According to Transfermarkt, Benzema is expected to return on December 12. Maybe he will miss many matches with France but he can at least be ready to play for Real Madrid later on. He is still very important for the team to be more successful. They need his contribution in the La Liga to fight harder against Barcelona for the league title. Benzema's score contribution has played a big role for Real Madrid for a long time.

I assume that Real Madrid won't be in search of a striker in January as Benzema is coming back. Otherwise they might have bigger problems in the Champions League as well.

Xabi Alonso has started to do a good job with Bayer Leverkusen recently. They won their last three league games and this streak carried them to the 12th position in the standings. Xabi Alonso doesn't have much of a manager career so far but it can be a really good start for him if he manages to have a good season here. After managing Real Sociedad B this is a really big step forward for him. Leverkusen are normally one of the strong teams of this league.

They are just struggling this season but they can leave these days behind by keeping a good form.

Gabriel Jesus has been out-of-form for a long time actually. It has been nearly two months since he scored the last time. This makes me doubt his performance at Brazil but let's see. Actually his being transferred by Arsenal is still a good thing because he is able to find more chances in the starting eleven. His general performance so far has been still quite decent.

If he makes use of this opportunity in the World Cup well then he might come back stronger to Arsenal. Although they are still doing well about scoring goals they would make use of Jesus being more productive for their title run.

Leclerc is ahead of Perez now in the driver standings already despite the equal points situation. It must be related to the total wins in this season maybe. Because Leclerc must have one more wins than Perez in this season so far. In case of they stay at equal points then Leclerc must be finishing at the second position.

But I feel like Perez can finish ahead of Leclerc anyway. He seems more ambitious now and he has a car advantage as well.

Leicester are said to be interested in Gosens from Inter. He is a left-back and he would be a nice addition to their defense line to strengthen it.

However this wouldn't be enough for them surely. They had better sign at least one solid centre-back as well. Their main problem has been with their defense for a long time. They have conceded so many goals in the English Premier League and this caused them to have a poor run. They are newly fixing things but they still need new players to get stronger. I don't believe they need any attacker for now as they don't have any problem about scoring goals.

PSG are really unlucky to have a draw against a team like Bayern Munich in last 16 round already. Bayern Munich are being shown as one of the biggest title contenders now. They have been incredible so far in the Champions League as well without signing a new striker to fill Lewandowski's place. It is going to be very difficult for PSG to stop them in this round.

PSG eliminated them before actually. But it was a really hard-fought one. Maybe it might be the time for Bayern Munich to have their revenge. PSG need their trio to show their best performances in this matchup. Eliminating one of the biggest contenders would be a big advantage for PSG on the road going to their first Champions League title.

Milan don't have the same challenge this season. Inter were having a similar season to them and it was easier for Milan to stay at top and win the league title as well. But now they have a very challenging opponent like Napoli which hasn't even got any loss in the league games so far. In the circumstances it is really difficult for Milan to win the title two times in a row.

The season is still long and the point gap is not like impossible to close up. But Milan just need to work really hard and wait for Napoli's mistakes.

Newcastle can actually maintain this form. The mental condition of a team is very important on the road going to success. Maybe they have an average quality squad now but their dedication is still helping them a lot to move on with minimum loss of points. They have an impressive winning streak recently and they have entered even top 3 in the league. It is like a dream season for them with this squad.

If they keep this until the end of the season then they will be very likely to be able to bring top players here. Because it will be easier to convince that kind of players after having a solid season and joining the Champions League.

Bruno Fernandes has said that he doesn't have any problem with Ronaldo now. As you might have seen, he had an awkward moment with Ronaldo in the dressing room a short time ago. I don't know if he is telling the truth but it doesn't seem an honest answer to me. Because Ronaldo has had similar things with some other players as well. They shouldn't act like Ronaldo isn't there.

After seeing this kind of things I'm just saying that Ronaldo is doing the right thing by wishing to leave Manchester United as soon as possible.

Unless Bayern Munich deal with many injuries there wouldn't be much thing changing for them after the World Cup. They are still the most disciplined team by far in the league. Only serious injuries can cause them to stumble too much and be under the danger of losing their title chance to another team.

Most of us would like to see a different team becoming the champions but it seems really difficult. Unless some other team build a squad that can fight with Bayern Munich until the end of a season nothing will change.

