The UEFA Champions League returned this week for the competition’s first-ever knockout phase playoffs, with some of Europe’s top teams will be pitted against each other for a spot in the round of 16.
Manchester City’s clash with Real Madrid headlined the action as the last two Champions League winners duked it out in the first leg of their battle for a spot in the next round, with Real doing what they always do and winning in dramatic fashion. Other European heavyweights also had a chance to show their worth. Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus banked routine wins with Bayern Munich, on tap to take on Celtic on Wednesday.
Here are our picks and predictions from the CBS Sports team.
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Here are our expert picks for this matchday:
Wednesday’s Champions League slate
Celtic vs. Bayern Munich
Player to watch: Nicolas Kuhn – The latest in what is a rapidly growing line of outstanding pick ups by Celtic, Kuhn will doubtless raise his game at the club where he could not quite make the grade in his early 20s. Drifting off the right, look for him to test the space on Alphonso Davies’ weaker foot. — James Benge
Man of the match: Harry Kane – The Englishman is used to playing these kinds of games and has already scored six goals so far in the UEFA Champions League, and has 21 in the opening 19 games of the German Bundesliga. If Bayern want to go through to the next round, they desperately need Kane at his best. — Francesco Porzio
Prediction: Celtic 0, Bayern 2 — This one has the makings of a strong Bayern aggregate success so expect to see the Germans look to put daylight between themselves and their hosts early on. A multi-goal winning margin sounds about right, which will position the Bundesliga giants to dominate at home next week. — Jonathan Johnson
Best bet: Harry Kane to score (-135) — Celtic and Bayern Munich play very open styles which means that plenty of chances will be coming Kane’s way. A Champions League veteran, he’ll be relied upon by Bayern to push them to the next round and he’ll do his part in scoring a few goals to win the tie. — Chuck Booth
Feyenoord vs. Milan
Player to watch: Santiago Gimenez – It’ll be like he never went away! Nine days after signing his contract with Milan, Gimenez will be back at De Kuip. Given he has already hit a rich vein of form in his new colors – a goal and assist in his first two matches – he seems a likely starter and one who will need no reminding where the goal is. — James Benge
Man of the match: Christian Pulisic – After providing two assists in Milan’s last Serie A clash against Empoli, including one for the first goal scored by Gimenez, Pulisic is called to deliver also against the Dutch side. The American-Mexican duo is working well so far, showing a lot of potential for the rest of the 2024-25 campaign. . — Francesco Porzio
Prediction: Feyenoord 1, Milan 1 — This one is likely to be tight and kept alive for the return leg in Italy next week. The Serie A giants were busy in the winter window making a number of changes including the arrival of Santiago Gimenez from Feyenoord as well as the addition of Joao Felix. It will take a while for Sergio Conceicao to bed them all down so a score draw here could be a good shout. — Jonathan Johnson
Best bet: Christian Pulisic to score or assist (+125) — It’s an all Concacaf affair with Santiago Gimenez joining Pulisic to provide another focal point to the attack. It’s something that makes Milan a more dangerous attack but it also allows Pulisic to be more of a creator since there will be other reliable scorers in the attack. With that as an option, getting the American at plus odds to be involved in a goal is a solid play for a big game player. — Chuck Booth
Knockout phase playoffs TV schedule
All times U.S./Eastern
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