Champions League Quarter-Finals Preview
With the Champions League round of 16 games wrapping up on Wednesday night, and the quarter-final draws set, we’ve put together a preview of what’s to come.
Who Qualified?
Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City, PSG, Real Madrid.
Arsenal and Manchester City are the two English sides who have made it through to the final eight, and whilst City are the current holders, with a vast amount of experience in the latter rounds of the tournament in recent years, Arsenal haven’t made it to the quarter-final stages since 2010.
Three Spanish teams have made it into the last eight, with Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Barcelona all going through to the quarter-finals together for the first time since the 2016/17 season, with Real winning it that year.
Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund will be representing Germany in the quarter-finals. Bayern will be eager to silence the critics with some European success after one of their worst domestic campaigns in over a decade. Dortmund might sniff an opportunity on their side of the draw.
Lastly there’s PSG, and despite their unpredictable form this season, any team with Kylian Mbappé in it should not be counted out.
The Draw
The first legs of the quarter-final ties will be played on April 9 and 10, with the return fixtures on April 16 and 17.
Arsenal vs Bayern Munich (9 April 20:00 gmt)
Bayern vs Arsenal 2017 (10-2) on aggregate
Arsenal last faced Bayern in a Champions League knockout game in 2017. A fixture that Arsenal fans will not remember fondly, but it also may represent a chance at redemption for the Gunners.
A long time has passed since their last encounter with Bayern.
Mikel Arteta’s squad is full of quality, and he has developed it into a team capable of winning big trophies. The North London club will want to see their league form translate into Champions League form as they go head-to-head with a European giant in Bayern Munich.
Arsenal looked unconvincing over two legs against Porto, who caused a lot of problems for the Gunners despite entering the tie unheralded. Galeno put the Portuguese side 1-0 up with a long range shot in the dying seconds of the first game. Martin Ødegaard produced a moment of quality to set up Leandro Trossard in the second leg making it 1-1 on aggregate, eventually going to penalties with Arsenal emerging victorious.
Bayern are not having a great season by their own very high standards. Unless Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen suddenly drop off, which doesn’t look likely, it will be the first time any other team other than Bayern has won the Bundesliga since 2012. Manager Thomas Tuchel will be acutely aware that Champions League success could save his legacy at the club and revive an expectant fanbase.
The round of 16 games against Lazio were a mirror of each other, Bayern were poor in the first leg and struggled even more after going a man down in the second half, losing 1-0 in Rome. The second leg was much more like it from the Bavarians as talisman Harry Kane starred in a comfortable 3-0 victory.
UEFA have said there will be no Bayern fans at the Emirates in their away leg.
Bayern were handed a ban from attending the away leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie because their supporters threw fireworks onto the pitch during their game against Lazio earlier this month.
Real Madrid vs Man City (9 April 20:00 gmt)
These two Goliaths of European football have faced each other a fair few times in recent years. City knocked out Real Madrid in last years semi-final, going onto win it for the first time in their history. The year before that Real knocked out City in a memorable game, also going onto win it.
Possibly a sign of things to come.
Real struggled in their round of 16 tie against RB Leipzig just about scraping a 2-1 win on aggregate. However you can never write off the fourteen time European champions, who have a knack for getting the job done in this competition.
A new era of Galácticos is coming through at Real Madrid, Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior to name but two have looked particularly impressive this season. You can be sure that Los Blancos will not go down easily.
Man City were the favourites going into the competition and remain favourites now. Pep Guardiola’s side continue to be relentless after securing the coveted treble last season. Striker Erling Haaland and chief playmaker Kevin De Bruyne have been firing on all cylinders since their return from injury.
The treble winners will be looking to do it again this season and they have been pretty much faultless so far in their Champions League campaign. They won all of their group games coming into the knockout rounds and dispatched Copenhagen winning 3-1 in both legs.
They will be hard to stop.
PSG vs Barcelona (10 April 20:00 gmt)
These two teams last faced each other in the knockout phases during the 2020/21 season which saw the Parisian side, led by Mbappé, thrash Barça. PSG will be hoping for a similar result this time round, conscious that their superstar player will likely not be at the club next season, as they still await their first Champions League trophy.
The Champions League is all that remains for the 25 year-old to win, and he will want to bring European glory to Paris before he departs in the summer.
PSG took on Real Sociedad in the round of 16 coming out as 1-4 victors on aggregate in what turned out to be relatively simple for the Parisians. Mbappé once again came up with the goods, scoring three times over the two legs.
Manager Luis Enrique knows how difficult it can be to win the Champions League, he did it with Barça in 2015. With his experience and the likes of Mbappé in the team, they have a shout.
Barcelona have somewhat fallen from their former grace, but they still remain a club with immense expectation and history in the tournament. Xavi is also familiar with the challenges posed in this competition and by his opponent, having played under Enrique at Barça, and will no doubt prep his team suitably.
Having last reached the quarter-finals in the 2019/20 season, the Catalonian side will want to reinstate their place as a European football powerhouse.
Barça overcame Napoli in the round of 16, drawing the away leg 1-1 and winning their home leg 3-1. These were exactly the same results the last time they faced each other in the round of 16 in 2019/20. A fair result it would seem, with goals from Robert Lewandowski and Joao Cancelo sealing the deal. The 20 year-old Fermin López also got on the scoresheet as he broke the deadlock in the second leg.
Hopefully the young guns such as him and Lamine Yamal can produce some magic to keep the dream alive for Barça.
Atlético Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund (10 April 20:00)
Diego Simeone has turned Atlético into a very tricky team to come up against in Europe, through some good football, moments of magic and a tendency to conjure up the dark arts in times of need.
Atleti are never an easy game in the knockout rounds and any team would prefer to avoid them.
This season they have been inconsistent in domestic competitions especially away from home, but have remained strong in Europe, finishing top of their group. They will be relying on their all-time leading goalscorer Antoine Griezmann to set the standard.
Atlético produced the biggest shock of the round of 16 beating an in form Inter Milan on penalties. The first leg finished 1-0 to Inter at the San Siro, but the Spanish side turned it around making it 2-1 in the second leg and taking the game to extra time and then penalties which they won.
A team never to be underestimated.
Lastly we have Dortmund. A club which seems constantly in transition periods, they still manage to hold their own in Europe. They last reached the quarter-finals in 2020/21, and always turn up to make things tough.
Drawn up against PSV in the round of 16, a 1-1 draw in the first leg and a 2-0 win in the second, courtesy of Jadon Sancho and veteran servant Marco Reus, was enough to send the German side into the last eight.
Marco Reus was a very promising young talent the last time Dortmund made it past the quarter-finals in 2012/13 and will now be involved as the experienced leader of this Dortmund team. He acts as the only constant in a squad that is constantly changing every few years.
The quarters are where it traditionally gets serious in this competition, and it looks like it’ll be no different this year.
Who do you think will be making it through to the semi’s?
