February 12th - UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League Round of 16 kicks off today with two matches. The first game will feature Celtic (Scotland) hosting Juventus (Italy), while at the same time Paris Saint-Gemain (France) visit Valencia. (Spain). 

Don't ask me why, but I've always been a bit curious why both games go on at the same time. To me, it makes more sense from a marketing perspective if the games happened back-to-back. Both games tomorrow start at 11:45am PT. However, I think it would interesting if one game started at 9am and the other at 11:45. 

Nevertheless, both games tomorrow should be very interesting. The game that I'll keep my eye on the most is Celtic vs Juventus. Celtic, has already had an impressive run through the Qualifying knock-out and the Group Stage finishing second just behind Barcelona. A win is almost a must for Celtic if they want to advance to the Quarter Finals, or what Americans call the Elite Eight. With the second leg coming up in early March, getting a win or even a result in Juventus will be very difficult. Juventus posted an undefeated record at home in the Group stage coming away with 2 wins and a tie. 

In the other game, Paris S.G. will try to take the aggregate lead back to France when they take on Valencia. Personally, I think Valencia is the better team, therefore, if Valencia can win 2-0 or even 3-0 then it might be a long way back for Paris S.G. However, if Zlatan Ibrahimović and Paris S.G. can get a result in Valencia, the momentum will be with Paris S.G. for the return leg in early . 

Sportsnet will be home for both games today. Celtic and Juventus will be on the four main Sportsnet channels while Valencia and Paris S.G. will be on Sportsnet World. The coverage begins at 11:30am PT with Gerry Dobson and Craig Forrest in studio.