UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Preview

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ROUND OF 16 PREVIEW

You just can’t beat big European nights under the lights. The UEFA Champions League Round of 16 will be shown by pay-TV broadcaster BT Sport in the UK.

The UEFA Champions League Round of 16 once again offers up some exciting ties this week that should see fans in England, Germany, and Italy treated to some really enjoyable nights.

Let’s not waste time or words on rambles, let’s get straight into it.

THIS UEFA Champions league ROUND OF 16 preview is brought to you in partnership with EPL Index, and Dave Hendrick – host of the Two Footed Podcast, offering FREE podcasts to football fans.

UEFA Champions League Round of 16 | Eintracht Frankfurt vs Napoli

Tuesday 21 February | 2000 BST | BT Sport Live Streaming

Obviously, Liverpool vs Real Madrid is the marquee tie of the week, and the one most people will be watching but this game is also worthy of some love and attention so I thought we’d preview it instead. Especially as Napoli have been arguably the best team in Europe this season, and Eintracht won the Europa League last season and are well positioned for a top-four finish in the Bundesliga this season.

Let’s start with the Germans, who progressed as the runner-up in Group behind Tottenham but struggled to show the impressive form that helped them conquer the Europa League last season. They were beaten 3-0 at home by Sporting before beating Marseille 1-0 at the Stade Velodrome. A home draw with Spurs was followed up by another defeat in the away game against the English side and left their hopes of qualification hanging by a thread, but Eintracht managed to defeat Marseille at the Waldstadion before going to Lisbon for a winner takes all game and coming home with an impressive come-from-behind victory that earned them their spot in the knockout stage.

Domestically they’ve been a bit of a mixed back but five wins and three draws in their last nine games have seen them move within striking distance of the top four. Manager Oliver Glasner continues to impress with his tactical acumen and in-game management. The Austrian joined in 2021 from Wolfsburg, who he had led to a top-four finish, and immediately made his mark on a team that just missed out on a top-four finish at the hands of his Wolfsburg team. They have some uncertainty over the futures of players like Daichi Kamada and Evan Ndicka, both of whom are out of contract in the summer, and Randall Kolo Muani is attracting attention from all over Europe, but there seems to be a great togetherness within the squad and they won’t want their European adventure to end anytime soon.

Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens, and Kalidou Koulibaly are names that became synonymous with the Naples club over the past decade. When you thought about Napoli, those were largely the three modern-day players that came to mind. All of them departed in the summer and were joined through the exit by Fabian Ruiz who had become a key contributor in midfield. With those four all leaving, this should have been a rebuilding season for Napoli, a changing of the guard type of year where they learned to play without some legendary figures who had been long-term fixtures at the club, and welcomed exciting new players who could take time to settle in. Instead, they’re running away with the Serie A title and looked sensational in the Champions League group stage.

Insigne, for so long the talisman, was replaced by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Mertens by Giacomo Raspadori, Koulibaly by Kim Min Jae, and Ruiz by Tanguy Ndombele. Raspadori and Ndombele have had solid seasons so far but neither have established themselves as an automatic pick, but the other two? You could make a real argument that Kvaratskhelia is the best winger in the world right now and Kim Min Jae has been a colossus. They paid a combined €28mil for the pair and if they put Khvicha on the market in the summer they would easily get a fee in excess of €100mil for him. The Georgian winger has combined with star frontman Victor Osimhen to form the most devastating attacking duo in the league and they have elevated Napoli to real contenders to win the Champions League this season.

No matter where you are, you can use your Liberty Shield VPN to find a way to watch UEFA Champions League Round of 16 from anywhere. Don’t have a Liberty Shield VPN? You’re missing out! Click right here to check out what we can offer you, and use the code EPL25 to get a 25% OFF your VPN or VPN Router at check-out.

UEFA Champions League Round of 16 | RB Leipzig vs Manchester City

Wednesday 22 February | 2000 BST | BT Sport Live Streaming

Neither side will be thrilled with how their season has gone, but for City, this is a crucial tie as they have sacrificed much of what made them great in order to bring in Erling Haaland hoping he will prove the difference maker in the Champions League and finally get them over the line.

