UEFA Champions League what to look out for: Juventus vs Villarreal, LOSC vs Chelsea
Tuesday, March 15, 2022
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Juventus and Villarreal are all square while Chelsea's Edouard Mendy is defending a formidable record at LOSC Lilleas the final set of UEFA Champions League round of 16 second legs take place.
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The final set of UEFA Champions League round of 16 seconds legs have the potential for plenty of drama with Juventus and Villarreal on level terms heading into their Turin decider while LOSC have ground to make up against Chelsea.
Presented by Expedia, we pore over the talking points as the last places in the quarter-finals are decided.
Round of 16 fourth week
Tuesday 15 March
Manchester United 0-1 Atlético (agg: 1-2)
Ajax 0-1 Benfica (agg: 2-3)
Wednesday 16 March
Juventus 0-3 Villarreal (agg: 1-4)
LOSC vs Chelsea (agg: 1-4)
Vlahović hitting the ground running
Roberto Baggio, David Trezeguet, Alessandro Del Piero, Cristiano Ronaldo... Juventus have always had a striker you could hang your hat on for a regular supply of goals. The early signs are that Dušan Vlahović could be the man to pick up that baton.
Like Baggio, Vlahović joined from Fiorentina with the Bianconeri struggling to make an impression at the top of the table. The Divine Ponytail wasted no time in making his mark in the 1990s and the Serbian international has followed suit since his January switch, scoring four times in his first six outings for the club.
Villarreal got a first-hand demonstration of the 22-year-old's prowess in the first leg after only 33 seconds – the fastest goal by a debutant when starting a match in Champions League history – and the Yellow Submarine will have to pay closer attention if they are to come away from Turin with a favourable outcome.
Mendy record a huge barrier for LOSC
Overcoming a 2-0 deficit in a Champions League tie is not uncommon, but to do so against this Chelsea side and a goalkeeper like Edouard Mendy is as tough an ask as it gets for Ligue 1 hopefuls LOSC.
Mendy's shut-out in the first leg means he has now kept an eye-popping 14 clean sheets in his 18 Champions League appearances for the club – nine in 12 matches last season and five in six games this season. The opposition have mustered a grand total of just four goals in the other four games too.
That means Jocelyn Gourvennec's men must do what no team has done against the holders since this stage two seasons ago – score twice or more. Jonathan David and Burak Yılmaz, with five goals between them in the competition this term, offer the home side their best hope of doing so.
When is the Champions League quarter-final draw?
The 2021/22 UEFA Champions League quarter-final, semi-final and final draws take place on Friday 18 March. The draw will begin at midday CET at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland. The live stream will appear here.
The draws are open, so there is no seeding or country protection. Any team can be drawn against any other team.
The 2022 Champions League final takes place at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday 28 May.
