Champions League Knockout Predictions - 12/02/2025

Bayern Munich 3-1 Celtic

For the first time since 2013, Celtic have made it to the knockout phase of the Champions League, but they haven't been handed the easy route, facing German giants Bayern Munich for a place in the Round of 16.

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Both these teams had similar patterns in the League Phase, potent at home but struggled away from home, with Bayern winning all four of their home games, but only winning once away from home, losing the three others.

Celtic failed to win a League Phase game away from Celtic Park, losing twice and drawing twice, but they might not be the walkover Bayern are expected, especially with Celtic's attack, with Brendan Rodgers' side in great form in front of goal over their past 11 games, scoring 32 goals, which has been boosted by resigning Portuguese winger Jota, who already has 1 goal and 1 assist in 87 minutes since his return.

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Bayern for the most part this season have been incredible, scoring for fun at times, which has them 8 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga, having scored 4+ goals in a game 11 times in all competitions already this season, but their last away game in the Champions League against Feyenoord, losing 3-0, will give Celtic some hope that Bayern can be got at defensively.

Both of these teams are great in attack in their respective leagues, but with Bayern having the superior talent in Harry Kane, Jamal Musiala ,and Michael Olise, it is Bayern's game to lose, despite their poor record away from home in this competition.

Club Brugge 1-2 Atalanta

Having not made the knockout stages in the modern formats of the Champions League in their history, Club Brugge are at this stage for their second Champions League campaign in a row, having made the round of 16 in the 2022/23 season, where they brutally lost 7-1 on aggregate to Benfica.

Club Brugge made this stage after finishing 24th in the League Phase, where they had some good showing against a lot of tough opposition, with seven of their eight opponents making it through the League Phase, but they managed wins against Aston Villa and Sporting CP and also a draw against Juventus, all at home.

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Atalanta, after some stunning mid-season form, have hit a little bit of a rut, with 3 wins in their last 11 games in all competitions, but their away form in this competition has been quite impressive, winning 3 and drawing once, scoring 13 goals and conceding 3. making them the only team to go through the League Phase without an away loss.

With Atalanta's away form, and coming off a 5-0 away win against Hellas Verona in Serie A, they have the attacking quality, with one of the in-form strikers in Europe in Mateo Retegui to hurt Club Brugge, who won't go down fighting, and will likely put in a good defensive performance.

Monaco 2-2 Benfica

Monaco had one of the strongest starts to the season in Europe, winning 8 and drawing 3 in their first 11 games in all competitions but in 21 games since, they've won 8, drawn 3 and lost 10, which has seen them slip down the table both in the Champions League and Ligue 1 after such a strong start to the season.

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Benfica will be confident coming into this game more so on their win over Monaco earlier this season than their recent form, with 4 wins and 4 losses in their last 8 games, which has seen them concede 15 goals, but they have returned to some form, beating Juventus, Estrela and Moreiense in their past three games, but still conceding 4 in their past 2.

Despite Monaco being down to 10 men for over 30 minutes in their first encounter this season, it was quite a close game, with Benfica scoring twice in the last 10 minutes to capture the 3-2 win in Monaco.

Feyenoord 1-3 AC Milan

For the first time in modern Champions League history, Feyenoord are in the knockout stages of the tournament, and they are doing without a permanent manager, having sacked Arne Slot's successor Brian Priske ahead of this crucial tie against Milan.

Feyenoord, despite a 3-0 win over Sparta Rotterdam at the weekend, decided to part ways with Priske as Feyenoord sit 5th in the Eredivisie, out of the Dutch Cup and now without their top scorer Santiago Gimenez after his transfer in January to AC Milan, making this fixture for Feyenoord increasingly difficult.

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Milan's defeat on the final matchday of the League Phase cost Sergio Conceicao's side an automatic place in the Round of 16, which is the one of the few blips since the sacking of Paolo Fonseca, but with the January additions of Kyle Walker, Joao Felix and Gimenez added to the squad, Milan are a new-look threat in this competition.

With Milan's new signings and Feyenoord's recent struggles, both teams are coming into this game with differences in momentum and that could lead to Milan to victory in Rotterdam.