Champions League
Champions League in detail: what line-ups will the teams play and who is the favourite?
The Champions League is back after a week and four matches of the first eight finals are left to be played. Here we look at Tuesday’s fixtures, which will see Chelsea take on Lille and Villarreal play Juventus.
The Champions League is back after one week and four matches of the first eight finals are left to be played. Here we look at Tuesday’s fixtures, which will see Chelsea take on Lille and Villarreal play Juventus.
Chelsea vs. Lille
The winner of the last edition of the Champions League made quite a mess of things when it missed out on advancing from first place in the last round of the regular group and could have faced Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Ajax. However, he was very lucky and got the easiest possible opponent – Lille.
The French champion certainly doesn’t have the same strength that dominated Ligue 1 last year. Still, he will want to surprise the Blues, coach Jocelyn Gourvennec says his charges are perfectly prepared.
Probability of promotion – 75% – 25%
Chelsea
Mendy
Azpilicueta – Thiago Silva – Rüdiger – Christensen – Alonso
Jorginho – Kanté
Ziyech – Lukaku – Pulisic
Injuries: Chilwell (knee), James (muscle)
Unsure start:: Mount (ankle), Azpilicueta (groin), Hudson-Odoi (achilles)
Lille
Jardim
Zeki Çelik – Fonte – Botman – Gudmundsson
Weah – André – Xeka – Bamba
Burak Yılmaz – David
Injuries: None
Unsure start: Lihadji (muscle), Renato Sanches (groin), Pied (shoulder)
Will miss the next game if they get a yellow card:: Fonte, Burak Yılmaz
Villarreal vs. Juventus
Quite an interesting duel in which both teams have a chance to advance. Although Juventus is a club with a much bigger budget and more possibilities, they have been somewhat in decline in recent years. Villarreal, on the other hand, won the Europa League last year, advancing from a tough group where they knocked out Atalanta.
Juventus boosted their chances with the winter arrival of Dusan Vlahovic. The Serbian super-talent has already scored 21 goals this season and is very dangerous for any opposition defence. Moreover, the yellow submarine has to deal with the absence of star and key striker Gerard Moreno.
Probability of progression – 45 % – 55 %
Villarreal
Rulli
Foyth – Albiol – Pau Torres – Pedraza
Chukwueze – Iborra – Parejo – Alberto Moreno
Lo Celso – Danjuma
Injuries: Gerard Moreno (calf), Coquelin (Achilles), Peña (shoulder)
Uncertain start:: Capoue
Will miss the next game when they get a yellow card:: Alberto Moreno, Parejo
Juventus
Szczesny
De Sciglio – Danilo – De Ligt – Alex Sandro
Cuadrado – Locatelli – Zakaria- Rabiot
Morata – Vlahovic
Injuries: Bernardeschi (muscle), Chiesa (knee), Chiellini (calf), Dybala (muscle), Rugani (muscle)
Uncertain start:: Bonucci (muscle), Pellegrini (knee)
Will miss the next game if they get a yellow card:: Cuadrado
Source: UEFA
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