PETER CROUCH: It’s MAGIC to play in these big Champions League ties as the last 16 rolls around 

The balls with the special stars on are coming out at Manchester City and Liverpool’s training grounds on Tuesday morning. Footballs are inanimate objects, are they? Not these. They feel alive and stir emotion.

The sight of the stars means one thing — a huge week awaits. It is the Champions League, the pinnacle. They make you giddy. Everything about these occasions do.

City will be wandering across Sporting Lisbon’s Estadio Jose Alvalade pitch later on Tuesday and Liverpool the San Siro on Wednesday ahead of Inter Milan.

The Champions League footballs stir emotion and get you excited for the European matches

50 UP FOR EGYPTIAN KING SALAH

Mo Salah will play his 50th Champions League match since signing for Liverpool. He has 32 goals.

For one club, only Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski (36) and Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid (51) scored more in the competition at the end of their 50th match. 

You get an hour to take it in, global camera crews capturing your walk. What a buzz that offers. So, this is the place where we will have to deal with a vociferous crowd. This is where I will be hearing that spine-tingling anthem.

I speak for all of the lads about the Champions League anthem, it genuinely gets to you. You’ve watched all this on television growing up, or as a professional dreaming of these occasions. 

You stand there to the deafening music, thinking about those who have gone before you. It serves as a reminder that you’ve reached the peak. This is it.

That two-month break between group stages and the knockouts is something I quite like. The last 16 creeps up on you and feels like a nice bonus. Suddenly we have Liverpool against Inter without anybody really noticing!

As players, giving that bit extra is subconscious because you obviously give your all in every game, but something definitely comes over you.

It was certainly the case for me at Anfield and Tottenham during the first year we qualified. If you ask any fan if the atmosphere goes up then they will say yes, even at City, who have historically had an uneasy relationship with the competition.

That passion has a knock-on effect. If we were playing a night game at Anfield in the league, it just wasn’t the same. I don’t know why but just look at the performances. The results and the comebacks bear it out.

We are living through an exciting time for English football and are currently in a spell of Premier League dominance. Two all-English finals in three years says it all and you would not bet against that turning into three out of four when Saint Petersburg comes around on May 28.

Manchester City and Liverpool are my favourites to win the Champions League this season

Manchester City and Liverpool are my favourites to win the Champions League this season

I cannot see much past the Premier League clubs. Liverpool and City are my favourites and I’m struggling to split them in Europe.

Chelsea, crowned world champions over the weekend, have a real opportunity to defend the trophy too. Joe Cole still keeps in touch with the guys at Lille and they fancy their chances in their last-16 match but Chelsea should be too strong.

Manchester United are the only ones I’m wavering on. They can have their moments, although their tie with Atletico Madrid is 50-50. It depends on which United turns up.

Bayern Munich are the real threat. Robert Lewandowski is lethal, supplemented with pace and ability in midfield. The rest? Real Madrid remain a top side but lag behind. Paris Saint-Germain have top players but are they ever going to truly gel as a unit?

It all comes down to the respective domestic leagues. When I was coming through, you would sit and watch Football Italia on Channel 4 and I remember quizzing Graeme Souness and Paul Ince about that era, with Gazza, David Platt and those guys.

Serie A was the best league then but now it is miles off and it is hard to see how that changes. There were a couple of potential opportunities for me to move abroad during my career but it was never as appealing as the Premier League.

Pepe Reina (right) asked me about moving to LaLiga side Villarreal when I was at Liverpool

Pepe Reina (right) asked me about moving to LaLiga side Villarreal when I was at Liverpool

Pepe Reina asked me about going to Villarreal when I was at Liverpool. Later on, while at Stoke, Genoa and Sampdoria showed some interest. Sampdoria were actually my Italian team… I had one of their shirts, mainly down to Gianluca Vialli.

I played golf with Souness, who was at Sampdoria in the 1980s, and he told me the experience could not be beaten. It just didn’t work out for me but I was happy where I was.

That love affair with Italy was always present though and the Champions League gave me the chance to live out those dreams. 

Think of the history in the walls of somewhere like the San Siro. It had that Colosseum-like feel to it, with spiralled staircases in the corners.

To score the winner in that ground for Spurs in 2011 is something I’ll never forget. And I admit to having a bit of envy that those Liverpool players are going there twice in the same season, after beating AC Milan in December as well.

I was really happy with the career I had but watching the Champions League, those incredible nights, is the only time I get a bit jealous. I hope the players know how lucky they are.

ME AND MY GIRL ARE DUBAI DANCE SENSATIONS 

It is half-term so I am in Dubai this week while I do some Football Escapes coaching.

We do two-hour morning sessions with youngsters while they are off from school and a few former professionals have done it, including Rio Ferdinand and Michael Owen.

But you might already be aware that I’m here by glancing at my Twitter on Saturday. I have gone and become an accidental internet sensation again, haven’t I? My daughter, Sophia, loves TikTok and asked me to join in recording her quick videos. 

I’ve no idea what the moves are called but I’d had a few beverages and decided to join in, with stunning results! I felt the sheer quality of them deserved a wider audience. You’re welcome.

I made waves on my daughter Sophia's TikTok by showing off some crazy dance moves (above)

I made waves on my daughter Sophia’s TikTok by showing off some crazy dance moves (above)

RICE TO SEE DECLAN HAVING A GOOD TIME

You always have a favourite player and Declan Rice is mine at the moment. Everything about him draws you in — the way he plays, the character and the enjoyment that goes into his game.

He has gone to another level recently. There is the way he carries the ball through midfield, he has a bit of pace and has added a few goals too, although there is definitely more to come in that department.

Declan has always been strong in the tackle but he is now showcasing his full range of talents and has become a complete central midfielder.

I love to see West Ham midfielder Declan Rice (pictured) having a good time playing football

I love to see West Ham midfielder Declan Rice (pictured) having a good time playing football

A big thing for me is also that he is having a bit of fun. He comes up with the odd stupid goal celebration, which I’m fully on board with!

It’s so refreshing to see someone like Declan thrive in today’s game. He relishes being a footballer and that is the way it should be.

Young players sometimes look like they have got the weight of the world on their shoulders. They have got the best job in the world! Enjoy it, please. Just look at Declan Rice. 

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