CL Quarter-Finals Preview
Eight teams are left in Europe’s prestige competition as the CL has now reached the quarter-finals stage, so let’s take a closer look at next week’s 1st leg fixture!
In the previous round, it was PSV, Atlético Madrid, Liverpool, Club Brugge, Benfica, Lille, Feyenoord and Bayer Leverkusen that were eliminated and those results left us with the following match-ups which will take place this month:
Arsenal vs Real Madrid
Bayern Munich vs Inter
Barcelona vs Borussia Dortmund
PSG vs Aston Villa
Few can argue with the remaining teams as we have some giants of European football left in the competition. The exception would be Aston Villa, the English team still going strong under Unai Emery despite not having much European history of late. They are one of six clubs from England to have won Europe’s most prestigious competition when they beat Bayern Munich in 1982. They face an uphill battle against PSG, who were impressive when they got the better of Liverpool. The other English team left in the competition is Arsenal, but they also face a tough task against serial winners and favourites Real Madrid. Bayern Munich versus Inter should be an interesting match up with both sitting top of their respective domestic leagues and the final contest is between La Liga leaders Barcelona and Dortmund, who reached the final last season but have struggled domestically this time around.
Arsenal vs Real Madrid
Emirates Stadium, Tuesday @ 21:00
Arsenal will be well aware of the task that they face heading into this clash with the most successful team in Europe but they will be determined to do enough to keep the tie open heading into the return leg. Anything other than a home win will be regarded as a failure for Milkel Arteta’s team and will surely lead to elimination. The CL is the last realistic chance of silverware this season for the team from North London and they will be desperate to win their first ever trophy in the tournament. Arsenal had a relatively easy draw in the previous round as they made light work of getting past PSV, winning the away leg 7-1 and going through 9-3 on aggregate. Their lack of an out and out goalscorer continues to hinder them though, especially with Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz out for the whole season, but the return of Bukayo Saka is certainly a big boost.
Real Madrid will not be too intimidated by another trip to England as they already eliminated Manchester City in an earlier round. They even managed an away win on their way to a 6-3 aggregate victory over Pep Guardiola’s side. Arsenal have been a better side overall this season than Manchester City though so the visitors will need to be wary and not overconfident when heading to the Emirates. The last time these two met in the CL was all the way back in 2006 and it was Arsenal that triumphed over the two legs. Real Madrid faced a real battle to get the better of Atlético in the previous round, needing penalties to get through and they will be hoping to avoid such a tight finish, so an away goal or two would go a long way. Their only defeat in their last twelve matches came against Real Betis and it looks as though they are timing their end of season run in well, as is often the case.
Bayern Munich vs Inter
Allianz Arena, Tuesday @ 21:00
A tough tie to predict with both these giants performing well in their domestic competitions and both expecting to win their home matches. Bayern’s only blemish in the last ten matches has been a home defeat though, and a surprising one at that, as they lost to Bochum early in March. Their previous CL round was relatively straightforward though as they eased past fellow German team Bayer Leverkusen, winning 5-0 on aggregate. The Bavarian giants will be hopeful of a similar result to the last time that these two met, when they won both home and away legs 2-0.
Inter have only beaten Bayern once in the last five meetings and are probably not overjoyed at the prospect of facing them again. They will be hoping to leave Munich without conceding, as their defence has been the key to their success this season. They have nine wins in the last ten meetings and are locked into a tough battle at the top of Serie A. Inter will be well aware that they have the firepower to score an away goal and will be hoping to catch Bayern on the counter-attack but they will be well aware that this is a tough assignment and a step up from their straightforward 4-1 aggregate win over Feyenoord in the previous round.
Barcelona vs Borussia Dortmund
Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, Wednesday @ 21:00
On paper, there is only one winner between these two, but Dortmund defied the odds last season to make it all the way to the final so Barcelona will do well not to write them off. The home side will be big favourites to win this first leg though and the tie overall, particularly as they go into this tie unbeaten in their last twenty matches. In the previous round they got the better of Benfica with a 4-1 aggregate score and they have won every game since then, including a comfortable 4-1 win over Girona in La Liga followed by tough fixtures against Atlético Madrid in the Copa del Rey and Betis in the league.
This is the last chance that Dortmund have to end the season with some success as they have been well off it domestically. They do have the distraction of an important match at the weekend prior to this match, against Freiburg, with another defeat surely condemning them to no European football next season. It was a close affair in the previous round but the German giants just about managed to get the better of French side Lille, courtesy of a 2-1 away win in the second leg. Fans will be dreaming of another run to the final but for now the aim must be to get back to Germany with damage limitation, so that they can have a good go at Barcelona in front of their home fans.
PSG vs Aston Villa
Parc des Princes, Wednesday @ 21:00
The final match of the round pits one of the giants of Europe and the dominant force in France against somewhat of a surprise package in Aston Villa. The French side are still searching for their first CL trophy and things were not looking good towards the latter moments of the group stages. Wins in the last couple of matches allowed them to sneak into the knockout rounds and since then they thrashed Brest 10-0 on aggregate and managed to turn around a first leg deficit to beat English league leaders Liverpool, no mean feat. Since then, their domestic dominance has continued and they will be able to rest players going into this match should they so desire. Having never played Aston Villa before, PSG will be wanting to win this first leg comfortably.
Aston Villa fans have been loving their adventure in the CL this season, although it has come at the cost of a few poor results in the league. They continue to make progress in the the domestic cup, though and are now in the semi-finals, and will be dreaming of managing that in this competition too. They will be under no illusion that a tough task awaits them on Wednesday evening and will be hoping to limit the damage done in Paris in order to give themselves a fighting chance back in Birmingham in the return leg. Tricky matches against Brighton and Nottingham Forest in the week building up to this match are not ideal preparation though but fans will be hoping for the best.
Last Updated: 03.04.2025
