Soon we’ll get our first taste of the UEFA Champions League playoffs in this season’s new format, and there’s a heavyweight tie to look forward to.
First leg picks
Odds
PSG
Juventus
Real Madrid
Atalanta
Feyenoord vs AC Milan draw
Favourites to win – PSG – 1.36
Luis Enrique’s men have been predictably dominant domestically this season, and haven’t lost a single game in Ligue 1 up to now. Although they’ve faced setbacks in the UCL – with defeats at the hands of Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich – the fact that their opponents in this one are French most certainly plays in their favour.
The Parisians have put eight goals past Brest in two matches this season, winning 3-1 at home and 5-2 away, while their opponents have lost three of their last four games in this competition. PSG are clear favourites to come out on top in both legs of this one.
Favourites to win – Juventus – 1.87
Juve are enduring a very inconsistent season on all fronts in 2024/25. While they beat Manchester City in the UCL, they also lost at home to Benfica in their most recent encounter.
Moreover, domestically, they’ve only won six of their 16 games since the start of November. They’ll be hoping to back up their big 4-1 win over Empoli with a victory at Como before playing host to PSV on February 11th.
As for their opponents, they’re comfortably leading the Eredivisie table at the time of writing. However, they do have Ajax closely challenging them. A recent win over Liverpool made it four wins from their last five in the Champions League. Yet, their away form in the competition is far from ideal, as they lost 3-1 to Juventus just four months ago.
Underdogs to win – Real Madrid – 2.62
I’m not sure you can ever really refer to Los Blancos as ‘underdogs’, but by definition that’s what they are for this one, given the odds of 2.37 for a City win compared to 2.62 for an away victory. Considering the last few months for Pep Guardiola’s side, it could be seen as somewhat surprising.
The Cityzens were defeated 5-1 by Arsenal in their last Premier League game and have been beaten by Juve, Sporting CP and PSG in Europe so far this season. Although Carlo Ancelotti’s side are the most successful team in the history of this competition, they haven’t always been in top form in this year’s edition. It’ll be tight, but a Real win wouldn’t be a shock.
Favourites to win – Atalanta – 1.95
Brugge’s 20-game unbeaten run across all competitions came to an end last month. Although they’re top of the table in Belgium, they’ve experienced a difficult period in the Champions League in 2024/25. Three wins from eight was enough to get them to this stage, and their home form of just one defeat in four was central to that.
For the Italians, they’ve faced a challenging period recently due to injuries to several key players. It doesn’t seem like the talisman, Ademola Lookman, will be back in time for either leg against the Belgians.
They’d only won two of their last 10 prior to the game against Verona, but they’ve only lost once in Europe so far this season and are confident in their chances against Nicky Hayen’s team.
Draw – 3.40
Feyenoord were performing exceptionally well at one stage and had gone 12 games unbeaten in the league. However, as of late they’ve been unpredictably inconsistent in a run that has seen them defeat Bayern 3-0, but also draw 1-1 with relegation-battlers, Willem II.
Their games are full of goals – though not always in their favour – with 39 in their eight UCL games in 2024/25. However, their last two matches make them difficult to predict, given that they stuck three past Munich before losing 6-1 to Lille.
Milan are slight favourites at 2.30 compared to 2.87, but they might be tempted to stay compact at Stadion Feijenoord in favour of finishing the job at home, especially given their impressive form at the San Siro this season.
The Rossoneri haven’t drawn a Champions League game in over a year, and have won five of their last six in the competition, but Brian Priske’s side doesn’t lose too often at home and will be there to put up a fight.