UEFA Champions League what to look out for: Man. City vs Sporting CP, Real Madrid vs Paris

The second set of UEFA Champions League round of 16 seconds legs comprise of an eagerly anticipated return between Real Madrid and Paris and Manchester City look for another emphatic victory at Sporting CP's expense.

Presented by Expedia, we run the rule over the key talking points as clubs look to book their places in the quarter-finals with Bayern and Liverpool already through.

Can Man. City really get better still?

It appears to be damage limitation for Sporting now. They had progressed on all eight occasions they faced Premier League teams in two-legged affairs before this tie, but now they will be more concerned about ensuring City do not come close to the round of 16 record aggregate victory that Bayern racked up against the Portuguese side in 2009 – the 12-1 overall scoreline starting with a 5-0 result in Lisbon.

The likelihood of that is small, but with City as clinical as they are relentless, it cannot be discounted. Pep Guardiola certainly thinks there is more to come given his comments after the first leg. "Some players underperformed," he said. "A lot of the time we lost the ball. When that happens against top sides in Europe, you give them a chance to counterattack. We have to improve. The players, they know me. The way we work, we can do better."

Given that City trio João Cancelo, Rúben Dias and Bernardo Silva – who scored twice in the first meeting – came through the ranks at Sporting's Lisbon rivals Benfica, you can expect the Premier League leaders to keep their foot to the floor.

Real Madrid braced for more Messi menace

The Merengues' round of 16 woes have resurfaced recently, with two of their last three campaigns ending at this stage. To stop that becoming a trend they thought had been consigned to history, the last player the Spanish giants would want to see pitch up at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu is Lionel Messi.

As if facing the Champions League's most prolific round of 16 goalscorer and veteran of 45 Clásico matches during his career with Barcelona was not daunting enough, Madrid also have to banish any memories of an all-time great performance by Messi 11 years ago.

The 2010/11 season was notable for Madrid finally ending a terrible run of six consecutive last-16 exits, before Barcelona stood in their way for a place in the final. Enter Messi. Two goals in the final 15 minutes, the second a mazy dribble past four players, and the Santiago Bernabéu was silenced. Marcelo – one of the quartet bewitched by that Messi run – and Karim Benzema, an unused substitute that night, will be hoping lightning does not strike twice.