For Milan - Tottenham matchup, I would like to see Milan to advance to the quarter final honestly. Because we haven't seen Milan being successful in the Champions League for many years. They were one of the biggest teams here back in the day. But now they are newly getting accustomed to be a part of this organization again.

I like Conte's Tottenham but I'm doubting their performance in the Champions League still. They barely reached this stage after the final group games. It is hard to predict what they can do against Milan as well. It has been eleven years since they met in this tournament the last time.

Mercedes are just as most people expected. They are stronger from now on and they are again a big challenge for Red Bull drivers. I think we will watch another domination by Russell and Hamilton on podium. This time Hamilton might go for the win on his last attempts for a win in this season. Russell got his first career win in the previous race so he might race a little more comfortably maybe.

I'm curious about what Perez and Verstappen will do this time as well. After the recent incidents I can't predict what can happen if we see some competition between them in the race.

You have made a good point there. Frankfurt were really not one of the expected teams to reach the title in the previous season but they did it. The Europa League is always open for a surprise because of that. On the other hand we have witnessed big teams winning the title most of the time as well. Frankfurt just finished this series. I know that Villarreal also won the title but they were already one of the strong teams in that season.

Honestly I don't expect a surprise this season because there are even more big teams in the Europa League compared to the previous season. One of them will be eliminated certainly after the Barcelona - Manchester United matchup though but there will still be many left.

Ibrahimovic is a really good leader for Milan above all else. He wasn't performing like in the old times maybe but even Milan players were admitting that he was leading the team very well to the victories. He had an important share in their Serie A title in the previous season because of that as well.

But they need to be able to do the same things without him too and it looks like they are good at it for now. But their performance is still a little away from the one in the previous season. Napoli are making use of it a lot so Milan should wake up immediately after this break ends. Otherwise it will be a dream for them to retain their title.

There is no way Ronaldo is playing for Manchester United from now on. As far as I have heard the team wanted him not to come back to the team after the World Cup. They are already trying to find a way to sell him as soon as possible. Ronaldo shares the same feeling as well of course. Apart from rumours, I wonder whether there is really a team interested in signing him in January.

We have mostly mentioned Chelsea and Napoli. Chelsea seem more likely to me as Napoli don't need Ronaldo as they have Osimhen already.

PSG's main goal about bringing Messi and Neymar here as well and building the "trio" has always been winning the Champions League title. Therefore if they continue to fail in their goal anyway then I don't know if any of these players would think about leaving. Maybe not because of lacking the Champions League title but for example Messi might think of leaving at a point. Because he might be still thinking of retiring at Barcelona. But until then I don't see any reason for him to leave.

Tottenham need to pull themselves together again after the poor results for some weeks. They lost against Liverpool, Newcastle and Manchester United all. Playing this badly in important games can cost them a lot later on. Because after starting solidly to the season they have raised the expectation level by their fans quite much as well. People would like to see them in top 4 at the end of the season.

Maybe Manchester United's inconsistency is a luck for Tottenham now. But if Liverpool maintain a solid form from now on then they can be a big trouble for Tottenham. The only way to prevent this is to fix their issues and perform better again. They had better be stronger in defense especially.

Marseille are definitely my favourite for the second position in the standings. For now Lens have the position but I don't expect them to be consistent until the end of the season. Marseille should be able to take advantage of having a better squad quality than them. They just had a bad time period for some weeks but things are better now. The recent two wins should give them a boost.

Maybe there is still no team that is able to fight with PSG for the title until the end. But at least there is a nice competition for the rest of the top positions.

Chelsea should be able to finish the extension of Mount's contract one way or another. They tried to offer a very long-term contract to him like seven years but he didn't lean towards it. I assume he doesn't want to hand over his future to Chelsea for that long. But he still likes to be here so he is open for a reasonable offer.

Chelsea should definitely keep him at all costs. He is one of the key players for the team. They are already not doing very well in scoring these days. If they lose Mount as well then things would get even worse.

I remember a time when Magnussen and Hulkenberg weren't getting along. Therefore I wonder how much good teammates they will be this time. The thing I said was many years ago so their relationship might not be the same now. Hulkenberg is a sensible choice for Haas actually. Because he is a talented driver and he can fight better than Mick as well I think.

Somehow Mick couldn't impress the team as much as Magnussen. I really don't know if he can find a team for himself to race next season.