Big names seek Champions League revival

The global virus outbreak means there will be at least two stadiums without fans when the Champions League resumes this week with second-leg matches in the round of 16:

After reaching the final last season, Tottenham have an uphill task today, to make the quarter-finals this time round. A 1-0 deficit must be overturned without a recognisable striker in the team with both Harry Kane and Son Heung-min injured.

The North London club is enduring a five-game winless run in all competitions that began with the first-leg loss to Leipzig, including a draw at Burnley on Saturday that leaves the team seven points from the top four.

“As well as we play in some games, we’re not getting over the line,” said midfielder Dele Alli, who scored a penalty equaliser at Burnley. “I think we’ve shown the character we’ve had in this squad throughout the years we’ve been together. This is a very tough period for us in terms of results, but I believe we can turn it around.”

Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho is grumbling about his squad shortages, while preparing for the trip to Germany, complaining about the commitment of a fit player – record-signing Tanguy Ndombele.

WERNER RESTED

Leipzig rested top scorer Timo Werner for the first hour of their 0-0 draw with Wolfsburg on Saturday. With or without Werner on the field, Leipzig looked weak in attack. The win over Tottenham was a bright spot this year for Leipzig, which have only four wins from 10 games in 2020.

Atalanta have a 4-1 lead from the first leg and won’t have to worry about Valencia’s fans as the Italian team try to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time.

Today’s game will be played without fans present, as Spain tries to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.

Tomorrow, Atlético Madrid head to Anfield aiming to reproduce their gritty performance from the first leg, when the Spanish team played a perfect match according to the standards of coach Diego Simeone.

The 1-0 victory was decided by an early goal from Saúl Ñíguez and a defence that kept the defending champions from producing a single shot on goal.

Atlético travel to England after being held to a 2-2 draw by Sevilla in the Spanish league on Saturday. Portugal forward João Félix scored his second goal in three matches since returning from injury. He missed the first leg.

Liverpool’s focus is on defending their European Cup with the Premier League trophy virtually wrapped up. With a 25-point lead, Liverpool only needs two wins from their remaining nine league games to be certain of ending the 30-year title drought.

PSG face elimination from the Champions League at the last-16 stage for the fourth season in a row, and this time in an empty Parc des Princes against Borussia Dortmund.

Paris police said yesterday fans would not be allowed to attend the game after France banned gatherings of more than 1,000 people.

To make things more difficult, PSG forward Neymar has been short of match fitness after a rib injury forced him to sit out four games.

Can Erling Haaland finish the job? That’s the key question for Dortmund after the 19-year-old Norwegian scored twice in the 2-1 first-leg victory.