A Madrid derby on Tuesday night may not have been what many expected at this stage of the Champions League. Yet, this type of encounter has become possible with the new structure of the competition. The whole tournament structure in the knock-out stages is based on the rankings after the league phase after all. Real had to earn the right to play in the round of 16 very hard though, beating Manchester City over two legs in the knock-out play-offs. Other teams will have to travel a bit more to go and play their round of 16 fixtures this week.
4 March 2025
Borussia Dortmund vs. Lille OSC
10th vs. 7th
21.00h CET, Westfalenstadion, Dortmund
On the pathway back to stability, Dortmund got a goalless draw to guarantee their spot in the round of 16 and now on the weekend beat St Pauli 2-0 away. Will this be enough to beat a very solid Lille side though? Lille had a tricky assignment on the weekend and lost 4-1 away in Paris against PSG. Their Champions League form however should leave them in a positive mood ahead of the trip to Germany.
ATV003H BHX 1500-1715 LIL DH8D D-AASG (03/03/25, ferry flight)
ATV131H LIL 1800-1900 DTM DH8D D-AASG (03/03/25)
Club Brugge vs. Aston Villa
24th vs. 8th
18.45h, Jan Breyel Stadion, Bruges
From the worst possible position on the table, Brugge qualified for the round of 16. It took them a win in two legs over Atalanta, where they even won both legs, 2-1 home and 3-1 away in Bergamo. Now the 8th-placed Aston Villa awaits and will they be a sterner test? After all, Atalanta were the 9th seeds and are now out of the competition.
BRO36P STN 1300-1340 BHX B733 G-SWRD (03/03/25, ferry flight)
BRO36A BHX 1600-1755 OST B733 G-SWRD (03/03/25)
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| 2Excel Aviation Boeing 737-300 seen at Copenhagen in July 2022 |
5 March 2025
Feyenoord Rotterdam vs. Inter Milan
19th vs. 4th
18.45h CET, De Kuip, Rotterdam
The favourites' role should be clearly in Inter's hands in this tie. They finished the league stage in 4th position and therefore had the play-off round off to save their legs. Feyenoord come off beating Inter's local rivals Milan, thus preventing another city derby in the round of 16.
AZ9018 MXP 1610-1750 RTM A320 (04/03/25)
SL Benfica vs. FC Barcelona
16th vs. 2nd
21.00h CET (20.00 local time), Estadio da Luz, Lisbon
After some troubled years, it seems plain sailing again for Barcelona. They finished the league phase in 2nd position and therefore also had some weeks off from the European Football. Their first opponents away are Benfica who won the previous round against AS Monaco. The first leg there was successful for Benfica while the return leg ended in an attractive 3-3 draw.
UX937 BCN 1115-1115 LIS B738 (04/03/25)
UX983 LIS xxxx-0310 BCN B738 (06/03/25)
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