The Champions League and the Europa League rounds of 16 guarantee that this week will be full of excitement. In Europe’s elite competition, we will find out the final four teams that will be lining up in the quarterfinals, while in the Europa League, all remaining teams will play the second legs of their ties to see who will progress. Here is a round-up of all of the World Champions and Germany internationals who will be taking part.
Champions League: Just as Wolfsburg did last week, Bayern will be looking to confirm their place in the quarterfinals tomorrow night when they take on Juventus in the Allianz Arena. The 2013 winners and Juventus played out a 2-2 draw in Turin in the first leg, so a 0-0 would allow Bayern to progress through to the quarterfinals. The clash will be a head-to-head clash between World Champions Thomas Müller and Sami Khedira, who joined the Italian champions in the summer. The second game with a host of German participants will take place in Barcelona on Wednesday, when German goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen lines up at the Nou Camp for Barca against an Arsenal side that includes World Cup winners Mesut Özil and Per Mertesacker. Ter Stegen’s Barcelona hold the upper hand going into the match after their 2-0 away win in the first leg of the last 16 clash.
Europa League: There will also be a lot of Germany internationals and World Champions in action in this competition. Two teams from the Bundesliga are still in the running for the title, namely Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen. While Dortmund and their captain Mats Hummels have one foot in the quarterfinals after a 3-0 home victory over Tottenham in the first leg, the route to the last eight is more complicated for Bayer Leverkusen and Germany goalkeeper Bernd Leno, as they suffered a 2-0 defeat away at Villarreal last week. They will have to overturn the deficit to have a chance of progressing. This round will also be an exciting one for the Germany internationals who play abroad. Shkodran Mustafi’s Valencia will have to come back from 1-0 down against Athletic Bilbao. However, things are looking better for Miroslav Klose and Lazio, as they picked up a vital away goal in their 1-1 draw in Prague, meaning a stalemate will be enough for them to proceed to the quarterfinals. In the duel between Emre Can (Liverpool) and Bastian Schweinsteiger (Manchester United), Can has his nose in front as the Merseyside club won the home leg at Anfield 2-0.
The fixtures involving German players
Champions League
Bayern München vs. Sami Khedira/Juventus (Wednesday, 20.45 CET)
Marc-André ter Stegen/FC Barcelona vs. Mesut Özil & Per Mertesacker/Arsenal (Wednesday, 20.45 CET)
Europa League
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Borussia Dortmund (Thursday, 21:05 CET)
Bayer Leverkusen vs. Villarreal (Thursday, 19:00 CET)
Shkodran Mustafi/Valencia vs. Athletic Bilbao (Thursday, 19:00 CET)
Miroslav Klose/Lazio vs. Sparta Prague (Thursday, 19:00 CET)
Bastian Schweinsteiger/Manchester United vs. Emre Can/Liverpool (Thursday, 21.05 CET)
