Bayer 04 Leverkusen – Roma
Bayer Leverkusen and Roma’s only previous meeting was in the 2004/05 Champions League group stages. The German side won 3-1 in Leverkusen and there was a 1-1 draw in Rome. Bayer Leverkusen have reached the Last 16 in each of the past four seasons they’ve been involved in the Champions League.
None of Bayer Leverkusen’s last 23 Champions League home games has ended in a draw (W14 L9). Their last draw on home soil came against Manchester Utd in April 2002 (1-1). Leverkusen have won four of their last five Champions League games at the BayArena (L1). Roma have only won one of their last 11 Champions League games (D4 L6). That was against CSKA Moscow in last season’s group stages.
Roma have never kept a clean sheet in their last 16 Champions League games. The last one was against Arsenal in March 2009 (1-0). Roma’s last away win in the Champions League was in November 2010 against Basel (3-2).
Since then, they have drawn three and lost three. All four goals conceded by Roma in the Champions League this season have come in the opening 30 minutes. Hakan Calhanoglu has been involved in four of Bayer Leverkusen’s five Champions League goals this season (2 goals, 2 assists). Roma’s Edoardo Soleri is the youngest player to have appeared in this season’s Champions League (17 years and 11 months). Rudi Garcia has only won three of his 20 Champions League games as manager (D6 L11).
Prediction : Draw
Arsenal – FC Bayern München
Arsenal and Bayern Munich are facing each other for the third time in the last four Champions League seasons. Bayern Munich have beaten Arsenal on their two trips to the Emirates in the Champions League (3-1 in February 2013, 2-0 in February 2014). Both were in the last 16 stage of the competition.
Arsenal have lost their opening two games in a Champions League group stage for the first time in their history. The last team to qualify for the knockout stages despite such a start were Galatasaray in 2012/13. Arsenal have never lost three consecutive games in the Champions League. Arsenal have lost six of their last 12 Champions League home games. They had lost only one of their previous 39 games on their own soil.
Arsenal have conceded exactly three goals in three of their last four Champions League games at the Emirates (v Anderlecht, Monaco, Olympiakos). Arsenal have only failed to score three times in their last 30 Champions League home games. Arsenal have made it past the group stages in the last 12 seasons but have been knocked out at the last 16 stage in the last five campaigns.
Bayern Munich have reached the Champions League final three times in the last six seasons. They have been knocked out at the semi-final stage twice and last 16 once in the other three campaigns. Bayern Munich have only failed to score once in their last 34 Champions League group games. It was against Manchester City in December 2011.
Bayern Munich have scored 39 goals in their last 12 Champions League games, a rate of 3.25 per game. Bayern Munich have won only one of their last five away games in the Champions League (D1 L3), that was against Olympiakos in the opening matchday of this season’s group stages. Bayern Munich have scored the most goals in this season’s Champions League (8 in two games) and have conceded the fewest (0, alongside PSG and Real Madrid).
Theo Walcott has made 49 Champions League appearances, and has been involved in all three of Arsenal’s Champions League goals this season (2 goals, 1 assist). Only Cristiano Ronaldo (44 goals) and Lionel Messi (26) have scored more goals in the Champions League than Robert Lewandowski (25) since 2012/13.
Prediction : Bayern win
Dynamo Kyiv – Chelsea
This is the first ever competitive game between Dinamo Kiev and Chelsea. Dinamo Kiev’s last Champions League win against an English side was in October 2003 versus Arsenal (2-1). Since then, they have won none of their last five (D1 L4). Chelsea’s only previous encounter with a Ukrainian side was against Shakhtar Donetsk in the 2012/13 Champions League group stages. They lost 2-1 away from home before securing a 3-2 win at Stamford Bridge.
Dinamo Kiev have won only three of their last 16 Champions League home games (D4 L9). Dinamo Kiev have remained unbeaten in their first three Champions League group games only twice in the past: 1997/98 and 2008/09. Dinamo Kiev have not made it past the group stages in any of their last 11 Champions League participations.
Dinamo Kiev have conceded more fouls than any other team in this season’s Champions League (36). Chelsea have only lost one of their last 10 Champions League games (v Porto in the last matchday), winning five and drawing four games. Chelsea have scored in each of their last 11 Champions League games.
The last time they failed to find the net was in April 2014 against Atletico Madrid (0-0). Chelsea are the only team to have scored two goals from direct free-kick in this season’s Champions League, both by Willian. Dinamo Kiev goalkeeper Oleksandr Shovkovskiy (40 years and nine months) is the oldest player to have appeared in this season’s Champions League.
Prediction : Chelsea win
Zenit St Petersburg – Lyon
This is the first ever competitive game between Zenit St Petersburg and Lyon. Zenit St Petersburg have failed to score in their last three European games against French opposition. No French team has ever won an away game against Zenit St Petersburg in European competition (D2 L2). They’ve also only ever scored one goal in their four trips to St Petersburg, a Frederic Dehu goal for Marseille back in March 2006 (1-1).
Zenit have made their best ever start to a Champions League campaign, collecting six points from six in their opening two games. Zenit have already scored more goals in this season’s Champions League group stages (5 in 2 games) than they did in last season’s (4 in 6 games).
Zenit are taking part in their 6th Champions League campaign – they have never gone further than the last 16 (2011/12, 2013/14). Lyon have never failed to win any of their first three games in the Champions League group stages. Lyon have reached the knockout stages in each of their last nine Champions League campaigns. Lyon have lost eight of their last 13 Champions League away games (W2 D3).
The two wins were against Hapoel Tel Aviv and Dinamo Zagreb. Lyon have also kept only clean sheet in their last 14 Champions League away games (0-0 v Ajax in September 2011). Lyon have failed to score in seven of their last 11 Champions League games. Lyon haven’t conceded more than one goal in any of their last six Champions League games.
Only Bayern Munich (49) and Real Madrid (46) have had more shots than Lyon (38) in this season’s Champions League (including blocked). Only eight of Lyon’s 38 shots have been on target. Hulk has been involved in four of Zenit’s five Champions League goals this season (2 goals, 2 assists).
Prediction : Zenit win
