The Quarter-Finals of the UEFA Champions League have arrived and it’s time to whittle eight teams down to just four. We have seen triumphs and tears already this season as Europe’s elite club competition continues to write up some of the most dramatic storylines ever seen. From Barcelona’s thrilling overhaul of PSG to Bayern Munich’s five-star and five-goal performances, we have already seen it all. There are the big-hitters and then there are the underdogs but who will be adding another chapter to their Champions League fairy-tale?
Barcelona’s reward for their last-16 heroics is a meeting with fellow giants Juventus. This is only the eighth meeting between the two sides in European competition history and having beaten the Italians 3-1 in the 2015 showpiece, they will be relying once again on Neymar and Suarez, scorers that night, to lead them to victory. Messi too will be present after his recent injury, as he was at the weekend when Barca missed the chance to go top of La Liga, slipping to a 2-0 defeat at Malaga. Juventus beat Barcelona at this stage on their way to the final in 2003, eventually losing out on penalties to AC Milan. Gianluigi Buffon was just 25 at the time and the now-veteran goalkeeper will face them once again as he looks to add the one medal to his collection that still eludes him. Dani Alves is also set to face his former side who will be without the suspended Sergio Busquets in midfield.
We can expect goals elsewhere on Tuesday evening. Monaco are currently the highest scoring team in any of Europe’s top 5 leagues this season and boast an attack that includes the likes Radamel Falcao and arguably the brightest young talent in world-football at the minute - Kylian Mbappe. Borussia Dortmund smashed the record for the number of goals scored in the group-stage (21) courtesy of an 8-4 drubbing of Legia Warsaw as well as having the competitions leading scorer this season in their side, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang currently has 7 goals to his name. Despite all the attacking talent on display, neither team really has the defensive capabilities worth boasting about. Despite overcoming Manchester City in the last round, Monaco still conceded 6 times on their way to the quarter-finals and recently lost a French Cup final 4-1 to Paris St Germain, while Dortmund are licking their wounds after defeat at the weekend to bitter rivals Bayern Munich by the same score-line.
Leicester City’s Champions League hopes suffered a major setback with the news that talismanic captain Wes Morgan will miss the trip to Atletico Madrid on Wednesday through injury. The two teams last met 20 years ago in the first round of UEFA Cup when Atletico came out 4-1 aggregate victors over two-legs. Antoine Griezmann however has warned his team-mates not to underestimate the fearless foxes. He said: "I think we have the most difficult game… All the games will be tough, but ours will not be a nice match to watch on the television. It will be tough with both sides putting in a lot of work. I just hope we get to that game in good shape.” Diego Simeone’s men come into the game off the back of a well-earned point against neighbours Real Madrid while Leicester will be looking to bounce back after suffering a first-ever defeat under new manager Craig Shakespeare, 4-2 away at Everton.
Having traded blows in the semi-finals in 2012 and then again in 2014 in which Bayern Munich and Real Madrid went on the respective finals, two of Europe’s biggest powerhouses come to blows once again with a spot in the last-4 up for grabs. With a combined total of 16 European Cups between them, they share a bit of recent history too. Arjen Robben and Toni Kroos were once team-mates at Bayern and while they have both played for each club at some stage, they will be on opposite ends come Wednesday and are set to face each other for the first time in their careers. Zinedene Zidane was once assistant manager to Carlo Ancelotti during his time in charge of Los Blancos before the latter made the switch to the Bavarian giants. Ancelotti has won the Champions League three times already in his career and will be looking to return the crown to a club that has won the competition just twice since the turn of the century. Zidane himself has since won the Champions League as manager of Madrid and they are they current holders.