UEFA Champions League KO phase playoffs: What to expect on Wednesday

The Uefa Champions League knockout playoffs continue on Wednesday with some mouthwatering clashes on the cards. Catch all the action live on SuperSport, kick-offs at 10pm CAT, unless otherwise stated.

Here is a look at what to expect in matches taking place on Wednesday.

Club Brugge v Atalanta, kick-off at 7:45pm CAT

This will be the first European meeting between Club Brugge and Atalanta. The Belgian side are winless in their last 15 games against Italian sides in major European competition (D6 L9), since winning 1-0 away to Milan in October 2003 in the UEFA Champions League.

Club Brugge’s last home win against an Italian side came back in April 1978, in a 2-0 victory over Juventus in the UEFA Cup. Since then, they haven’t won any of the nine times they’ve hosted Italian opposition in Europe (D4 L5), although have avoided defeat in the last three (all draws), including one this season (0-0 v Juventus on MD7).

Atalanta’s only previous meetings with a Belgian side in Europe came back in the 1987 88 Cup Winners’ Cup semi-finals, losing home and away to KV Mechelen (1-2 in both matches, 2-4 on aggregate).

FUN FACT: This will be just the third knockout stage match Club Brugge have played in the UEFA Champions League, with the previous two coming in the Last 16 in 2022-23. They were beaten in both legs by Benfica on that occasion, losing 0-2 at home and 1-5 away (1-7 on aggregate).

Monaco v Benfica

This will be the third meeting between these two sides in European competition, with Benfica unbeaten against their French counterparts in all three meetings, winning one and drawing one in the UEFA Champions League group stage in 2014-15 and winning last time out, in Monaco in the league phase this season.

Monaco have failed to score in two of their three meetings with Benfica in Europe, although they did manage to bag two goals last time out, in a 3-2 home defeat in the UEFA Champions League league phase this season.

After already beating them in the group stage in November (3-2), Benfica will now also face Monaco in the play-off round, making it the first time they have faced the same team in two different rounds of the same UEFA Champions League/European Cup campaign.

FUN FACT: Monaco have enjoyed just one UEFA Champions League victory over Portuguese opposition, beating Sporting CP 3-2 on home soil in the 1997-98 group stage (D1 L6).

Celtic v Bayern Munich

Celtic have faced Bayern Munich on four previous occasions in European competition, going winless across all four in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League (D1 L3).

Bayern Munich are unbeaten in their last 13 matches against Scottish sides in major European competition (W9 D4), with their last such defeat coming against Hearts in the UEFA Cup in February 1989 (0-1).

Celtic have won just one of their 12 UEFA Champions League/ European Cup clashes with German opposition (D3 L8), although that victory did come in the most recent one, against RB Leipzig in November in the group stages of the Champions League.

FUN FACT: Celtic have won just one of their last 21 games in European competition against teams who have won the European Cup/UEFA Champions League, beating Feyenoord 2-1 in December 2023 (D4 L16).

Feyenoord v Milan

This will be just the third meeting between Feyenoord and Milan in European competition, with the pair winning one match each during their two-legged European Cup Round of Last 16 clash during the 1969-70 season – the Dutch team progressed to the next round (0-1 defeat away in the 1st leg and 2-0 win at home in the 2nd leg).

Milan have failed to win any of their last four games in major European competition against sides from the Netherlands (D3 L1), since a 3-1 win over SC Heerenveen in the UEFA Cup in October 2008.

Feyenoord have lost just one of their 11 home games in major European competition against sides from Italy (W6 D4), a 1-2 defeat against Roma in February 2015 in the UEFA Europa League Last 32.

FUN FACT: Milan have failed to win any of their last 11 away games in the UEFA Champions League knockout rounds (D4 L7), scoring just three goals in total across their last 10 matches in that run.