© EuroFootball.com
"The great football returns - on Tuesday the first two UEFA Champions League round of 16 matches will be played. In Milan, local team "Milan" will host ambitious London team "Tottenham", while "Valencia" without Marius Stankevičius will face Gelzenkirchen's "Schalke".
"Milan" - "Tottenham"
"The English team is a great opponent, a well-organized team with a great atmosphere," said "Milan" coach Massimiliano Allegri.
He will have to solve the dilemma tonight of how to cover the gaps in the midfield - injured Massimo Ambrosini, Andrea Pirlo, and Kevin Prince Boateng will not be able to play. It is likely that defender Thiago Silva will be in the midfield, and he will be replaced by Mario Yepes, forming the defensive core with Alessandro Nesta.
"Tottenham" will have to do without one of their leaders Gareth Bale, but Allegri did not attach much importance to that: "It doesn't really matter, as he hasn't played for a while and "Tottenham's" results have not suffered."
Luka Modric is also unlikely to appear in the starting lineup, as he has recently recovered from an appendectomy.
Interestingly, "Tottenham" has not played in Europe with two-legged knockout matches since the 1972 UEFA Cup semi-final, and this season they returned to the "San Siro" stadium after a 38-year hiatus, but this will be the second time in four months.
"Valencia" - "Schalke"
"It will be a beautiful, attractive, and very interesting match, so we don't even think about the result," said "Valencia" coach Unai Emery. - The favorites in the Champions League are "Real" and "Barcelona", and all other teams are equals. We believe in our strength, but we respect our opponents."
Due to disqualification, the injured "Valencia" goalkeeper David Albelda will not be able to play, but the main goalkeeper Cesar Sanchez should appear on the field, having played only four games since October due to knee ligament injuries.
"Schalke" coach Felix Magath also paid respect to the opponents: "We will play against a very strong team that is in the third place in Spain and scores many goals. "Valencia" is similar to "Lyon", but attacks better. We hope to score ourselves to have better chances in the second match."
The legendary striker Raul, who joined "Schalke" this summer, returns to Spain: "He is an amazing footballer and person. I hope he can score."
Kyriakos Papadopoulos and Christoph Moritz will not be in the "Schalke" team, but the fact that "Valencia" has played five times in a draw and lost once in the last six matches against German clubs should give hope to the Germans.
