[UEFA Champions League Preview] The Champions League final is back again? There will be war tonight!

This season’s UEFA Champions League competition has reached the fourth round and is about to reach its halfway mark. The old enemies of the Champions League will meet again in many games in this round, and it will be exciting!

The following are OPTA's predictions of win, draw and loss probabilities for each Champions League match in this round↓

The following are 5 Prospective analysis of the focus matchup ↓

Liverpool vs Real Madrid November 5, 04:00

A pair of "old enemies" in the Champions League reunited again. Since 2014, the two teams have met nine times, including the Champions League finals in 2018 and 2022. Real Madrid had the last laugh in the end. At the same time, there are also "the most familiar faces" for Red Army fans in the Galaxy Battleship formation. Due to Carvajal's injury in the league, Arnold is very likely to start in this game against his old club. In this game, Jude Bellingham, who is 22 years and 128 days old, is expected to become the youngest player in the history of the Champions League to play 50 times. This record is currently held by Iker Casillas (22 years and 155 days). As Salah failed to score in the last round of games, he is still 2 goals away from his 50-goal milestone in the Champions League.

I thought that the reversal victory against Frankfurt in the last round could bring the team back on track, but then the Red Army once again unexpectedly performed poorly in the domestic league and cup. Liverpool's previous record against Real Madrid was not advantageous. They won 2-0 in the fifth round of last season. After eight straight games without a win (1 draw and 7 losses), they finally completed their long-lost revenge. But Liverpool's record at Anfield is impressive, having won 15 consecutive victories in the European group stage and league stage, and Real Madrid has only won two of the last nine games against English teams. If the Reds want to win the match again, they may need to make full use of their home court advantage to deal with the menacing Real Madrid.

Paris Saint-Germain vs Bayern Munich November 5th at 04:00

The Battle of Tianwangshan in the Champions League is about to take place! Both teams are currently on full fire, winning all three games and both scoring 10 goal differentials. Paris ranks first with a one-goal advantage in total goals. In terms of key players, Harry Kane is undoubtedly one of the most efficient forwards in Europe this season. He has scored 22 goals in 14 appearances in all competitions this season and 11 goals in the last ten Champions League games. He is leading the South Korean team to be invincible. Joshua Kimmich is expected to make his 100th appearance in the Champions League - all for Bayern Munich. He will become the 30th player in history to play 100 times for the same club and the fifth player in Bayern history to achieve this achievement. The first four are Thomas Muller (163 games), Manuel Neuer (131 games), Philipp Lahm (105 games) and Oliver Kahn (103 games).

In Paris, William Pacho was previously a member of Frankfurt. In his only season in the Bundesliga, he joined the team in defeating Bayern Munich 5-1 on December 9, 2023. In that game, Bayern conceded five goals in an hour for the first time since 1975. In this campaign, he needs to bear the pressure under the impact of Bayern's strong offensive line to reshape Paris's unstable defense line, which has conceded 6 goals in the past 4 games. The defending champion lost 0-1 against Bayern in the Champions League last season. The two teams will compete in the 2021 Champions League final. Paris also lost to its opponent by one goal. This game is at home. With a super high winning rate of only losing two out of the past 41 Champions League group stage and league home games, the French team is bound to avenge its past humiliation.

Manchester City vs. Dortmund November 6, 04:00

Manchester City and Dortmund have also played against each other several times in recent years. Among them, Joao Cancelo's wonderful goal with the outside instep assisting Erling Haaland is still talked about by fans and friends. Both teams currently have 2 wins and a draw with 7 points. Manchester City has only lost one of the six previous meetings between the two teams (3 wins and 2 draws). They remain undefeated at home, with a record of two wins and one draw, and they have won 11 consecutive games against all German teams at home. Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva is expected to make his 100th appearance in the Champions League. He will become the fourth Portuguese player to reach this milestone after Cristiano Ronaldo (183 games), Pepe (120 games) and Luis Figo (103 games).

Before joining Manchester City in the summer of 2022, Harland played 89 times for Dortmund and scored 86 goals. After the Norwegian forward moved to Manchester in the 2022/23 season, he faced his old club twice in the Champions League group stage and scored 1 win and 1 draw, and scored the winning goal in the first round away game against Manchester City. The Norwegian forward has scored 37 goals in 33 Champions League group stage/league stage games. But the Hornets' offensive firepower cannot be underestimated. The 12 goals scored are on par with their league derby rivals Bayern. This is the first time they have scored four goals in three consecutive European games. Felix Nmega scored two long-range goals in the last game against Copenhagen. He has now scored 3 goals and ranks sixth in the scorer list. Stay tuned for the outcome of this showdown between the two teams!

Club Brugge vs Barcelona November 6, 04:00

Barcelona and Brugge have only met twice in the history of the Champions League. The two teams met in the group stage of the 2002/03 season, and the Spanish team won both. In this game, Paul Kubasi (18 years and 287 days old) may become the third youngest player to play 20 times in the Champions League after Lamin Yamal (17 years and 270 days old) and Warren Zaire Emery (18 years and 277 days old).

Both teams have advantages in home and away games. The Belgian team has lost only two of its past 18 home games in Europe (12 wins and 4 draws). So far this season, they have won three home games (including qualifying matches). Barcelona have won all of their last four away games in the Champions League. The Red and Blue Legion's status has fluctuated greatly this season. Currently, the team is still facing the problem of many injuries and a lack of back-up players. Flick needs to think about the key issue of how to steadily score points in the Champions League stage to ensure that when the generals are absent and morale is low after losing strong matches this season.

Newcastle United vs Athletic Bilbao November 6, 04:00

The English team's performance in the Champions League this season is remarkable. Although they unfortunately lost to Barcelona in the first round, the Magpies easily defeated their opponents in the next two games. The Basque team finally won its first Champions League win of the season in the last round, defeating Karabakh 3-1 and winning 10 of the past 14 European group stage/league stage games.

The only previous meeting between the two teams was in the second round of the UEFA Cup in the 1994/95 season. Newcastle United won the first leg at home 3-2, but Athletic Bilbao came back to win the second leg 1-0 away from home and advanced on away goals. In the Newcastle team, Anthony Gordon became the first player in team history to score in three consecutive games in the Champions League. Whether this record can be extended to four consecutive games depends on this focus match. Gordon currently ranks third on the scorer list with 4 goals, while Bibao's Guruzeta scored 3 goals and ranked sixth. Newcastle have only lost 4 of their past 33 home games in Europe (22 wins and 7 draws). We look forward to the exciting contest between the two teams in this round!