The Champions League’s round of 16 is only at its midway point, but we’ve already seen Manchester City fire five goals past Sporting CP, Dusan Vlahovic waste no time in announcing his arrival for Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe stun Real Madrid with his late winner.
Manchester United had to rely on substitute Anthony Elanga to avoid defeat at Atletico Madrid, while Liverpool and defending champions Chelsea both took commanding 2-0 leads in their respective ties. The closest we came to a shock result was Bayern Munich’s draw at FC Salzburg while the tournament’s top scorer, Ajax’s Sebastien Haller, scored at both ends at Benfica.
We asked Gab Marcotti, James Olley and Graham Hunter for their views on some big questions.
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Craig Burley and Steve Nicol are full of praise for Dusan Vlahovic after Juventus’ 1-1 draw with Villarreal.
What caught your attention from the first legs of the round of 16?
Marcotti: Manchester City. I know it’s a “Captain Obvious” thing to say, but among the favourites in the first legs, I thought they looked most impressive. Salzburg also proved — again — that if you have pace and energy and are well-coached, you can nearly upend one of the heavyweights.
Olley: City were undeniably impressive, but elsewhere there was plenty of anticipation over how long it would take Vlahovic to make an impact in this competition for Juventus following his protracted €75 million January move from Fiorentina. The answer was 32 seconds. The 22-year-old scored the quickest goal ever by a Champions League debutant. Although it was only enough to earn a 1-1 draw at Villarreal, Vlahovic announced himself on Europe’s grandest stage in fine style.
Hunter: Lots of choices: Vlahovic taking to Champions League football like a duck to water, Joao Felix sending another message to Diego Simeone that he is “the real deal,” the reigning champions playing with authority, Mohamed Salah shrugging off AFCON disappointment in exchange for Euro…
Source : espn
