UEFA Champions League Knockout Major Talking Point

The Champions league round of 16 is underway with two first leg matches already played, with Paris saint Germain recording a famous and important away win at old Trafford against Manchester united, while in the other match, As Roma recorded a 2 – 1 win over FC Porto, with the Portuguese club setting up a mouthwatering second leg with an important away goal.

Matches resume today as Tottenham take on Borusia Dortmund while the past three season’s consecutive champions, Real Madrid, take on Ajax. We will consider the major talking points ahead of these clashes in the second series of this UEFA Champions League Round of 16 talking point.

Major Talking Points

The Champions League returns to Wembley this evening as increasingly familiar foes Tottenham and Borussia Dortmund go head-to-head for the fifth time in three years. Following a disappointing start to their Group B campaign, Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino claimed that his team achieved "mission impossible" by qualifying for the last 16 after Lucas Moura's late equaliser in Barcelona dovetailed with a failure on Inter Milan's part to beat PSV Eindhoven send them through to the next round. We take a look at the major talking point.

Will Son Continue to Shine?
Heung-Min Son has stepped into the limelight in the absence of Harry Kane and Dele Alli and Spurs will again be looking to him at Wembley. The South Korean has scored 10 goals in his last 11 matches, including three in three which has helped Spurs gain nine valuable Premier League points. Son, who used to play in the Bundesliga for Bayer Leverkusen, has happy memories of playing Dortmund. He scored in both matches against them in last season's Champions League group stages as part of a run of eight goals in 10 matches against the German side, and he particularly terrorised them at Wembley last season. Spurs will be desperate for more of the same.

Spurs Wembley Worry?
Tottenham still play their home fixtures at the national stadium and Boss Pochettino has openly admitted that playing at Wembley is beginning to have a negative impact on his side as the wait for their new stadium to open goes on. They have won their last three games there, not in exactly convincing fashion, but attendances have dwindled with just 29,000 fans turning up for the recent midweek win over Watford. Pochettino and Jan Vertonghen have both produced rallying cries in attempt to get the fans to produce an atmosphere that can inspire the team and that will be important as Spurs will want to take a positive result to Dortmund for next month's second leg. 

Will Dortmund replicate Domestic Dominance
Dortmund are flying high in the league this season, although recent results has been disappointing, even in Europe, they enjoyed a more relaxed and straightforward journey to the first knockout phase, losing just once en route to topping Group A ahead of Atletico Madrid by virtue of a superior head-to-head record. Lucien Favre's side are currently on course to end rivals Bayern Munich's formidable run of six consecutive Bundesliga triumphs by claiming their first title since 2012 and they will hope this season’s domestic good luck will be transferred to europe.

Sancho’s England Audition
Dortmund’s Sancho is currently in form and will hope to continue his decent goal scoring run in England. He caused a slight flight delay for the Dortmund trip when he forgot his passport at home, is this in any way associated with been anxious? Well we will have to wait to see how he fares in today’s encounter inside England’s national stadium.

Real Madrid and Champions League Form
Zidane’s last season in charge of Madrid was in two tales, with domestic form at the start of the season disappointing but their decent form continued in the champions league which ultimately led to a third consecutive trophy. Likewise this season, Real Madrid has experienced a disappointing run of form in the league under two separate managers but with Solari having steadied the sheep, when we consider recent form and their win in the Spanish capital derby at Atletico last Saturday serving as a much needed boost for their upcoming match against Ajax.

Young Vs The Old
Arguably the most intriguing aspect of this tie is the young-stars narrative.

Vinicius as previously mentioned and a 22-year-old Sergio Reguilon represent Real’s new age. On the other side is virtually an entire XI of 20-somethings.

Indeed, Andre Onana (22), Matthijs de Ligt (19), Noussair Mazraoui (21), Frenkie de Jong (22), Donny van de Beek (21) and Kasper Dolberg (21) should all begin from the outset, bringing Ajax’s likely starting XI to an average of about 24. But it’s not the young v young dynamic which provides the interest because those draped in the white and red sash of Ajax face testing examinations from some Real old boys. De Ligt will have to contend with a red-hot Benzema, De Jong – should he be passed fit – and Van de Beek have one of the best midfield trios to try and wrestle control from, while Dolberg has the unenviable task of finding a way through Raphael Varane, and, of course, Sergio Ramos who is set to make his 600th appearance for the club. A tie of this magnitude will be another step in the maturation of these young and gifted talents.

De Jong's First State of several “Clasicos” to come
For one player in particular, it’s the start of a clash he’ll have to become accustomed to as Barcelona’s new €86 milllion recruit from the Dutch talent factory will get a first taste of facing Los Blancos and the atmosphere will be no different to the intensity of El Clasico. Indeed, Ajax haven’t reached the knockouts of the Champions League for 13 years and so you can expect this fevered fan base to both be seen and heard on Wednesday night.

De Jong was taken off for the final 10 minutes of the Eredivisie defeat to Heracles at the weekend with a muscular injury, and should the midfielder be passed fit, then he’ll get an indication of what it is like to play in a club fixture of such magnitude.