The opening two second leg ties from this season’s Champions League round of 16 take place on Tuesday night.
Bayern Munich have hit the buffers in the Bundesliga and also face a challenge in Europe with a 1-0 first-leg deficit to overturn at the Allianz Arena against Lazio, though not too many observers will be expecting Paris Saint-Germain to mess up with a 2-0 advantage to defend away at Real Sociedad.
- Bayern Munich to win & over 2.5 goals vs Lazio
- Paris Saint-Germain to beat Real Sociedad
Bayern Munich vs Lazio
Lazio head coach Maurizio Sarri said he regrets not going for the jugular against Bayern Munich in Rome in the first leg and it could well prove costly.
Lazio won the home tie 1-0 courtesy of Ciro Immobile’s penalty against a Bayern side who played with ten men for almost half an hour following Dayot Upamecano’s red card, and who failed to muster a single shot on target.
Bayern don’t tend to do off nights but they’ve had a few of late and that was certainly one of them.
Now, back at their Allianz Arena fortress and against a Lazio side who aren’t the best of travellers, expect payback from the German side and a handsome home win.
Lazio head for Germany raging after a 1-0 home loss to AC Milan, a match where they finished with just eight men courtesy of three red cards.
That was a third loss in four for the Romans, who are ninth in Serie A and focusing seemingly wholly on the Coppa Italia - they have a semi-final against Juventus upcoming - and the Champions League.
The Champions League may also be Bayern’s sole preoccupation as well. Ten points adrift of leaders Leverkusen, the defence of their Bundesliga title appears to be over and their form has deserted them at just the wrong time with just one win in their last five matches in all competitions.
However, they have lost only once at home this season and 31-goal Harry Kane continues to score goals no matter what’s going on around him.
If he gets the right service, and given Lazio’s frailties away - they’ve lost seven of their last 12 on the road - Bayern should win this well, and in a match of no second chances, expect plenty of goals.
BAYERN MUNICH & OVER 2.5 GOALS
Real Sociedad vs PSG
Real Sociedad boss Imanol Alguacil admitted to a sense of relief after Paris Saint-Germain’s second-half onslaught in the first leg in the French capital yielded only two goals in a 2-0 defeat for the Basque Country side.
Sociedad had started the game brightly and created plenty of chances of their own but were left to rue those misses as first Kylian Mbappe, then Bradley Barcola, put PSG firmly in the box seat.
It can be a roller-coaster ride watching PSG in two-legged European ties but it’s hard to see them making a mess of this given their strength and the fact that Sociedad have completely gone off the boil.
The Basques have won just one of their last nine - a 2-1 win at nine-man Mallorca - and they have played seven home games since the end of November and not scored more than once in any of them.
PSG to go through looks a given and going through having won both ties looks a chance well worth taking.
