Fun stuff to watch for in every Champions League game

It’s time for the new playoff round of the UEFA Champions League, and we’ve got 8 absolute bangers on tap. I was among those critical of UEFA’s sweeping changes to the competition, and I will admit I was wrong.

The last day of the league phase was awesome and the current stage looks very fun. As friend of the program Grace Robertson wrote last week, it’s heartbreaking that corporate greed produced such a huge W.

On the podcast, the boys predicted every tie, and I recommend watching (or if you prefer audio only, we’re on Apple, Spotify, and this RSS feed):

Ted also has his betting analysis up for premium subscribers, which includes an explanation of why he likes Real Madrid to cover away to City.

OK, on with something fun to look out for in every game. —KM

Brest vs. PSG

As we have noted before, every single player on PSG is now a left winger or central midfielder, so guys are having to play out of position. Luis Enrique tried out a new one against Monaco over the weekend, and I think he might be cooking.

I want to preface this with the largest possible SMALL SAMPLE SIZE ALERT. This is one game. I just chose the radar format to show you because it’s easier than listing out 10 numbers. I do not mean to imply that João Neves has 99th percentile stats as a right back.

But João Neves absolutely freaking cooked at right back.

I don’t think the PSG directors are going to be thrilled if the 20-year-old central midfielder they paid €70m for is actually a right back, but if this is the best way to get 11 super talented footballers on the field, it might stick.

Juventus vs. PSV Eindhoven

Another tiny sample size alert here, and a very funny one. Randal Kolo Muani has 5 Serie A goals since making the move from PSG to Juventus. Here are the shots he’s scored those goals on.

Amazing. I hope he keeps doing it.

Manchester City vs. Real Madrid

Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe continue to not work very well together when they both start against top opposition for Real Madrid. Defensive dynamos Atlético Madrid did a pretty good job of containing them over the weekend. But Kylian Mbappe did score, and interestingly, from a pretty traditional center forward position.

Carlo Ancelotti has been trying out a narrow 4-2-2-2 formation with Mbappe and Vini as strikers for a big chunk of this season, and that’s how most outlets listed the lineup over the weekend. But Mbappe actually played as a more traditional center forward and let Vini play his favored position.

Unfortunately, neither was super productive. But I think a future where Real Madrid are winning trophies with both players in the lineup is going to need to look like this, and I’m interested to see if it continues against City.

Sporting Lisbon vs. Borussia Dortmund

As the boys noted on the podcast, these teams are unlikely to challenge to win the competition, but have some interesting players to watch if you’re looking for guys likely to make a big transfer this summer.

Dortmund’s Jamie Gittens has been linked to every English team with money, and he’s one of Europe’s premier Dribby Boys. His numbers actually get better in the Champions League too, which is rare for young dudes who are either on meh teams or playing in second-tier leagues.

Sporting center back Ousmane Diomande is likely to divide opinion. He’s a supreme athlete who’s one of the best center backs in the air already at 21 years old. He’s also confident carrying the ball forward, and an intelligent defender for his relative lack of experience.

But he’s probably a below average passer at this point in his career, which is going to see him ruled out by a lot of big teams.

There are a ton of coaches who will put their foot down and tell their sporting director that they can’t play a center back who’s unable to play certain types of passes with consistency. But with the right system fit (and some improvement, he’s only 21!), Diomande could be on the path towards becoming a world class center back.

Club Brugge vs. Atalanta

We spend quite a bit of time praising Atalanta and their players in this newsletter, so how about something new. Brugge left back Maxim De Cuyper hasn’t jumped out to me during Champions League, but check out his Belgian league stats. Holy moly.

De Cuyper also has 6 Belgium caps since last summer, so he’ll be on the radar of several big clubs.

Celtic vs. Bayern Munich

Sorry Celtic fans, Bayern is going to win this tie. Probably convincingly.

I give you: ScottishLeague.jpg

Feyenoord vs. AC Milan

Feyenoord sold their star striker to the team they drew in the Champions League playoff round. Feels bad man.

We’ve talked about Santiago Gimenez recently; he’s good, but we don’t have a lot of info on him as a Milan player yet. Instead, let’s take a look at Tammy Abraham. He’s had inconsistent playing time due to injuries and coaches simply preferring other styles of striker, but he’s been mega productive when he’s played.

Abraham’s injury history is going to complicate any transfer negotiations for him, but someone’s giving this guy a shot to play a starring role next season.

Monaco vs. Benfica

Much like Sporting-Dortmund, this is a matchup between two fun teams who will not win the competition, but have lots of players who could move for big fees this summer.

Orkun Kökçü of Benfica is interesting because of how his game has evolved. He was pretty much a pure 10 as a youngster, but you’ve got to be an insane attacking threat to stick in that role, and he was just pretty good. He’s moved into a deeper role recently, and he’s improved his defense and deep passing. This is just a solid all-around 8.

On the other side, Monaco look like they’re going to make a nice little profit on Vanderson, a right back who’s excellent defensively. The 23-year-old has been a consistently solid player since arriving from Brazil, but this is his best season yet, and he might be ready to move on to a bigger budget club.

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