On Wednesday, the UEFA Champions League will conclude the first round of the round of 16 matches. Four teams will clash in Madrid and Gelsenkirchen. A lot of intrigue awaits at this year's final stadium - Atletico Madrid's home will host the Juventus team from Turin. In Germany, Manchester City will try to withstand the force of Schalke. Both matches will kick off at 22:00 Lithuanian time. "Atletico" - "Juventus" In the pre-match interview, Giorgio Chiellini stated that football fans can expect an Italian football classic. Atletico is not a typical Spanish team - the success of Diego Simeone's team is a result of hard work and organization. A lot of attention will be on Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of this clash, as he will once again arrive in the opponent's camp wearing not the maroon of Real Madrid, but the black and white of Juventus. For Atletico, the Portuguese has become a true terror in the Champions League tournament - in the 2016-17 season, C. Ronaldo's hat-trick in the first leg of the semi-final helped Real surpass Atletico in the overall series. Atletico should not feel too confident ahead of this match - recently, Simeone's men have struggled. Over the weekend, Atletico narrowly defeated Real Valladolid, and prior to that, suffered two consecutive defeats to Real Madrid and Real Betis. In their recent ten matches, the Madrid team has only achieved five victories, with three ending in draws. During these matches, Atletico scored 14 goals and conceded nine. "Juventus" also faced a minor setback a few weeks ago, but their recent results have been positive. Over the weekend, the "Old Lady" defeated Frosinone 3-0, and last week, they beat Sassuolo by the same score. Juventus suffered their only defeat in the Italian Cup when they were unexpectedly defeated by Atalanta. In the last ten games, the Turin team celebrated victories seven times and drew twice. With C. Ronaldo leading Juventus, the team has scored 21 goals in that time, conceding 10. Before the match against Italian champions, Atletico only have one absence - Lucas Hernandez, who is injured, will be replaced by Filipe Luis on the left. Juventus also does not have any major issues, but it is still unclear if Douglas Costa and Daniel Rugani are ready for the match. Predicted starting lineups: "Atletico": (4-4-2) Jan Oblak; Santiago Arias, Jose Gimenez, Diego Godin, Filipe Luis; Saul Niguez, Thomas Partey, Rodri, Koke; Alvaro Morata, Antoine Griezmann. "Juventus": (4-3-3) Wojciech Szczesny; Joao Cancelo, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Alex Sandro; Rodrigo Bentancur, Miralem Pjanič, Blaise Matuidi; Paulo Dybala, Mario Mandzukic, Cristiano Ronaldo. "Schalke" - "Manchester City" In this pairing, one team's dominance is predicted - Manchester City is the clear favorite. The only advantage Schalke has for this match is playing at home. The Champions League is not the strongest competition for Manchester City when playing away. Manchester City, still fighting for the Premier League title, has set a goal to win the continental tournament, in which they have never triumphed throughout the club's history. The English champions have the best chances to reach the quarterfinals and then fight for a place in the semifinals. Schalke is in a difficult position - they are currently in 14th place in the German league, with only one victory in their last five games. Over the weekend, they drew at home against Freiburg with no goals, and before that they conceded defeat against Bayern Munich. In their last ten matches, Schalke have only managed three wins. They have also suffered three losses, with four draws. During these games, Schalke scored 16 goals and conceded 15. Manchester City's eleven can boast much better results, as they have only suffered one defeat in their last ten matches. Over the weekend, they had an easy walk in the FA Cup, beating Newport County 4-1. This year, Manchester City have only acknowledged the opposition's superiority once - they were unexpectedly defeated by Newcastle. In other matches, the English champions have only achieved victories, including against opponents like Liverpool, Chelsea, and Arsenal. Guardiola's team speaks for themselves in attack - in their last ten matches, they scored a total of 37 goals and conceded only three. Schalke will be without suspended Oscar Mascarell, and injured Breel Embolo, Alessandro Schopf. It is not known whether Benjamin Stambouli will appear from the first minutes on the field. Manchester City will go to Germany without Benjamin Mendy, Claudio Bravo, Gabriel Jesus, and John Stones. Vincent Kompany also has health problems, but his chances are not completely ruled out. Predicted starting lineups: "Schalke": (4-5-1) Alexander Nubel; Daniel Caligiuri, Salif Sane, Matija Nastasic, Bastian Oczipka; Weston McKennie, Nabil Bentaleb, Rabbi Matondo, Mark Uth, Yevhen Konoplyanka; Guido Burgstaller. "Manchester City": (4-3-3) Ederson; Kyle Walker, Nicolas Otamendi, Aymeric Laporte, Danilo; Kevin De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Bernardo Silva; Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero, Leroy Sane.
