By Gustavo Castilho
Duel marks the first clash between the teams in the Champions League Round of 16
The ball rolls again in the kills of the European Champions League. Current champion of the tournament and undefeated in the group stage, Bayern Munich goes to Italy to face Lazio, at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, at 17:00, Brasília time.
For the first duel of the octaves, the Bavarians have several absences. Benjamin Pavard and Thomas Muller are out with Covid-19, while Corentin Tolisso, Serge Gnabry, Douglas Costa, Alexander Nubel and Tanguy Nianzou are injured. The team ended the first phase at the top of group A with 16 points. So far, there have been five wins and a draw in the Champions League.
On the Lazio side, the list of absences is also long. Luiz Felipe, Stefan Radu, Thomas Strakosha and Silvio Proto, are out of the game. In attack, Ciro Immobile and Joaquin Correa must pair. The Italians ended the first phase of UCL in the vice-leadership of group F, with 10 points. In six games, he recorded two wins and four draws.
At the same time, Atlético de Madrid and Chelsea face each other, at the National Arena Bucharest, in the Spanish capital. The team led by Diego Simeone will not be able to count on Jose Gimezes, with a muscular problem, as well as Hector Ferrera. If the defense has problems, the same cannot be said of the attack that will have the pair Luis Suárez and João Felix. Atletico Madrid ended the first phase in the group A runner-up with nine points. So far, there have been two wins, three draws and one defeat.
Chelsea’s main defender is defender Thiago Silva, with a muscular problem, while Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic are treated as doubts. The good news is Tammy Abraham’s return after recovering from an ankle injury. The English ended the first phase of UCL in the leadership of group E, with 14 points. In six games, he has four wins and two draws.
