Champions League: More upsets as Chelsea, Arsenal, Barcelona, others clash for quarter-final stage 

The stage is set for this season’s UEFA Champions League Round of 16 fixtures after fans witnessed some upsets in the playoffs stage in February.

The Champions League last-16 begins this week when different European top clubs will compete for a spot in the quarter-final stage.

The first leg fixtures will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, while the return leg fixtures are next week.

There are 16 teams – Chelsea, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Bayer Leverkusen, Sporting Lisbon, Galatasaray, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Atalanta, Bodo/Glimt and Barcelona – that will play in the last-16.

DAILY POST reports that only eight clubs out of the 16 will qualify for the quarter-final stage, taking place in April.

Here are some of the top fixtures for the Champions League Round of 16 first leg:

Tuesday’s fixtures:

Galatasaray vs Liverpool: Liverpool is in good form in the competition as they secured a spot in the last-16 via automatic qualification. The Premier League giants finished in third position on the Champions League table behind Arsenal and Bayern Munich. Galatasaray is in mixed form in the competition. The Turkish Super Lig champions qualified for the last-16 stage after beating Juventus in the playoffs.

Atalanta vs Bayern Munich: Bayern is in good form in this competition as they finished in second position in the standings just behind leaders Arsenal. Atalanta needed the playoffs to qualify for the last-16 stage. The Serie A defeated Borussia Dortmund in the playoffs. It’s yet to be seen if they can beat another Bundesliga giant.

Meanwhile, the remaining two fixtures on Tuesday are Atletico Madrid vs Tottenham Hotspur, and Newcastle United vs Barcelona.

Wednesday’s fixtures:

PSG vs Chelsea: The match will take take in Paris. Chelsea is in form in the competition after they qualified for the Round of 16 stage via an automatic ticket. PSG progressed to the next stage after beating Monaco in the playoffs.

Real Madrid vs Man City: Real Madrid qualified for the Round of 16 after beating Benfica in the playoffs. Man City progressed via automatic ticket after finishing in the top eight positions in the group stage.

Meanwhile, the remaining two fixtures for Wednesday are Bodo/Glimt vs Sporting Lisbon and Bayer Leverkusen vs Arsenal.

Speaking with DAILY POST about the Champions League Round of 16 stage, Saheed Afolabi, who works at Clear TV, offered his opinion on the encounters.

“Things start getting interesting at this stage of the competition. All the teams that made it to the last-16 did a good job to get to this stage of the competition because it is not easy. It only gets tougher from here [Round of 16],”Afolabi said.

“But I am expecting to see some shocking results this week, just like we saw in the playoffs when some top teams like Borussia Dortmund and Juventus got eliminated from the competition.

“I was impressed with some good teams that emerged, like Bodo/Glimt and Newcastle United in the competition,” he stated.

When asked for his prediction for the Champions League last-16 first leg, Afolabi simply tipped “Arsenal, Bayern Munich, PSG, Man City, Barcelona, Sporting, Atletico Madrid, and Liverpool” to have a first-leg advantage ahead of the return leg next week.

Champions League: More upsets as Chelsea, Arsenal, Barcelona, others clash for quarter-final stage