Michael Owen: UEFA Champions League Last 16 2nd Leg Preview

Manchester City travel to Germany with two away goals and as huge favourites to go through to the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.

It really is win or bust for Monchengladbach, and up against such a fluid City side, I can’t help but feel the visitors will be extremely vulnerable to being hit on the counter.

As such, if City can get their noses in front early on, I can see them running out easy winners on the night.

I think we all expected more from Atalanta in the first leg. Known for their gung-ho approach, they’ll no doubt feel disappointed that they couldn’t at least get on the scoresheet in the first leg.

However, being a goal down now means they must score here, and whilst I think they will, that could equally leave them exposed at the back. It’s a 1-1 draw for me on the night with Real progressing to the next round.

Chelsea put in a vintage European away performance in Madrid to come away with a 1-0 victory. Since Thomas Tuchel’s arrival, the Blues have been pretty much rock solid at the back and another strong defensive performance will be required here.

Tactically, I find this one fascinating, as Madrid are likely to be patient knowing that they could get caught out if they throw caution to the wind too early. With that in mind, I can see both sides cancelling each other out and Chelsea going through to the quarter-finals.

It doesn’t get any easier at this stage of the UEFA Champions League than it did for Bayern last week against Lazio.

The holders were at their sumptuous best and if they play anything like they did that night, they’ll no doubt win comfortably again.

That’s exactly what I see happening and I’m going with the Germans to win on the night to book themselves a place in the draw for the next round.