Barcelona and Bayern Munich statistically hold the upper hand heading into the return encounters of their Champions League last-16 ties.
Both sides secured goalless draws on their first-leg travels and history says 68 per cent of teams previously in that position have reached the next round.
And with Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski both in possession of imposing scoring records, there is plenty for Lyon and Liverpool to fear on Wednesday.
Get equipped with some essential Opta numbers as the round of 16 comes to a close
Bayern Munich v Liverpool
1 Bayern have only failed to score in one of their past 26 Champions League home games – that was in a goalless draw with Sevilla in last season s quarter-finals.
8 Niko Kovac s me…
LA Galaxy stunned derby rivals Los Angeles FC on Saturday with a superb second-half comeback to seal a 4-2 victory.
They overturned a 2-0 half-time lead with four unanswered goals around Lewis O Brien s sending-off, becoming the first team in the Western Conference to clinch a playoff spot.
Mateusz Bogusz gambled by peeling away to the back post and was in the right place to head Denis Bouanga s deflected cross into the back of the net after just four minutes.
Just 11 minutes later, Bouanga made another driving run down the left and went for goal himself, drilling a low shot past John McCarthy from a tight angle. They could have had a third before the break, but Olivier Giroud s half-volley struck the inside of the post.
Dejan Joveljic got his first, rifl…
Giorgio Chiellini has discovered a new love for football with Los Angeles FC as the Italian centre-back aims to guide his side to a second straight MLS Cup triumph.
The Columbus Crew will prove the final obstacle on Saturday in LAFC s quest to go back-to-back with MLS Cup successes, having defeated the Philadelphia Union on penalties in last season s final.
Chiellini has lifted nine Serie A titles and helped Italy win Euro 2020, but the hunger remains for the 39-year-old to add another success in the United States to his trophy-filled cabinet.
I m enjoying every day I spend here – training and everything, the former Juventus defender, who joined LAFC in 2022, told Stats Perform.
It s my life. I love what I do. I ve watched more MLS games this year and…
Best odds: 29/10
Bookmaker:
On Tuesday evening, Italy welcome Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Allianz Stadium in Turin, the home of Serie A champions Juventus. The match will be a part of round four in Group J of Euro 2020 qualifiers.
Italy
The home team will certainly be the favorites to win this game, maybe even more so given how they thrashed Greece in Athens only a few days ago. Coach Roberto Mancini has put together a good unit, one that is more a team than a group of great individuals, which hasn t always been the case when the Azzurri are concerned.
Against the Greeks, they showed fantastic capability of combining hard work, tactical discipline, responsible defending and clinical finishing. If they can repeat anything near that on Tuesday, they sho…
Cristiano Ronaldo says he discovered he belonged to a world of stars upon comparing himself to the rest of Manchester United s strong squad in 2003.
The future Real Madrid and Juventus forward rose to a prominence after moving to Old Trafford from Sporting CP as a skinny teenager.
Then a flashy winger, Ronaldo scored four goals from 29 appearances in his debut Premier League campaign.
Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Ruud van Nistelrooy were among United s most prominent players at the time and Ronaldo quickly gained belief he too was destined to reach the top of the game.
When I started playing for Manchester United at 18, 19, because I was as good as the players who were there I realised I m close to achieving great things , Ronaldo told Portuguese broadca…
Tim Walter says he is proud of his courageous Hull City side after earning his first win in charge, beating Stoke City 3-1.
Narcis Pelach led the Potters out for the first time on Friday and saw his side take a 1-0 lead through Ben Wilmot into half-time.
However, Hull came out fighting in the second half to claim three points for the first time this season.
Kasey Palmer saw a penalty saved just after the hour mark but turned in the rebound before goals from Regan Slater and an own goal from Wilmot completed their late turnaround.
It is a win that propels the Tigers from 19th to 13th in the Championship, above Stoke, and Walter believes it has been a long time coming.
It s hard to describe because I never had this feeling before. I ve never not h…
Manchester United fans can dream of once again seeing their team win the Premier League in the near future, according to a study conducted across the top five European leagues.
The CIES Football Observatory looked at teams in the Premier League, LaLiga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 and ranked the Red Devils first for sustainable squad management .
The study, which is based on the criteria of age, length of stay and remaining contract duration , places Spanish sides Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao second and third, with Tottenham and Manchester City also in the top five.
CIES concluded that, based on the findings, United fans can be relatively confident in the ability of their team to qualify without too much difficulty for the group stage of the Champions L…
Sunday s Milan derby will be unlike any seen for much of the past decade: a battle between two genuine Scudetto contenders.
Inter head into the game, the 174th league meeting with their city rivals, at the top of Serie A. They are just a point above Milan, with 16 rounds remaining, after a run of 12 wins in 15 games.
The last time these sides met in the top flight while occupying the top two positions in the table was back in April 2011, when a 3-0 win for the Rossoneri helped propel them to their most recent title.
Much of the focus will be on star strikers Romelu Lukaku and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. They scored all three goals in Milan s win in the reverse fixture and clashed on the pitch in the Nerazzurri s more recent Coppa Italia triumph.
However, accordi…
Diego Simeone has overtaken Luis Aragones for the most wins ever as head coach of Atletico Madrid.
The Argentine coach picked up his 309th victory in charge in Wednesday s 2-1 comeback win against Athletic Bilbao a result that moves Atleti six points clear at the top of LaLiga.
Iker Munian had given Athletic the lead at the Wanda Metropolitano, but Marcos Llorente equalised late in the first half and Luis Suarez converted a penalty early in the second.
Simeone s latest win came in his 514th match in charge. Aragones, the only other man to have taken charge of more games, reached 308 wins in 612 matches.
Atleti have drawn 121 times and lost 84 games under Simeone, who took over in December 2011 and has gone on to be their most successful manager of all tim…
Ousmane Dembele has shown the same ability to beat defenders as Neymar did in his Barcelona prime, according to head coach Xavi.
The French winger delivered three assists on Wednesday as Barcelona hammered Viktoria Plzen 5-1 in their Champions League group opener, an ideal result ahead of tougher tests against Bayern Munich and Inter.
Robert Lewandowski grabbed a hat-trick, with Dembele setting up the striker s second as well as goals for Franck Kessie and Ferran Torres.
It is remarkable to think that Barcelona and Dembele were in a fractious stand-off barely eight months ago, which at one point saw the club tell the winger to leave amid a contract row.
He has since signed a new deal at Camp Nou, giving club and player security through to 2024, and his fo…