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DPA
Berlin
Liverpool aim to carry their extraordinary Premier League form into the Champions League when the title holders visit Atletico Madrid on Tuesday in the last 16.
A 1-0 win at Norwich was their 42nd league match without defeat and with Sadio Mane and Jasmes Milner back from injury manager Juergen Klopp has an almost full squad to chose from at the Wanda Metropolitano where they lifted the trophy last year.
The other match on Tuesday is as tasty when the high-charged attacking line-ups of Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain are up against each other in Germany.
On Wednesday, beaten 2019 finalists Tottenham Hotspur host RB Leipzig while newcomers Atalanta face Valencia – with the other four first-leg ties next week.
Liverpool are storming towards their first Premier League title in 30 years and should be a little rested thanks to two weeks off ahead of the Norwich date in a mini winter break.
Diego Simeone’s Atletico appear not quite as gritty as in the past as they are 13 points off the top in Spain in fourth place with just one win in the last seven games but the 2014 and 2016 runners-up can never be underestimated.
“They are a lot like us, fighters. They are a team more or less like us, also really difficult to beat,” midfielder Georgino Wijnaldum told uefa.com.
“They are always battling to get results ... they know what they have to do to win the match.”
Atletico will be without their England defender Kieran Trippier and likely also Portuguese star Joao Felix, and left back Renan Lodi is aware of the big task they face.
“I think they (Liverpool) are the best team in the world because they have been playing together for two and a half years. Everyone knows how they play,” Lodi told Esporte Interativo.
The game in Dortmund sees PSG coach Tuchel face his former club he left on bad terms but he has insisted he gotten over it.
“I have decided not to put myself at the centre of the whole story, but to prepare the team well. They have nothing to do with it,” Tuchel told the Welt am Sonntag Sunday paper.
Ambitious PSG badly want to avoid a fourth straight last 16 exit against the 1997 winners and 2013 finalists Dortmund.
Both sides have conceded far too many goals for their coaches’ liking but while PSG were held 4-4 by Amiens in a wild Ligue 1 game in Amiens Lucien Favre’s Dortmund finally managed a clean sheet against in a 4-0 demolition of Eintracht Frankfurt.
But they can also score freely with PSG boasting the likes of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Mauro Icardi; and Dortmund the teenage sensations Erling Haaland and Jadon Sancho.
Norway’s Haaland wants to improve on his competition tally of eight he scored for Salzburg in the group stage before a January move to Dortmund where he has found the net nine times.
“Given our attacking quality to don’t have to take too many risks to create chances,” Dortmund defender Mats Hummels said.
Spurs still miss Harry Kane and Moussa Sissoko and manager Jose Mourinho has admitted this puts an extra strain on Lucas Moura and Son Heung Min who scored the late weekend winner at Aston Villa.
“The trouble for Son and Lucas is they have to play 90 minutes every game and if they run out of fuel we are in trouble. They are fantastic players and their attitude to help the team is absolutely incredible,” Mourinho said.
But Leipzig who are second in the Bundesliga miss suspended key defender Dayot Upamecano and injured midfielder Tylor Adams in their first CL knock-out match.
Atalanta boast the best Serie A attack with 63 goals as they welcome Valencia at Milan’s Giuseppe Meazza, where they host the event’s matches as their Bergamo stadium does not meet UEFA requirements.
“At the draw we hoped to meet (Valencia),” coach Gian Piero Gasperini said. “But they are a strong side and playing at their stadium is tough. It will be a challenge in Milan.”
Valencia are patching up players ahead of their game against Atalanta, with Mouctar Diakhaby, Daniel Wass and Jose Gaya all missing training lately but expected to play while Gabriel Paulista is suspended.
Berlin
Liverpool aim to carry their extraordinary Premier League form into the Champions League when the title holders visit Atletico Madrid on Tuesday in the last 16.
A 1-0 win at Norwich was their 42nd league match without defeat and with Sadio Mane and Jasmes Milner back from injury manager Juergen Klopp has an almost full squad to chose from at the Wanda Metropolitano where they lifted the trophy last year.
The other match on Tuesday is as tasty when the high-charged attacking line-ups of Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain are up against each other in Germany.
On Wednesday, beaten 2019 finalists Tottenham Hotspur host RB Leipzig while newcomers Atalanta face Valencia – with the other four first-leg ties next week.
Liverpool are storming towards their first Premier League title in 30 years and should be a little rested thanks to two weeks off ahead of the Norwich date in a mini winter break.
Diego Simeone’s Atletico appear not quite as gritty as in the past as they are 13 points off the top in Spain in fourth place with just one win in the last seven games but the 2014 and 2016 runners-up can never be underestimated.
“They are a lot like us, fighters. They are a team more or less like us, also really difficult to beat,” midfielder Georgino Wijnaldum told uefa.com.
“They are always battling to get results ... they know what they have to do to win the match.”
Atletico will be without their England defender Kieran Trippier and likely also Portuguese star Joao Felix, and left back Renan Lodi is aware of the big task they face.
“I think they (Liverpool) are the best team in the world because they have been playing together for two and a half years. Everyone knows how they play,” Lodi told Esporte Interativo.
The game in Dortmund sees PSG coach Tuchel face his former club he left on bad terms but he has insisted he gotten over it.
“I have decided not to put myself at the centre of the whole story, but to prepare the team well. They have nothing to do with it,” Tuchel told the Welt am Sonntag Sunday paper.
Ambitious PSG badly want to avoid a fourth straight last 16 exit against the 1997 winners and 2013 finalists Dortmund.
Both sides have conceded far too many goals for their coaches’ liking but while PSG were held 4-4 by Amiens in a wild Ligue 1 game in Amiens Lucien Favre’s Dortmund finally managed a clean sheet against in a 4-0 demolition of Eintracht Frankfurt.
But they can also score freely with PSG boasting the likes of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Mauro Icardi; and Dortmund the teenage sensations Erling Haaland and Jadon Sancho.
Norway’s Haaland wants to improve on his competition tally of eight he scored for Salzburg in the group stage before a January move to Dortmund where he has found the net nine times.
“Given our attacking quality to don’t have to take too many risks to create chances,” Dortmund defender Mats Hummels said.
Spurs still miss Harry Kane and Moussa Sissoko and manager Jose Mourinho has admitted this puts an extra strain on Lucas Moura and Son Heung Min who scored the late weekend winner at Aston Villa.
“The trouble for Son and Lucas is they have to play 90 minutes every game and if they run out of fuel we are in trouble. They are fantastic players and their attitude to help the team is absolutely incredible,” Mourinho said.
But Leipzig who are second in the Bundesliga miss suspended key defender Dayot Upamecano and injured midfielder Tylor Adams in their first CL knock-out match.
Atalanta boast the best Serie A attack with 63 goals as they welcome Valencia at Milan’s Giuseppe Meazza, where they host the event’s matches as their Bergamo stadium does not meet UEFA requirements.
“At the draw we hoped to meet (Valencia),” coach Gian Piero Gasperini said. “But they are a strong side and playing at their stadium is tough. It will be a challenge in Milan.”
Valencia are patching up players ahead of their game against Atalanta, with Mouctar Diakhaby, Daniel Wass and Jose Gaya all missing training lately but expected to play while Gabriel Paulista is suspended.
