Tuesday’s Champions League Predictions: Bayern can record momentous away win

Greg Lea

13 February 2023

The Champions League resumes this week after an abnormally long hiatus due to the winter World Cup and the Italian, French and German champions are all in action on Tuesday.

That’s not mentioning Tottenham, who will hope to put up a better showing than when they were defeated by Leicester in the Premier League at the weekend. Here is what to expect on the first night of the knockout stage.

AC Milan v Tottenham Hotspur

Kick-off: 8pm Tuesday

Both of these teams face an uphill battle to qualify for next season’s edition of this competition. Let’s start with Tottenham, who are currently outside the top four in the Premier League and received a 4-1 league thumping on Saturday - not the ideal preparation for the first leg of this tie.

Consistency continues to elude Spurs. They have not won more than two league games on the bounce this season, which was borne out in their Champions League group stage results (win, loss, draw, win, draw, win). Tottenham just don’t seem capable of stringing a run of positive results together.

AC Milan upset the odds to win the Serie A title last term, but they are well off the pace this time around. A 1-0 victory over Torino on Friday ended a three-game losing streak, which has dealt a blow to Milan’s chances of finishing in the top four.

However, the Rossoneri have a pretty strong record at San Siro. They have scored in every home league match this season, and only Serie A leaders Napoli boast a better goals-per-home-game record.

Even though the away goals rule is no longer in use, Tottenham will want to get on the scoresheet in Milan ahead of the second leg in north London. Antonio Conte’s squad could get some joy in transition against opponents who have conceded 13 times in their last five outings, so goals at both ends could be the way to go.

Prediction: Both teams to score @ 1.9

Paris Saint-Germain v Bayern Munich

Kick-off: 8pm Tuesday

Paris Saint-Germain remain strong favourites to win the Ligue 1 title with Smarkets traders, but their recent results are cause for concern - and not just for their prospects in France’s top flight.

Form cannot be turned on and off like a tap, so back-to-back domestic defeats by Marseille and Monaco mean they head into this tricky tie against Bayern Munich with plenty of questions hanging over them.

Triumphing in Europe’s premier competition for the first time has long been the main objective for PSG, and the club’s Qatari owners have spent huge sums to try and help them get over the line.

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But despite the undoubted talent within the squad, Christophe Galtier’s side is less than the sum of their parts at present. The fact that star striker Kylian Mbappe looks set to miss this match through injury does not help either.

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich look to have come out the other side of their wobble with two consecutive victories in the Bundesliga. Julian Nagelsmann’s men were dominant in the group stage of this tournament, winning all six matches and scoring 18 goals despite being drawn in the same section as Inter and Barcelona.

Bayern are in a better place than PSG right now and they will feel this is a good time to face the French champions. The Parc des Princes crowd could get restless if things are not going to plan, and that would only play into the visitors’ hands.

Prediction: Bayern Munich to win @ 2.4