Leipzig began their campaign by getting hammered at home by Shakhtar, before losing to Real in week two. They managed back-to-back wins over Celtic before surprising Real away from home and then hammering Shakhtar away from home. It’s a remarkable turnaround that warrants huge credit to manager Marco Rose. Rose was appointed as the replacement for the sacked Domenico Tedesco in early September after Leipzig made a poor start to the season.

Leipzig are loaded with talent, from Josko Gvardiol and Mohamed Simakan in defense to Dominik Szoboszlai in midfield and Christopher Nkunku in attack. They are a team capable of scoring for fun, but they’ve also shown themselves to be strong at the defensive end since Rose took over. The Red Bull model of scouting, recruiting, and development is something that is lauded around Europe and for good reason. There is a conveyor belt of talent that will eventually bring them huge sums of money to reinvest and reload, but this current squad is likely set to be blown up in the next 18 months and that puts pressure on the group to add some silverware. The Champions League might be a bridge too far, but them knocking out City isn’t completely unthinkable.

Much of the reason for that is City’s own struggles. Aston Villa, Everton, and Nottingham Forest have taken points from City this season, and Brentford managed to beat them at the Etihad. They did make light work of the Champions League group, heavy wins away to Seville and at home to Copenhagen came either side of a close home win against Dortmund and set them top of the group after the first three games, mostly guaranteeing them a knockout spot. Back-to-back draws in Copenhagen and Dortmund were followed by a home win over Sevilla as Pep rotated his squad and got some younger players involved.

City are an unpredictable team at the moment, they can beat Arsenal away and then draw away to Nottingham Forest just days later. Part of the problem has been Guardiola himself. He seems reluctant to just play his best available 11 week on week, and his newly discovered obsession with a 3-2-4-1 formation reeks of arrogance. Asking Bernardo Silva to play as a left-back when your team loses the ball is ridiculous and it’s leading to problems in transition defence. Guardiola has been guilty of trying to be too clever and too creative with his team selections over the years, but often time it is sheer arrogance that proves his undoing in big games. If he doesn’t take Leipzig seriously, he could find himself once again missing out on Europe’s biggest prize.

No matter where you are, you can use your Liberty Shield VPN to find a way to watch UEFA Champions League Round of 16 from anywhere. Don’t have a Liberty Shield VPN? You’re missing out! Click right here to check out what we can offer you, and use the code EPL25 to get a 25% OFF your VPN or VPN Router at check-out.

How to watch every UEFA Champions League match from anywhere…

UEFA Champions League matches will be streamed exclusively live in the UK by BT Sport on their website, as well as their respective apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, Smart TV, Now TV, FireTV etc.

But these streaming services are not available to everyone, for example when you load BT Sport in the USA, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, Australia, Dubai, Canada etc. you will get an error message.

Sorry, this video is not available in your country.

How can I watch BT Sport UEFA Champions League 2022/23 matches live?

Whilst Amazon will shake things up next season, BT Sport remains the exclusive UK broadcaster for UEFA Champions League matches.

BT Sport announced that it will continue to be the home of UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and Europa Conference League until 2027. Nothing will change this season but from 2024 BT Sport will show the majority, and not all, UEFA Champions League games, as well as all of the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League. The other matches will be streamed live by Amazon Prime with match highlights available free from BBC Sport. The good news though is that BT Sport will continue to broadcast the finals for free. As for the Premier League, this season BT Sport will show a total of 52 live games.

There are a few options when it comes to signing up to BT Sport, firstly by combining it with BT Broadband. Put your postcode into the website to see what deals are available.

On the TV side, prices start at £16 per month for the duration of a 24-month contract. In exchange, you’ll get all the BT Sport channels and BoxNation, alongside Freeview, AMC and a recordable TV box.

You can also just use the BT Sport app for £16 per month- it works on mobile, tablet, smart TV and console – or  buy the Monthly Pass for £25 per month. If your device supports it, you’ll still be able to watch in up to 4K HDR quality. Sky customers can get BT Sport added for £21 per month.

BT also offers a combined package with Sky Sports via Now, which is £41 per month for 24 months.