (4.6)

Alphonse Areola (Photo: europe1.fr)

Team Focus: Sevilla

Sevilla finished second in the group and will face Leicester City in the next round.

Goalkeeper & Defence
Their defence was great as they managed to keep 5 clean-sheets in the Group stage. Sergio Rico (5.7) is the keeper and given Leicester City's form he is a very good option the next round as well. Sergio Escudero (6.0) is a great option at left-back, he also scored once this season, while Mariano (6.0) on the other flank is an excellent Fantasy pick as well. They play with 5 at the back most of the time, so Nicolas Pareja (4.6), Adil Rami (6.0) and Gabriel Mercado (5.2) are good picks at the centre of Sevilla's defence too.

Adil Rami (Photo: sportskeeda.com)

Midfield
Steven N'Zonzi (6.0) has been great this season and is a good budget option for your Fantasy team. Vitolo (7.0) is a great pick as well and Samir Nasri (6.4) too. Other options are too risky as they do not have a sure place in the starting 11. Keep an eye on the new signing Stevan Jovetič, if he is classified as a midfielder he could be a great choice.

Steven N'Zonzi (Photo: espnfc.com)

Attack
Luciano Vietto (6.9) is the top forward pick, he scored once and assisted once as well. Wish Ben Yedder scored twice but it is very unsure who the first choice striker is. Add new signing Jovetič to the mix and the situation is even more unclear.

Luciano Vietto (Photo: uefa.com)

Prediction
Sevilla is excellent this season in La Liga and the UCL as well. We believe they will be too strong for Leicester City and will progress to the Quarter Finals. Anything is possible and Sevilla will be a difficult opponent for any team. They are certainly capable of a big surprise.