Champions draw: Napoli vs. Barcelona, Inter draws with Atletico, Lazio vs. Bayern Munich

The draw is favorable for Milan – Inter with Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, and Milan with Rennes in Europe -, and the rest of the Italian teams participating in the cups will have to sweat hard in order to qualify, starting with the Champions League Lazio, which faces Bayern in the round of 16, Monaco, to pass. Via Naples, merging with Barcelona.

In the Europa League qualifiers, Roma will hope to carry out a tradition that has always been relevant so far with Feyenoord, with whom they will meet again for the third year in a row. This is the “summary” of the draw for the round of 16 for the Champions League (first leg, February 13-14 or 20-21, return leg, March 5-6 or 12-13) and the “play-off” in the European League (February 15 and 22), which was held today in Nyon. . Naples – Barcelona will be a double challenge in the name of Diego Armando Maradona, because the Blaugrana and the Azzurra are precisely the two teams with which “Pepe de Oro” expressed his greatness in Europe and it is impossible to face a match like this. Do not think again about the magic of this number 10.

The task will not be easy for Mazzarri and his team, but for the fans, the confrontation between strikers Osimhen and Lewandowski looks particularly exciting, and one in which the African Ballon d’Or certainly does not begin with a defeat. Barcelona will have to deal with an absence as big as Gavi’s, but among others are Pedri, De Jong (reborn since Xavi was on the bench at the Blaugra), Gundogan, Joao Felix (someone who was not afraid to carry the shirt at 14 years old, from Certainly, a number of Blaugrana’s eternal stars (Johan Cruyff) and sixteen-year-old Lamine Djemal have no shortage of talent. “We were not lucky,” says Deco, who is now Barcelona’s sporting director. “A difficult and wonderful challenge,” Mazzarri defines it instead. Inter will find one of their greatest former players, Diego Simeone, who, after meeting Lazio in the groups, another club for which he symbolized, will continue his tour of his Italian affections by meeting the Nerazzurri.

In their group, Atletico finished unbeaten, but only secured first place on the final day, thanks to a win over Lazio. Up front, the duo of Morata and Griezmann is untouchable and has been very effective so far, while in midfield Llorente, Koke and Saul Niguez rotate with De Paul, a transfer dream for many Italian clubs. Brazilian winger Leno, a former Flamengo Under-20 player who then moved to Valencia before ending up at the ‘Colchoneros’, was devastating on the left. The double challenge between Italy and Spain, as well as being a preview of the European Championship, will also be valid for the purposes of UEFA’s club classification, thanks to which Italy hopes to unlock the fifth team in the future Champions League. The worst draw went to Lazio, which, as in the 2020-21 season, will face Bayern Munich in the round of 16. Three years ago, the German team won 4-1 at the Olimpico and 2-1 at home and it seems that history may repeat itself, also because Harry Kane in the center of the attack does not make us miss the favorite Bavarian star Robert Lewandowski. . Musiala and Sane have been lethal weapons in coach Tuchel’s hands so far, and 18-year-old French striker Thiel, formerly of Rennes, who was bought last summer for €20 million, is growing a lot. This season, Bayern are less successful than usual in the Bundesliga, but the Champions League is their main target for 2024, which is also why Enrico Lotito, the president’s son and director of the Biancocelesti youth sector, determined the result of the draw. “One of the worst things that could happen to us, even if we fight to the end.” As for the rest of the matches, Paris Saint-Germain signed with Real Sociedad, City with Copenhagen, and Real Madrid with Leipzig.

Europa League, draw

Milan played Rennes with goalkeeper Mandanda and former Roma player Matic, who are currently 13th in Ligue 1. In the attack there is Salah, but not the former Giallorossi player Momo, but rather the 22-year-old Moroccan Ibrahim. Roma instead fell to Feyenoord’s Mexican striker Jimenez, who will return to the Stadio Olimpico a few months after losing the Champions League group stage match to Lazio 1-0. Coach Arne Slott is also relying on various Hanko, Weaver, Maduro and Paixao, while Roma is relying on the tradition that saw them beat FC Rotterdam in the Conference League final and in the double in the Europa League quarter-finals last season. season. It is very likely that a travel ban will be imposed on Roma and Dutch fans. It was also imposed on the latter during the match against Lazio on November 7th.

These matches are Feyenoord – Roma Milan – Rennes Lens – Freiburg Young Boys – Sporting Lisbon – Benfica – Toulouse Braga – Karabakh Shakhtar Donetsk – Marseille Galatasaray – Sparta Prague.