This week in football features the return legs of all four UEFA Champions League quarterfinal ties. The first legs, all last week, saw some very entertaining matches, as well as some surprising (and quite disappointing) blowouts. Here, I’ll run through the four matches to come on Tuesday and Wednesday, and give my take on what can be expected.
All matches go at 8:45 PM, Central European Time.
ATLÉTICO MADRID vs. BARCELONA (April 9)
This tie between Atlético Madrid and Barcelona will be a clash between two Spanish giants. Europe will have the privilege of witnessing a battle between two clubs who have been fighting each other all season in La Liga. Currently, Atlético rest atop the league table, ahead of Barca by just one point. This match will be the fifth time the two sides have played each other this season. Interestingly, each of those matches have ended in a draw. So, on paper, there isn’t much to separate these teams.
Yet, the draw at home was still seen as quite disappointing to Barca fans. They allowed an away goal, so they will definitely need to play attacking football. Fortunately for them, Barcelona have arguably the best player in the world, Lionel Messi. As well as Neymar, and Andres Iniesta. This team is fully capably of winning in Madrid. So, the pressure is really on them. As Xavi said, it will be vital that Barca score first – preferrably early. Atlético will want to show up Barcelona, who have been very successful in recent years, and remind the world that there are more than two good football teams in Spain. I really believe that Atlético have an amazing opportunity here, and I’d be prepared to say that they’ll take advantage of it.
CHELSEA vs. PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN (April 8)
In my opinion, this match has the potential to be the most dramatic out of the four. Chelsea were defeated quite comfortably by PSG 3-1 in Paris last week. However, by no stretch of the imagination can the English club be considered done. A 2-0 victory at Stamford Bridge would put them through, since they scored an away goal last week. Furthermore, PSG will be without their star striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who went down with a hamstring injury in the first leg. On the other hand, Chelsea have their fair share of missing players as well. Ramires will be out with a suspension, due to the yellow card he received for a challenge on Ezequiel Lavezzi. Nemanja Matic is ineligible to play, since he played in the Champions League for Benfica earlier this year. Chelsea’s manager Jose Mourinho is hoping that Samuel Eto’o will be fit for the match.
As it stands, PSG can definitely be considered favourites to advance to the semi-finals. But, I believe this match certainly has the potential to imitate the dramatic second-leg comeback by Manchester United in the Round of 16, against Olympiakos. Despite being down, I’d be inclined to say that Chelsea are still the more likely to advance of the two English sides still in the competition. If Chelsea can play a much more sound defensive game, and keep a clean sheet, then I think it’s very possible that they can capitalize on a Zlatan-less PSG team.
BAYERN MUNICH vs. MANCHESTER UNITED (April 9)
As a Man United fan, this match terrifies me. United managed to squeak out a 1-1 draw in their home leg. They were buoyed by the amazing support of the Old Trafford fans, and some decent defensive play (something that has been severely lacking in the squad this season). Some fans believe that United were robbed of an early goal, when Danny Welbeck’s strike was disallowed because of his potentially dangerous high boot. For the second leg, however, United are in a very difficult situation. Bayern are, obviously, the defending champions of Europe. They’ve been in much better form this season. Plus, they’re playing the second leg at home, having already scored an away goal. All signs point to a relatively routine victory for the Germans.
However, many people, perhaps myself included, expected United to be thrashed at home as well. Bayern will be without an enormously key player in Bastian Schweinsteiger, who’s banned because of his sending off in the Manchester leg. At this point, United have absolutely nothing to lose this season, having played their way out of the FA Cup, the Capital One Cup and the Premier League title contention. A lot of fans will be content with just a decent showing – as opposed to the worst-case-scenario shellacking they feared would happen. One has to think that fans in Munich are feeling much more nervous than they thought they’d be going into the second leg of this tie. An early goal, or perhaps some good luck, could see United advance. There are suggestions that David Moyes is playing mind games with his counterpart Guardiola. We could be in for a much closer match than we may have thought.
BORUSSIA DORTMUND vs. REAL MADRID (April 8)
Unfortunately, this is the only tie that appears to be pretty much decided. After one leg in Madrid, Dortmund are down 3-0. The first leg featured a late attempt to fight back from the Germans, but some great defensive play by Pepe saved Madrid. To me, this deficit just seems to large for Dortmund to come back. Yes, the match is in Germany, where the fans will be immense, win or lose. And yes, Cristiano Ronaldo is unlikely to play for Real Madrid. However, I honestly believe Dortmund would require a miracle to come out the victors in this tie. It’s a shame the first match ended like it did, as this was probably the quarter-final tie I was most looking forward to. This had been shaping up to be an exciting rematch of last year’s semi-final, in which BVB pulled out a dramatic victory off a first-leg hat trick by Robert Lewandowski.
I have no doubt that Dortmund will put up a fight. However, I can’t see them scoring three or four goals. I’d wager this match will end 2-0 or 2-1 in favour of the home side, putting Madrid through 3-2 on aggregate.
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