The final four remaining spots in the Champions League Round of 16 will be decided on Wednesday.
The pregame narrative: Juventus has had an underwhelming season by its standard, but the club is heating up and I predict a strong defensive showing on the road. Because of that, I'm taking the under in this matchup. I also like the over when Real Madrid faces Manchester City.
Check out the best Champions League predictions for the Round of 16 playoffs.
Champions League predictions
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Best Bet: PSV/Juventus under 2.5 goals (+117)
Juventus finished 20th in the UCL league stage and currently sits fourth in Serie A, but things are turning around as the games become more important.
In the first leg of the playoff round, Juventus beat PSV, 2-1. In that game, the Italian club recorded eight shots on goal compared to the Dutch side's two.
I Bianconeri followed that performance with a 1-0 win on the weekend in Serie A over second-place Inter Milan.
Juventus has now won four straight games in February across all competitions, and I think that momentum is important leading into this second leg.
Since the Italian giant is -286 to qualify, I'll make the prediction that Thiago Motta's side plays a shutdown defensive game on the road.
The first game went over this total but Juventus had a majority of the offence. There's no need to push to score here as a 0-0 or 1-1 draw does the trick.
Key stat: Juventus is tied for ninth in clean sheets (three).
Quick pick
Real Madrid/Manchester City over 3.5 goals (-121): I'm not sure who's going to qualify here but I'm expecting more than a few goals.
Real Madrid took the first leg, 3-2, with some late-match heroics from Jude Bellingham. Now, Man City will be pressing to score on the road.
And I'm not counting the English side out.
- Man City has seven of 11 matches since the calendar flipped to 2025.
- 10 of those contests had four or more total goals.
Real Madrid can score, too. Among UCL clubs, it ranks third in goals per match (2.6), while Manchester City ranks seventh (2.2).
Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe are two of the top strikers in the world, and that's just the beginning of the offensive talent these teams have to offer.
I don't think I'm crazy to think another explosive contest is in the works with a spot in the UCL Round of 16 on the line.
Picks made at 12:20 p.m. on 02/18/25.
