The best matchup to check out in each UEFA competition

Hello, and welcome to the Friday grab bag. We’re starting out with a look at some of the most interesting ties from the Round of 16 of all the UEFA competitions, which were drawn earlier today.

Here are the complete draws from the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League respectively, if you think I’m a bozo and want to pick out your own favored tie to pay attention to.

Champions League: Liverpool vs. PSG

The Madrid Derby might be the most high-profile of the ties, but we kind of know how that’s going to go. Atléti will sit deep and counter. Maybe they’ll succeed, maybe they won’t. It’ll be a good set of matches, but we will not be surprised by anything.

I’m more interested to see what Ousmane Dembele has for us in a huge match against a top opponent. He’s been one of the best players in the world this year, but hasn’t faced top competition very often, or delivered when he has. If he can put up numbers like this in a win over Liverpool, suddenly he’s in the Ballon d’Or conversation. But at present, his stats kind of feel like fake news.

Europa League: Roma vs. Athletic Bilbao

Let’s check in on €60m release clause man Nico Williams! Oh… oh no.

He’s been rumoured to be one of the absolute top targets for Arsenal and Barcelona in the summer. If he was not coming off an excellent 2023-24 season and European Championships, no one would pay that much money for this player. He’s obviously better than these numbers, but how much better?

Conference League: Borak vs. Rapid Vienna

I have not watched Rapid Vienna play this season, so I have no idea whether or not these guys are good. But WTF is this team doing with its fullbacks? These guys look like absolute monsters, and I now feel compelled to check them out.

Over on the betting newsletter, Ted is being pretty conservative with his Premier League bets this week due to injuries and uncertainty about lineups following a lot of midweek action. He likes the Liverpool line though, and you can upgrade to premium to find out why. Ted also breaks down the EFL Championship lines every week on that newsletter.

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Games we’re watching

Manchester City vs. Liverpool — Sadly, not a decisive clash in the title race. But the three teams behind City are all within 3 points of them, so every point matters in their race to stay in Champions League and continue their massive rebuild.

Bayern Munich vs. Frankfurt — Frankfurt are surviving post-Marmoush life, though they’ve had three draws in their last 5. Still very much a threat to knock off the big boys.

Lyon vs. PSG — Not gonna lie, I had not really noticed Lyon’s slip to 6th place in Ligue 1. Missing out on European competition could be devastating for a team already in a terrible financial position.

Valencia vs. Atlético Madrid — The top La Liga teams all avoid each other this week, but relegation-battlers Valencia have actually proven formidable at home recently.

Como vs. Napoli — Similar stuff in Italy. Como’s had some close, scrappy 2-1 losses at home to Atalanta and Juventus recently, and could give Napoli some problems.

Stuff we’re reading

Llew Davies at Scouted hypes up Ayyoub Bouaddi, the 17-year-old having a great season for Lille.

Jack Chippendale at Total Football Analysis breaks down the tactics Club Brugge used to upset Atalanta in Champions League.

Kieron O’Connor at Swiss Ramble busted out one of his most eagerly awaited yearly posts, a breakdown of Arsenal’s finances.

Grace Robertson at Grace On Football points out that Manchester City was already very much in the process of hitting the reset button before losing to Real Madrid.

Stefan Bienkowski at The Gegenpressing Newsletter thinks that a big contract extension for Joshua Kimmich would be a huge risk for Bayern Munich.

Huw Davies at Not The Top 20 argues that Burnley’s boring style might cost them in the long run, even if current results are good.

Jonee at Football Heritage profiles FC Vaduz, the underdog team from Lichtenstein that participates in the Swiss league system.

Sam White at Maldini’s Chain asks “what if” questions about dual nationals who could have played for different international sides.

Alex Abnos at The Guardian would like you to know that Lionel Messi can, indeed, do it on a freezing -17°C night in Kansas City.

Jeff Reuter at The Athletic takes a look at the young players called up to the USWNT for the SheBelieves Cup.

Jason Anderson at Pro Soccer Wire recaps the Americans’ 2-0 win over Colombia.

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