Champions League 2015: Live Stream Info, Viewing Details for Wednesday's Matches
The final two first-leg matches in the last 16 of the Champions League will be played on Wednesday as four more sides look to take a big step towards the quarter-finals.
Arsenal face AS Monaco at the Emirates Stadium in what should be an intriguing game. The tie sees Gunners boss Arsene Wenger come up against his former club and, after some tough ties in recent seasons at this stage, it’s going to be interesting to see how the Londoners handle being big favourites to progress.
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In the other tie, last season’s runners-up Atletico Madrid travel to Germany to face Bayer Leverkusen in what looks a much more evenly-matched encounter. Diego Simeone’s side have rediscovered their swagger of late and will be hopeful of getting a positive result to take back to the Spanish capital.
Here’s all the information you need on where to catch these two encounters and a closer look at what should be a pair of enthralling matches.
| Arsenal vs. Monaco | Sky Sports 5 (UK), Fox Sports 1 (US) | Sky Go (UK), Fox Sports Go (US) |
| Bayer Leverkusen vs. Atletico Madrid | Sky Sports 1 (UK), Fox Sports 2 (US) | Sky Go (UK), Fox Sports Go (US) |
Click here for Sky Go.
Click here for Fox Sports Go.
Arsenal vs. Monaco
If Wenger is going to add the Champions League trophy to his distinguished trophy haul at Arsenal, he may not get many better opportunities than this season.
Once again the Gunners failed to top their group, but luck was on Londoners’ side in the draw as they plucked out Monaco. The French outfit are a decent side boasting quality players, but over the two legs it’s a tie that Arsenal really should be winning.
Can they go any further than the quarter-finals? Bleacher Report’s Graham Ruthven ran the rule over their chances of sampling European glory:
The Gunners are certainly in form coming into this one, with the likes of Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla proving to be real creative forces in the heart of the midfield. If Alexis Sanchez can rediscover his effervescent best alongside that particular duo, Arsenal have a midfield that can hurt the very best teams around.
Monaco will come into this one feeling as though they have a fair chance. The provincial club are finally getting things together domestically after a very inconsistent start to the season and in the group stages they were a team that were extremely difficult to break down.
They boast a familiar foe to the Gunners too, as they noted on their official Twitter account:
But Arsenal will be too strong in the first leg at the Emirates. It may take a while to get a breakthrough against a cohesive Monaco back four, but the class of Ozil, Cazorla and Sanchez will eventually overwhelm the Ligue 1 team and the Gunners will take a decent lead to France for the second leg.
Prediction: Arsenal 2-0 Monaco
Bayer Leverkusen vs. Atletico Madrid
Atletico Madrid had Champions League glory snatched away from them in the final seconds of the 2014 final, but despite losing a host of players in the summer following that Lisbon disappointment, Simeone’s men look well set for another tilt at the European Cup.
Leverkusen are a team that could be capable of springing a surprise, however. The German outfit have some classy attacking players among their ranks and in Lars Bender one of European football’s most understated and underrated holding midfield players. If they can snatch a win in the first leg, maybe they can do a job when they go to the Vicente Calderon.
But as noted by John Bennett of the BBC, some of those associated with the club aren’t quite so sure:
To be fair, Atletico are some side. They play with an incomparable ferocity and a remarkable defensive diligence that makes them a major threat in this competition. Expect them to rock up at the Bay Arena with the priority of keeping a clean sheet before springing into action with the Bundesliga team pushed up the pitch.
As noted by Goal, in Antoine Griezmann, Atletico have one of the continent’s most in-form footballers too:
With the defence looking rock solid in European competition and the likes of Griezmann spearheading the front line, it’s tough to see Atletico getting turned over by Bayer. A tight clash is surely on the cards here and in those kinds of matches, it’s typically Simeone’s team that emerge as victors.
Prediction: Bayer Leverkusen 0-1 Atletico Madrid
