After an exciting week of Champions League with Manchester United upsetting PSG and Shakhtar stunning Real Madrid, here are the ones to watch this week. The marquee matchups are Barcelona vs Juventus, Borussia Monchengladbach vs Real Madrid and Manchester United vs RB Lepizig.
One To Watch- Barcelona vs Juventus
It is still not known if Cristiano Ronaldo will play after he tested positive for Covid-19. Also Juventus second best player Paulo Dybala did not play in their latest Champions league game. Everyone wants to see the two best players of this previous decade face off Lionel Messi vs Ronaldo. Both of these teams should advance out of the group stage. The last time these teams met in the group stage Barcelona won 3-0 and drew 0-0 back in 2017. Ronaldo will need to continue to pass the Covid tests if he is cleared to play vs Barcelona. If he does not play someone else will need to step up.
Alvaro Morata needs to be the player who plays well if Ronaldo is not able to play. Morata scored twice in their last game vs Dynamo Kyiv. Morata is not afraid of scoring in big moments; he scored the game sealing goal to upset Liverpool in the round of 16.
The question for Barcelona is will Antoine Griezmann start? He didn’t play in Barcelona’s rout of Ferenvaros. Five different players scored. Barcelona has many players who can score like Messi, Anssumante Fati, and Ousmane Dembele. Gerard Pique will not play vs Juventus after he picked up a red card last game. If Ronaldo does not play Barcelona should win this game.
One To Watch- Manchester United vs RB Lepizig
Manchester United will look to continue their momentum after stunning PSG 2-1 at the Parc des Princes. Marcus Rashford has scored the game winning goal in the last two meetings vs PSG. Manchester United. Ole should keep the same formation he did against PSG. They played excellent defensively and David De Gea had his best performance in years. It seems a given if Manchester United is granted a penalty Bruno Fernandes will score. Lepizig has gotten off to a great start in the Bundesliga three wins and one draw. With the loss of Timo Werner they don’t have a striker so it will be interesting to see who becomes their best player.
I see Manchester United winning this game because I don’t know who will step up for Lepizig and Manchester United just has better players. I doubt Angelino will score twice like he did last game considering he is a defender. Manchester United just has too many players who can score Rashford, Mason Greenwood, Anthony Martial and Fernandes.
One To Watch- Borussia Monchengladbach vs Real Madrid
Real Madrid needs to win this game after their stunning loss to Shakhtar Donetsk. They looked lost without Sergio Ramos and Karim Benzema Madrid’s lead scorer last season did not start. Madrid looked awful and disinterested in the first 30 minutes. I expect Zinedine Zidane to have his team ready and make the necessary adjustments. Monchengladbach drew 2-2 vs Inter Milan. Many expected a Inter Milan win so Monchengladbach cannot be underestimated. If Monchengladbach wants a result Yann Sommer will need to have a great game. Real Madrid needs this game way more and cannot afford a loss or draw. Real Madrid has to play like the team who won La Liga last season. It is still up in the air if Ramos will be fit for this game. Benzema will need to carry the team if Ramos does not play.
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