16.03. (Wed) 20:45 Real - Olympique Lyonnais

DID YOU KNOW?

* Real Madrid have faced Olympique Lyonnais seven times in the Champions League but have yet to win.

* Los Blancos are the only side in the Champions League this season yet to concede a goal at home. Along with Manchester United they are also the only team yet to lose in the competition.

* Jose Mourinho has lost only four of his 39 Champions League home matches as a coach (twice with Porto and one each with Chelsea and Inter).

* Los Merengues striker Karim Benzema has scored on average a goal every 55 minutes in the Champions League this campaign. His goal against Lyon in the first leg was the fastest by a substitute in the competition in 2010-11.

* Real Madrid have been knocked out of the Champion League from the round of 16 stage for the last six years. Last season they went out to Lyon.

* Olympique Lyonnais have not won their last four Champions League matches, currently the longest run among the teams in the last 16 stage.

* Les Gones have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last eight away matches in the Champions League.

* Claude Puel’s side have drawn all of their three matches at the Santiago Bernabeu.

* No French club side has ever won against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in the Champions League/European Cup.

* Michel Bastos is suspended for the second leg in Madrid on Wednesday night.

LAST MEETING

February 22, 2011: Olympique Lyonnais 1-1 Real Madrid

Real Madrid took the lead against Lyon in the second half through Karim Benzema. The France international forward found the target against his former club just 43 seconds after coming on as a substitute but with seven minutes remaining the French giants struck back, as Cris headed towards Bafetimbi Gomis, whose volley seared into the net.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Real Madrid: Casillas; Ramos, Carvalho, Pepe, Arbeloa; Alonso, Khedira; Di Maria, Oezil, Ronaldo; Benzema

Lyon: Lloris; Reveillere, Cris, Lovren, Kallstrom; Toulalan, Gourcuff, Gonalons; Lisandro, Gomis, Cesar Delgado

Prediction

Last season Real Madrid were knocked out of the round of 16 by Lyon and have failed to muster a spot in the quarter-finals for the last six years. However, this time with Mourinho in charge and a host of world class players the Spanish giants will be favourites to progress especially as they have an away goal. A narrow win for los Blancos should do the trick.

Real Madrid to win 2-1 @ 8.50/Over 2.5 goals @ 1.67

Real Madrid 2-1 O. Lyon

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16.03. (Wed) 20:45 Chelsea - FC Kobenhavn

DID YOU KNOW?

* Chelsea are aiming to reach the last eight for the fourth time in five years, having seen their record tarnished after crashing out to eventual champions Inter last term.

* The Blues have lost just one of their last 25 Champions League matches at Stamford Bridge.

* Nicholas Anelka has scored 10 in his last 11 Champions League starts.

* With 66 shots wide, Carlo Ancelotti’s men have hit more efforts either side of the post that any other team in the competition.

* Branislav Ivanovic is Chelsea’s only ever-present Champions League performer this term, having started every game in this year's tournament.

* With only seven to their name, Copenhagen have the joint lowest goal tally (alongside Manchester United) for teams that are still remaining in the tournament.

* The visitors also have the lowest average possession percentage of the competition’s remaining teams, averaging at 46 per cent.

* No Scandinavian side has ever won a Champions League knockout-stage match.

* Senegalese striker Dame N'Doye has committed 22 fouls, more than any other player still in the competition ahead of the second legs.

* Stale Solbakken’s side have secured 54 points in 21 league games so far this season, the highest ever total in the Danish Superliga at this stage of the campaign.

LAST MEETING

February 22, 2011: FC Copenhagen 0-2 Chelsea

A Nicolas Anelka brace put the visitors in the driving seat with a comfortable 2-0 win over the Danish champions.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Chelsea: Cech; Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole; Ramires, Essien, Lampard, Malouda; Torres, Anelka.

Copenhagen: Wiland; Kvist, Zanka Jorgensen, Antonnson, Wendt; Bolanos, Claudemir, Kristensen, Vingaard; Santin, N’Doye.

Prediction

Much was made of Copenhagen’s potential ability to shock the Premier League champions when the draw was made but they offered very little in this tie’s first leg to justify their plaudits. Having lost two out of three in the league following their return from an extensive winter break, the Danish champions have yet to warm up and must do their best to simply avoid being blown away by a resurgent Chelsea.

Fernando Torres to score first Chelsea goal @ 3.75 

Chelsea 2-0 Copenhagen

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15.03. (Tue) 20:45 Manchester Utd. - Olympique Marseille

DID YOU KNOW?

* Manchester United have never lost to a French team in European competition at Old Trafford, in 11 ties they have won eight and drawn three times.

* Sir Alex Ferguson’s team have the meanest defence in the Champions League this season. The Red Devils have conceded just one goal, against Valencia when Pablo Hernandez scored back in December.

* However, United have also struggled for goals in the competition and have managed just two in front of their own fans in Europe this season (against Valencia and Bursaspor).

* Manchester United also possess the best disciplinary record in the Champions League this season, having picked up just three bookings.

* The Red Devils have scored just seven goals in the tournament this season, with each goal coming from a different player (Anderson, Hernandez, Rooney, Fletcher, Obertan, Bebe and Nani).

