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Man City tackle Basel curse, Spurs face daunting Juventus defence – Champions League in Opta numbers

The Champions League resumes with Manchester City facing a potentially perilous trip to Basel, while Juventus host in-form Tottenham.

Giorgio Chiellini and co ready for Tottenham

London, February 13: The long wait is over – the Champions League is back.

Europe's elite competition resumes on Tuesday (February 13) with the first two matches of the round of 16, with Basel hosting Manchester City and Tottenham facing Juventus.

Pep Guardiola's City have been in irresistible form in the Premier League and need only six more wins to claim the title, as they pursue an unprecedented quadruple of trophies.

They were arguably dealt a favourable draw against Basel, but the Swiss champions have an impressive record against English teams on home soil and will take heart from Shakhtar Donetsk overcoming City in their final group game.

Juventus, beaten finalists last season, finished runners-up to Barcelona in their group but have gone from strength to strength in domestic competition since the turn of the year.

They put their formidable home record on the line against Tottenham, who finished top of a tough group featuring holders Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, and have begun to look like dark horses for this year's trophy.

Here, we look at some of the key Opta stats ahead of Tuesday's encounters...

Basel v Manchester City

4 - Basel have won four of their last five home games against English clubs in the Champions League, losing one.

4 - Basel have also won four of their last five Champions League games (L1), as many wins as in their previous 22 games in the competition (D6 L12).

7 - This is Manchester City's seventh consecutive Champions League participation. They have made it past the last 16 only once, though, in 2015-16, when they reached the semi-finals and were beaten by Real Madrid.

8 - Eight of Manchester City's 14 Champions League goals this season (57 per cent) have been scored in the opening or closing 15 minutes of games. Meanwhile, four of the five goals conceded by Basel have come in the second half (80 per cent).

39 per cent - Basel have averaged 39 per cent possession in this season's Champions League, the lowest ratio among the 16 teams left in the competition.

Juventus v Tottenham - Head-to-Head

Juventus v Tottenham

22 - Juventus are unbeaten in their last 22 Champions League home games (W14 D8), their longest ever run without a defeat in the competition on home soil. Bayern Munich are the last team to beat them in Turin, in April 2013 (2-0).

9 - Juventus have also kept nine clean sheets in their last 13 home games in the competition.

7 - The Italians scored seven goals in this season's six group games, the lowest tally amongst the 16 clubs left in the competition. However, as per last season's Champions League, they have allowed their opponents the fewest shots on target (2.3 per game).

4 - Tottenham are one of four teams still unbeaten in this season's Champions League, alongside Barcelona, Besiktas and Liverpool.

0 - Among the 16 clubs left in the tournament, Tottenham are the only side (alongside Shakhtar Donetsk) yet to score from set-piece, with all 15 of their goals coming from open play.

Source: OPTA

Story first published: Tuesday, February 13, 2018, 13:50 [IST]
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