5️⃣ things to look out for in Tuesday's Champions League action 💫 | OneFootball

Tuesday sees four of our first ever Champions League knockout play-off games culminate.

There's plenty on the line everywhere you look, so let's find out what we can expect.

⚔️ Match of the Day

📸 PIERO CRUCIATTI - AFP or licensors

Today's headline occasion comes from San Siro as Milan host Feyenoord in an intriguingly poised tie.

The Dutch giants won last week's first leg 1-0 thanks to an early goal from Brazilian winger Igor Paixão with the Rossoneri struggling to break down their dogged hosts.

With João Félix and former Feyenoord man Santiago Giménez having joined in January, it was hoped that the new arrivals would form a 'Fab Four' alongside Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leão.

That brief experiment seems to have failed though with reports in the Italian media that coach Sergio Conceição will abandon his previous plans and opt instead to drop Pulisic.

It's a bold move from a head coach who is already under pressure despite being in the job for less than two months.

But it's a move that could well pay dividends with that previously aforementioned quartet having their individual talents stymied over the past few weeks.

With the home crowd fired up and just one goal down on aggregate, this has all the makings of a classic European night at one of football's great cathedrals.

🔎 Team to Watch

📸 NICOLAS TUCAT - AFP or licensors

"The real tragedy is football is being contaminated. Football is now going in a direction that has nothing whatsoever to do with the sport. We have to accept this call, but I honestly no longer even understand the rules now and I certainly don’t like it.”

It's fair to say that Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini wasn't happy with the decision to award Club Brugge a late penalty in last week's first leg in Belgium.

Referee Umu Meler's remarkable decision has given Brugge a slender advantage going into this clash but Atalanta will be the ones to watch later this evening.

La Dea are simply a must-watch this season and despite potentially missing Ademola Lookman through injury, will surely be amongst the goals this weekend.

In fact their 53 strikes in domestic competitions this season has been bettered by only five other clubs across Europe's top leagues.

You can expect them to add to that tally tonight in a match the Italian outfit really should progress from.

🔥 Player to Watch

It would be one of the greatest shocks in Champions League history were Celtic to beat Bayern Munich.

The German giants are almost invincible at home and you have to go all the way back to 2011 to find the last time they lost a two-legged tie when winning the opening game.

If the Hoops are to spring the surprise of surprises though, then they'll need Nicolas Kühn to be at his very best.

The 25-year-old has been a genuine revelation since joining the club almost exactly one year ago, netting 17 goals and securing 12 assists this season.

And with Kyogo Furuhashi leaving in January, the Germany youth international has become something of an attacking totem for the club.

Kühn will also be returning to his old stomping ground having played for Bayern's reserve team for two years back in 2020.

Can the former pupil get one over his old side? It's a long shot but it could be just about to happen.

👀 Potential upset

📸 VALERY HACHE - AFP or licensors

Perhaps one of the more surprising results last week came in the south of France as Benfica went to Monaco and completely outplayed the Ligue 1 outfit.

Vangelis Pavlidis's second half strike was enough to see the Portuguese side come away with the win but really they will be kicking themselves that the margin of victory wasn't bigger.

With Monaco down to 10 men, it really should have been more for Benfica but they now host Lucien Favre's side with the narrowest of advantages.

With an astonishing bad home record in the Champions League of late, they really will be cursing that profligacy.

Benfica have won just one of their last eight home matches in the competition, drawing two and losing the other five including that classic against Barcelona in January.

You should be able to count on then, a Monaco turnaround and a spot in the last 16 for the French club.

📊 Fascinating stat

We go back to tonight's headline game at San Siro for our stat of the week with Milan having failed to progress from five of their six Champions League ties when losing the first leg.

They only time they did progress? Against Manchester United in their 2006/07 semi-final.

📸 JOHN THYS - AFP or licensors