Another matchday approaches in the Champions League, with some clubs looking to secure their places in the knockout rounds.
Real Madrid travel to Poland to play Shakhtar Donetsk, whilst Rangers host Liverpool at the Ibrox in the reverse fixture. As always, the focus will be on a few top players that have the potential to decide the games in their team’s favour.
Without further ado, here we look at the players to watch out for in the upcoming set of Champions League fixtures.
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Reece James
Solid, dependable and one of the best full-backs in England, Reece James will be key in helping Chelsea keep AC Milan’s forwards at bay at San Siro while providing attacking impetus down the right flank.
The England international won the first bout against Rafael Leao at Stamford Bridge last week, giving very little space and time for the Portuguese on the ball to manufacture chances for his teammates. Apart from keeping Leao quiet, he went forward and scored a smashing goal to help Chelsea seal the deal against Milan.
With Leao waiting on the wings to make up for his last week’s poor display, all eyes will be on James as to how he handles the Milan star in a hostile San Siro atmosphere.
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Pedri
Since Robert Lewandowski arrived at Barcelona from Bayern Munich in the summer, most of the headlines when the Spanish giants are in action are on him. And rightly so; Lewandowski has 12 goals in all competitions, including three in as many Champions League games.
However, apart from the hat-trick in Barcelona’s 5-1 demolition of Viktoria Plzen at home, the Pole has failed to net in the back-to-back defeats to Bayern Munich and Inter Milan, respectively. Against Inter away, Xavi Hernandez’s side dominated possession and had seven shots, but struggled to find a way past the Serie A side with Lewandowski proving ineffective.
As Barcelona host Inter at Nou Camp in the reverse fixture, the performance of Pedri could be key to the Xavi-managed side’s hopes of bouncing back to winning ways. Rated as one of the best young midfielders in Europe, Pedri’s ability to dictate the flow of the game and carve out openings could be crucial to unlocking Lewandowski and helping Barcelona avenge their away defeat.
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Karim Benzema
Karim Benzema has had his fair share of injury problems this season which hasn’t allowed him to get back to his best.
The Frenchman had been nursing muscle fatigue and had to miss the game against Getafe, although head coach Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed that the striker was rested as a precaution and will start against Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday evening.
Now fit, Benzema will look to cause problems to the Shakhtar Donetsk backline and also get himself on the scoresheet. Having missed a penalty in the 1-1 draw with Osasuna earlier this month, a goal or two against the Ukrainian side should do a lot of good for his confidence and rhythm with the El Clasico on the horizon.