SportsGerman champions to face Italian underdogs

German champions to face Italian underdogs

LEVERKUSEN, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 10: Thomas Mueller of Bayern Muenchen reacts, Harry Kane of Bayern Muenchen during the Bundesliga match between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and FC Bayern München at BayArena on February 10, 2024 in Leverkusen, Germany. (Photo by Stefan Matzke - sampics/Corbis via Getty Images)

Images source: © GETTY | Stefan Matzke - sampics

1:13 PM EST, February 14, 2024

UEFA Champions League playoffs kicked off on 13 February. Real Madrid faced RB Leipzig and Manchester City played against Kopenhagen. What can we expect from the second day of this year's Round of 16?

Not a good time for Bayern

Bavarian champions have been struggling in the Bundesliga recently. Although they hold a strong second position in the standings, they have suffered a crushing defeat at the hand of Bayer Leverkusen, led by the wonderful Xavi Alonso. Leverkusen decapitated Bayern Munchen 3 to 0 after a one-sided affair, which was a great shame for the defending Bundesliga champions.

The questions arise as to whether Bayern will be able to restore their former glory and win the Champions League. They are definitely not favorites to win against the likes of Manchester City or Real Madrid. In the 2022/2023 edition, they lost to the former team 1 to 4 on aggregate, while they were still in much better form than this year.

LEVERKUSEN, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 10: Sacha Boey of Muenchen challenges Josip Stanisic of Bayer Leverkusen during the Bundesliga match between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and FC Bayern München at BayArena on February 10, 2024 in Leverkusen, Germany. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)© GETTY | Lars Baron

Heartbreaking transfer for Harry Kane?

The English top attacker - Harry Kane, is having a great debut season in the Bundesliga, and many were convinced he is going to beat Robert Lewandowski's famous record for the number of goals in a single season. He seems to have stopped though.

LEVERKUSEN, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 10: Harry Kane of FC Bayern Munchen warms up prior to the Bundesliga match between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and FC Bayern München at BayArena on February 10, 2024 in Leverkusen, Germany. (Photo by Rene Nijhuis/MB Media/Getty Images)© GETTY | Rene Nijhuis/MB Media

Although he is undoubtedly playing very well, his time does not live up to expectations. Experts say that Harry Kane transferred himself to Bayern to win something finally, but it seems that Bayern will give him a traumatic surprise by not winning the German league the first time in ten years. We have to wait till the end of the season to find out, but the odds of Munchen catching Leverkusen in the standings have dropped significantly after the crushing defeat.

Still the favourites

Despite all that, Bayern Munchen is still the great favorite in today's match-up. Lazio has even greater problems, and they are only in the 8th position in the Serie A standings. Analysts and experts say anonymously claiming that Bayern is going to defeat Lazio easily and move on to the quarterfinals. What is going to happen? We have to find out tonight watching the transmission from Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

ROME, ITALY - FEBRUARY 13: Ciro Immobile of SS Lazio attends the press conference ahead of their UEFA Champions League match against SS Lazio and Bayern Munchen at Formello sport centre on February 13, 2024 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Marco Rosi - SS Lazio/Getty Images)© GETTY | Marco Rosi - SS Lazio