CL Quarter-finals 2nd Leg Preview
It’s a quick turnaround in the CL as we move swiftly on to the second leg of the CL quarter-finals with most ties looking to be over after the first leg. The fixtures are reversed so those teams that played on Wednesday will now play on Tuesday and vice versa. Let’s take a closer look at the upcoming matches!
It was always going to be a tough ask for Aston Villa to progress against PSG and the 3-1 loss in the first leg looks like it might have left them too much to do. As far as Dortmund are concerned, their hopes of reaching a second successive final seem to be over following a heavy 4-0 defeat in the first leg. Inter hold the advantage in their tie against Bayern Munich, having managed to get a win over in Germany last week and in the final match, Arsenal produced a superb performance to beat Real Madrid 3-0 in London last Tuesday. With the amount of quality players on the pitch there is no doubt that anything is still possible, but the odds are firmly in favour of the teams who go into the second leg holding an advantage.
Aston Villa vs PSG
Dortmund vs Barcelona
Real Madrid vs Arsenal
Inter vs Bayern Munich
Aston Villa vs PSG (1-3)
Villa Park, Tuesday @ 21:00
Aston Villa have had an excellent season back in Europe’s top competition but that looks like coming to an end at the quarter-final stage as they face an uphill task to turn around the loss they sustained in Paris last week. They managed a comfortable 3-0 win at the weekend, a result which allows them to continue to dream of another top four finish and a return to the CL. Aston Villa do have a favourable home record against French sides and manager Unai Emery will be rueing the fact that his side conceded such a late third goal last week as a 2-1 defeat would have given them more cause for optimism. Morgan Rogers has been one of Villa’s star men this season and he gave them the lead last week, fans will be hoping for another top performance from their attacker.
PSG have already wrapped up the domestic title but they are desperate for success on the bigger stage, having come close over recent seasons. Their weekend game was postponed, which means that they have had a whole week to prepare for this away tie in Birmingham. PSG have three wins from the five matches against PL sides this season already and will be optimistic about registering another win, even if this match is away from home. They will have to contend with a manager who has a formidable record in European competition, Unai Emery is unbeaten in 12 of his last 13 home games so the question for Luis Enrique is whether to risk attacking in the hope of getting another goal and putting the tie beyond Villa or defend and stick to the advantage they currently have.
Borussia Dortmund vs Barcelona (0-4)
Signal Iduna Park, Tuesday @ 21:00
The stats state that Dortmund have close to zero chance of progressing through to the next round and it’s easy to see why. They are having a poor season, languishing out of the European places in the league and were thumped 4-0 in the first leg of this tie. Dortmund have never actually beaten the Catalan side in European competition, with two draws and four losses against them. Furthermore, Dortmund have won only three of their last twelve home games. Their star man and one of the only bright lights this season has been striker Serhou Guirassy.
Barcelona continued to edge closer to another La Liga title with a narrow 1-0 win at the weekend over Leganes. The comfortable win in the first leg means that they don’t need to take the initiative in this game and they will hope to quieten the home crowd and control the tie comfortably. Barcelona have not reached the semi-final stages of the CL since 2018/19 so they will certainly be very keen to confirm that achievement. They are on a 24 match unbeaten run in all competitions in 2025 and their last eight away matches all ended in victory with former Dortmund man Robert Lewandowski continuing on his rich vein of form with two goals in the first leg.
Barcelona have won four of the last six meetings between these two with the other two matches ending in draws.
Inter vs Bayern Munich (2-1)
San Siro, Wednesday @ 21:00
It is the Italian side that holds the advantage in this tie, although it is the most evenly poised of the four. The fact that they managed a 2-1 away win in Munich last week will have delighted all associated with the club and they will be optimistic of finishing the job at the San Siro. They have progressed from 21 of the last 23 knockout ties when they have led the first leg and they continued on their excellent run by beating Cagliari comfortably in the league at the weekend. Inter are unbeaten at home in the CL for the last 14 matches, the longest run still going after they ended Bayern’s 22 game streak last week.
Bayern actually have a good record at the San Siro against Inter, winning three times in the CL. They got the better of an Italian side in the knockout rounds last season too, when they got past Lazio. They had a tricky match at the weekend when they were held to a draw by Dortmund, a result that keeps them six points clear at the top of the Bundesliga but they will now need to recoup from that tough match to put all their efforts into this match. If they do manage to turn the result around, it will be only the second time since 2019/20 that Bayern will reach the semi-finals.
Inter have four wins from the last ten matches between these two whereas Bayern have five.
Real Madrid vs Arsenal (0-3)
Santiago Bernabeu, Wednesday @ 21:00
The defending European champions are staring elimination in the face after they were blown away by an impressive Arsenal performance last week. The 3-0 defeat means that they are up against it, although if any team can turn around such a result it is the current holders. A narrow 1-0 win at the weekend was their first win in four matches, despite them having to contend with Kylian Mbappe being sent off in the first half. Their last three CL eliminations have come at the hands of PL teams so that will be of concern to Carlo Ancelotti as he looks to plot a way back into the tie. An early goal is surely key but they will be well aware of how dangerous Arsenal are and cannot afford to concede another goal against them.
Arsenal will look to carry on where they left off last week with another energetic and clinical performance. It is important to go into this match with the right mentality, it’s not game over just yet. They only managed a 1-1 draw against Brentford at the weekend, a result which only just keeps their faint hopes of winning the English league title alive. The main focus will be on this match though and they will look at their positive record of six wins from their last eight matches against La Liga opponents as something to boost their confidence. Should they manage to hold off Real, they will make it to their first CL semi-final since 2009. The fact Arsenal have not conceded more than one goal in any of the last nine away CL matches is further cause for optimism.
Surprisingly these two teams have not met often, Real Madrid have won only one of the five meetings against the Gunners and that was in the International Champions Cup. Arsenal have three wins and the other meeting was a goalless draw.
Last Updated: 14.04.2025
