Perhaps the best performance came from Newcastle United, who held Barcelona to a draw at St James' Park.
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When six English teams reached the last 16 of the European Champions League, everyone was talking about how strong the Premier League was. When the first leg of the last 16 was over. The topic of discussion was, what happened to these English teams?
Manchester City and Chelsea were defeated by large margins. Before that, Liverpool and Tottenham had also lost. Arsenal, who are at the top of the Premier League, held Bayer Leverkusen to a draw, that too with the help of a last-minute penalty goal by Kai Havertz. Leverkusen is the same team that is in sixth place in the German Bundesliga. Arsenal had won all 8 matches in the league stage. Tottenham, on the other hand, were defeated by Atletico Madrid. Liverpool also lost to Galatasaray.
Perhaps the best performance was by Newcastle United. The team did not let Barcelona win the match at St. James' Park, and managed to draw. When the second leg comes, all six Premier League teams will need to perform exceptionally well. Except for Newcastle, the others were away at home. In this case, Chelsea, City and Tottenham will have to overturn a three-goal deficit at home.
Arsenal and Liverpool are probably the most likely to reach the last eight. These teams are usually strong at home and are good at coming from behind. How has the English team suddenly performed so poorly? Has the excessive pressure of the domestic Premier League been wearing them down? Many people think that perhaps more pressure is now being put on the Premier League than on the Champions League.
Moreover, the Premier League is now heading towards the final round. Perhaps because the pressure in their respective home leagues is less, Bodo/Glimt, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Galatasaray are currently doing well in the Champions League. After losing 3-0 to Real, City coach Pep Guardiola also admits that the second leg will definitely not be easy. Federico Valverde scored a hat-trick for Real in that one.
Guardiola said after the game, "We will definitely try to turn the situation around against Real, but it will not be easy. Maybe we did not deserve to be defeated by such a margin on Wednesday." PSG, on the other hand, defeated Chelsea 5-2 in Paris. Khabib Quartet's two late goals could prove decisive in the second leg. The most difficult one is certainly for Tottenham. It would be more important for them to avoid relegation in the Premier League than to advance in the Champions League now.
