The Champions League makes a long-awaited return this week and I can’t wait to see Europe’s elite in action. The last 16 always comes with plenty of goals, some one-sided matches as well as the occasional upset.

PSG and Barca is perhaps the stand out tie in terms of quality – two giants of Europe who’s sides have huge amount of world class talent. There have been 21 goals in last six games between the sides, so we can expect to see more over the two legs. Messi has already scored 10 goals in the Champions League this season and we all know how prolific Barca’s front trio can be. At the over end of the field Cavani is having a great season and PSG haven’t lost since mid-December.

Arsenal have got a huge test in their clash with Bayern Munich. The Gunners have crashed out of the Champions League in the last-16 for 6 years in a row, so they were probably hoping for a much nicer draw than Bayern when they topped their group this time around. Bayern are the favourites but if Arsenal can get a result at the Allianz it will be in their hands when they host the 2nd leg in a couple of weeks. Even if Arsenal find themselves on the backfoot for 90 minutes, when you have players like Ozil and Alexis in your team, a goal can come from nothing.

I think Man City are a team desperate to win the Champions League, especially now with Pep at the helm. They came close last year, knocked out of the semis by Real Madrid. They have been a little inconsistent in the Premier League but if they can sort their defensive problems out, play their best football and stay focused they could go all the way! Their first task is to get past Monaco who top the French League and have scored a crazy 105 goals. It should be an exciting matchup!

The most interesting game might be Leicester vs Sevilla. Leicesters form in the league has been a little bit miserable lately and they haven’t scored a goal in 10 hours of football in the Premier League. But their Champions league form seems to have been completely separated from their league form so far, so you can’t count them out based on that. Sevilla will be their toughest test yet, currently keeping up pace with Barca and Real in La Liga.

My eyes will be all on the Barcelona vs PSG game for sure.

It’s a great Champions League evening and I expect Real or Barca to go all the way to the final but they aren’t guaranteed of winning it, and you should never doubt the Germans.

#mmlove