Champions League Round of 16 Predictions For The First Round

Now that the Champions League round of 16 is over, a lot of us are already thinking about the next round and how many teams will make it to the next round. With several teams eliminated at the group stage, only one team can advance to the second round of the tournament. Here are a few Champions League round of 16 predictions for you:

Galatasaray – The first team to go, Galatasaray are eliminated in the group stage. Some supporters wonder if their unexpected participation will keep them in the tournament as well. I believe they will because of the main reason mentioned in the first paragraph: having lost in the group stage.

IZBEK – If Galatasaray was eliminated early, IZBEK would go to the next round. The Turkish club has had an excellent season thus far with some good results at home. They have always been a threat to advance to the next round but would have had to win all of their remaining games against Galatasaray and Maccabi Tel Aviv to keep their hopes alive.

Dundee United – At home in the round of 16 against Celtic, Dundee United made it into the second round of the Champions League. But they still have a lot of work to do in order to keep their place. Scottish football is not in their favor and they must beat Celtic at home in the Champions League.

Santos – Santos are looking good for the Champions League as they entered the round of 16 in great form. The only problem is that they have to play in the knockout stage in three consecutive games. This can be tough because both Maccabi Tel Aviv and Borussia Dortmund beat them at home last season and last month in a friendly match.

Sunderland – Last year, Sunderland, the third seed, made it to the knockout stage. They were beaten by Chelsea in the round of 16 and then knocked out in the quarterfinals by AC Milan. They cannot afford another run of misfortune in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

This is just a short list of the Champions League round of 16 predictions. In my opinion, there are too many teams who are on a similar level to make it out of the group stage. They are the teams that will be the most difficult to beat because they have the least experience of playing in the knockout stage.