* Marseille arrive at Old Trafford having now gone 512 minutes (over five games) without conceding a goal.

* Indeed the last goals scored against the French champions came in England, at Stamford Bridge, when John Terry and Nicolas Anelka secured a 2-0 win for Chelsea.

* The last time Marseille reached the quarter-finals they went on to win the competition, back in 1993.

* The French side have lost just one of their last 10 games, against league leaders Lille 2-1, the winning goal coming in the 90th minute.

* Marseille have won just once on English soil, back in 2007 when they beat Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield.

LAST MEETING

February 23, 2011: Marseille 0-0 Manchester United

The two sides played out a drab draw in the first leg at the Stade Velodrome with chances at a premium at both ends.

Sir Alex Ferguson felt Marseille should have been reduced to 10 men in the second half after Wayne Rooney appeared to be pulled back when running through on goal but also admitted that 0-0 could prove to be a “dangerous score” for the Red Devils.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Manchester United: Van der Sar; Rafael, Smalling, Vidic, Evra; Nani, Fletcher, Scholes, Giggs; Hernandez, Rooney.

Marseille: Mandanda; Fanni, Diawara, Heinze, Taiwo; Mbia; Lucho Gonzalez, Cheyrou; Valbuena, Remy, Ayew.

Prediction

Man Utd. 3-1 Marseille  

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15.03. (Tue) 20:45 Bayern Munchen - Inter

DID YOU KNOW?

* Bayern Munich lost 2-0 to Inter on November 23, 1988 in the UEFA Cup which is tied for their heaviest home defeat in European action.

* Mario Gomez leads the team in scoring with seven goals in the Champions League including the late strike against Inter in the first leg at San Siro.

* Die Roten's overall home record against Italian teams is: W 6, D 5, L 4.

* In 20 UEFA competition ties in which they have won the first leg away, Bayern have advanced to the next round.

* Bayern have won all three of their previous penalty shoot-outs in UEFA club competitions.

* Inter striker Samuel Eto'o also has seven goals in the competition, one behind Lionel Messi at the top of the scoring charts.

* Diego Milito and Thiago Motta have been ruled out of the crunch clash through injury while Lucio is unlikely to feature as well.

* Facing German opposition on foreign soil, Inter's record is: W 4, D 7, L 4.

* Inter beat Bayern in last year's final and have avoided defeat in their last two visits to Munich.

* The Nerazzurri signed 18-year old talent Christoph Knasmuellner from Bayern in January. The Austrian is not in Inter's Champions League squad, however, and will miss the game.

LAST MEETING

February 23, 2011: Inter 0-1 Bayern Munich

Bayern goalkeeper Thomas Kraft stood tall and proud between the sticks until the Bavarians were able to capitalise on one of their many chances late in the game. Arjen Robben's low drive was spilled by Inter shot-stopper Julio Cesar and Mario Gomez was on hand to pounce on the rebound in injury time, giving the Germans a one-goal advantage heading into to the second leg at the Allianz Arena.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Bayern Munich: Kraft; Lahm, Gustavo, Badstuber, Pranjic; Ribery, Tymoshchuk, Schweinsteiger, Robben; Mueller, Gomez

Inter: Julio Cesar; Maicon, Cordoba, Ranocchia, Chivu; Zanetti, Cambiasso, Stankovic; Sneijder; Pandev, Eto'o

Prediction

After both teams spurned a plethora of scoring chances in the first leg, expect a lot of fireworks at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday evening. The onus will be on Inter to attack from the opening whistle and Leonardo's men will overturn their first-leg deficit thanks to the heroics of Samuel Eto'o.

Bayern Munich 2-3 Inter Milan

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13-03-2011 21:00 Sevilla - Barcelona

DID YOU KNOW?

* Sevilla are unbeaten in their last four home games, grabbing three wins and a draw.

* The last four games in which Sevilla have been unable to score have all ended 0-0.

* Alvaro Negredo has hit the frame of the goal more times than any other player this season, rattling the woodwork five times.

* Sevilla are the only side to concede four David Villa goals in a single league game. That was in 2004, when the Asturian forward was playing with Zaragoza.

* Barcelona have not suffered defeat at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in four years.

* The Blaugrana are also undefeated in their last seven league games against Sevilla.

* In those last seven meetings, Sevilla have only scored one goal in the first half.

* Barcelona have scored in every one of the last 15 league games against Sevilla.

* In the first 15 minutes of the second half, Barcelona have scored the most this season with 14 goals in that period, whilst Sevilla have conceded the most with 10.

LAST MEETING

October 30th, 2010: Barcelona 5-0 Sevilla

Braces from both David Villa and Lionel Messi were bolstered by a Dani Alves goal, to hand Barcelona a dominant win.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Sevilla: Varas; Navarro, Fazio, Caceres, Dabo; Perotti, Rakitic, Medel, Navas; Kanoute, Negredo

Barcelona: Valdes; Maxwell, Abidal, Pique, Alves; Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta; Villa, Messi, Pedro

Prediction

Barcelona are flying high, and you can expect them to continue that form in this game. Sevilla will not make it easy for them, but their inconsistency this season points too a heavy defeat.

Sevilla 1-1 Barcelona

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