European football returns with the Champions League last 16 this evening, and in some style, with three domestic champions in action and a scintillating clash between two of the tournament favourites, Bayern Munich and PSG. However, we are turning our attention to some of the perhaps lesser-known players who could make a big splash in the knockouts.
With eight games to savour, including a monstrous clash between last year’s finalists Real Madrid and Liverpool, it would be easy to suggest that these games will be defined by the usual suspects.
However, if this unravelling season is any indication, it is undoubtedly the year of the underdog. Emerging talents have flipped the status quo on its head, with Napoli running rampant in Italy, Manchester City scrambling to make up the ground in England, and PSG and Bayern experiencing fierce contests for their domestic crowns.
With that in mind, we are delving deeper into the first knockout round of this year’s Champions League, and taking a look at the players who could be worth keeping an eye on after impressing in the first half of the season.
Champions League Last 16: Players to Watch
Warren Zaire-Emery (Paris Saint-Germain)
It remains unclear whether Kylian Mbappe will be cleared fit to feature in PSG’s seismic meeting with Bayern Munich, and this may well open the door for both a formation change, but also Warren Zaire-Emery to potentially add to his 11 minutes of Champions League football.
Those who are unfamiliar with Zaire-Emery, or who perhaps have only heard mutterings of his emergence from Ligue 1 will soon become accustomed with his talent. At just 16 years of age, manager Christophe Galtier recently said he is “very close to the level of our established midfielders.” In a team that has been bolstered by one of the largest net spending figures in world football, praise of this kind is not to be taken lightly.
🤯 Warren Zaïre-Emery. He's still just 16. 📈pic.twitter.com/I4UZErVoSY
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) February 11, 2023
Two goals in his last three Ligue 1 appearances, which includes a record-breaking first for the club to become PSG’s youngest ever goalscorer has seen him emerge as one of Galtier’s first-team regulars, and he has been touted for a first European start against Bayern this evening.
With Vitinha and Fabian Ruiz struggling to make a real impact in the centre of midfield, it may take the youthful exuberance of Zaire-Emery to wash away the lethargy of the Parisian’s recent woes.
Randal Kolo Muani (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Rewind almost two months ago, you may remember the outstretched leg of Aston Villa’s Emi Martinez denying one Kolo Muani in the dying embers of extra-time in the World Cup final.
Likened to his compatriot Thierry Henry, Muani’s effortless speed and gangly athleticism makes him a burdensome prospect for opposition defenders. His pace is complimented by an inherent technical prowess that has seen him score and assist in equal measure this season, with 14 for each metric.
Randal Kolo Muani has been on 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞 this season 🔥😮💨 pic.twitter.com/zR8QYp0WfE
— LiveScore (@livescore) February 8, 2023
This includes two goals in Frankfurt’s final two group state games, but his recent form is perhaps a greater indication of what Napoli will have to contend with. Since that agonising miss that would have almost certainly clinched the World Cup for France, the 24-year-old has not let the moment knock him off course; he has six goals in as many games after returning to the Bundesliga.
In a game that may well be defined by Napoli and Frankfurt’s rampant centre-forwards, Muani has just as strong a claim as Victor Osimhen to be the eventual match-winner.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli)
Although perhaps now on the radar of many after dismantling Liverpool in the group stage earlier in the season, Napoli’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is one of Europe’s most potent wide players.
The wide-eyed Georgian has shades of a young George Best in full-flight, dropping, feinting and jinking his way past defenders. On average he registers 7.55 touches in the final third and just under four carries into the penalty area per game, which places him firmly among the top percentile of players in Europe for both stats.
🇬🇪🎁 Happy birthday to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who turns 22 today!
Simply one of the best out there at the minute. pic.twitter.com/iwhEE6tBUt
— Italian Football TV (@IFTVofficial) February 12, 2023
Napoli’s rip-roaring intensity under Luciano Spaletti, which saw them finish as the group stage’s highest scorers, has proven to be the perfect place for him this season as they look set on clinching a first Serie A title since a Maradona-inspired second in 1990.
He is one of five players in Europe’s top five leagues to register both 10 or more goals and assists (the others: Messi, Neymar, Kolo Muani and Gnabry) – beware Frankfurt.
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