Haaland looking to teach Leipzig another lesson, can Inter halt Porto charge? - Champions League in Opta numbers

By Sports Desk February 22, 2023

Erling Haaland should be licking his lips at the prospect of facing RB Leipzig when Manchester City continue their quest to lift the Champions League for the first time on Wednesday.

City travel to Leipzig for the first leg of their round of 16 tie smarting from slipping off the top of the Premier League table with a 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

The combination of both City and striker Haaland's great record against the Bundesliga side would suggest they ought to secure a place in the quarter-finals of Europe's premier club competition.

Inter have home advantage when they face Porto in the other round of 16 first-leg clash on Wednesday and the Serie A side boast an impressive home record against Portuguese clubs.

Stats Perform pick out the standout Opta data to preview the matches at Red Bull Arena and San Siro.

 

RB Leipzig v Manchester City

Former Borussia Dortmund striker Haaland will return to Germany to come up against a club that he has fond memories of facing.

The Norway international's finishing let him down at the City Ground at the weekend, but Leipzig know all about the threat he poses.

Haaland has found the back of the net six times in four games against Leipzig, scoring three braces against them during his time with Dortmund.

City have only lost one of their previous 17 matches against German sides in the Champions League (W14 D2), with the Premier League champions scoring an average of 2.6 goals per game in those fixtures. Their only defeat came away to Leipzig in last season’s group stage, when Pep Guardiola's side had already qualified for the last 16.

Leipzig will fancy their chances of causing an upset, though, as they have won each of their past four Champions League matches – which is their best run in the competition.

Only Julian Nagelsmann in the 2019-20 season – when they reached the semi-final – has won more matches in a Champions League campaign (six) in charge of RB Leipzig than Marco Rose's four this term.

Inter v Porto

Porto travel to Milan on a magnificent unbeaten run that stretches back to October 21.

Sergio Conceicao's tally of 30 Champions League wins is more than any other Porto boss has achieved and his 50 per cent win rate in the competition is second only to Julen Lopetegui's 56 per cent during his tenure.

This will be the 10th time Inter have hosted a Portuguese side in European competition. They are unbeaten in the previous nine – eight of which have been victories. The only side to avoid defeat were Boavista, in a goalless UEFA Cup draw back in 1991.

Edin Dzeko has been directly involved in four goals in six Champions League games this season – scoring three and proving one assist. That is more than any other Inter player.

Porto have won four successive Champions League games and will be aiming to equal their longest winning run in the competition – a run of five between October and December 2018, which was also set under Conceicao.

Mehdi Taremi has been directly involved in seven goals in five games for Porto in the Champions League this term – with five goals and two assists. That is the most by a player in a single campaign for the club since Moussa Marega's eight in the 2018-19 campaign.

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    Paulo Fonseca urged Milan to take more risks in future and sympathised with the fans who booed his players after an unexciting goalless draw with Juventus.

    The two sides played out a game that included just three shots on target - one fell to Milan and two to Juve - while a chorus of boos greeted the full-time whistle.

    Milan have not scored in two home matches in a row in Serie A for the first time since October-November 2023 (vs Juventus and Udinese in that case).

    "When you don't win, and after a match like this, maybe if I was a fan I'd do the same," Fonseca told DAZN.

    "I'm not a defender of this and I understand the fans perfectly."

    Milan's only real chance before the break came through Emerson Royal, who headed wide of the near post after a corner, while a weak Theo Hernandez header straight at Michele Di Gregorio in added time was their only effort on target.

    They registered just two shots in the first half, and only three times before have they managed less (on record from 2004-05), with two of those instances also coming against Juve.

    "It was a very tactical match. The team had too much respect for Juve and Juve too much respect for us," Fonseca said.

    "We know that Juve defend very well, it is not easy to have opportunities against them and those we had to attack we did not exploit well.

    "We could have done something more offensively, we made a mistake in the last pass and we never took risks. It is not easy against Juve, but when we have the opportunity, we have to do better in the final decisions.

    "The team always had the will to play safe but, if we want to score, we have to take more risks. Normally, we always create different situations. Today the team didn't take any offensive risks."

    When asked if seventh-placed Milan - on 19 points with a game in hand - still stood a chance in the title battle, Fonseca responded affirmatively.

    "It's difficult for other people, but I still believe. There are still many games and other teams can lose points," he said.

  • Dortmund got 'fully deserved victory' over Freiburg, says Sahin Dortmund got 'fully deserved victory' over Freiburg, says Sahin

    Nuri Sahin praised Borussia Dortmund for getting "a fully deserved victory" over nine-man Freiburg in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

    Dortmund remained perfect on home soil this season as they cruised to a 4-0 win at Signal Iduna Park after Patrick Osterhage and Junior Adamu were both sent off for the visitors.

    Maximilian Bieier and Felix Nmecha scored in the first half before Julian Brandt and Jamie Gittens secured the points in the second during a dominant display as they limited Freiburg to just three shots on target at the other end.

    Dortmund have now won 11 home games in a row in all competitions. Since the Bundesliga was founded, they have won more consecutive home matches in a row only once, winning 14 in a row at home in 1994.

    Sahin has come under pressure recently for the Black and Yellow's less impressive away form, but he was delighted with the showing he saw from his side.

    "We started very well. We controlled the spaces. We allowed very little," Sahin said.

    "Overall, it was a mature performance from my boys. We scored great goals, showed good energy.

    "We kept them away from our goal throughout. It was a fully deserved victory and I, as a coach, am very satisfied."

    Dortmund were, however, without Serhou Guirassy, who is their top scorer in the Bundesliga with six goals, as he pulled out of the game due to a virus.

    Next up for Sahin's side is a trip to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League, and the head coach is hopeful he will be available for that tie.

    "[Saturday] morning again, we got the bad news. Serhou tried everything to play today, but it did not work," Sahin added.

    "I hope it will be enough for Zagreb. He is a very important player for us." 

  • Rodgers enjoying 'exciting period' as Celtic open gap at top of Scottish Premiership Rodgers enjoying 'exciting period' as Celtic open gap at top of Scottish Premiership

    Brendan Rodgers says it is an "exciting period" for Celtic as they moved three points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership with a 4-1 win over Hearts.

    Celtic made a sluggish start to the match and were lucky not to find themselves behind at the break as Blair Spittal and Lawrence Shankland spurned glorious chances for Hearts.

    However, they came out revitalised in the second half as Kyogo Furuhashi and Nicolas Kuhn scored twice in five minutes to put them 2-0 up on the hour mark.

    Adam Idah scored twice, netting on either side of Musa Drammeh's consolation, with his second coming from the penalty spot in the 94th minute.

    Celtic have now won all seven of their away league games this season by an aggregate score of 22-2.

    After Aberdeen's first loss of the season earlier on Saturday, Celtic gave themselves some breathing space at the top of the league, while also moving 11 points clear of rivals Rangers, who sit third.

    Rodgers was delighted with Celtic's response to the first half, praising the players' adaptation.

    "I'm really pleased. Tynecastle is a really tough place so to win 4-1 was really pleasing," Rodgers said.

    "Second half, we figured out their press. They have normally been pressing in 4-4-2 but changed it slightly. It just meant we had to drop a man in our build-up play.

    "We had some good moments in the first half, but once we were able to play through that pressure, I thought in the second half we were excellent.

    "It's a very exciting period for us. All the players know they will play, they just need to be ready."

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