What To Expect From The Champions League Quarter Finals

Following an eventful last 16 stage, the Quarter Finals of this year's Champions League campaign are set to kick off on the 8th of April with Arsenal facing Real Madrid and Bayern Munich facing Inter Milan, the stage will then continue with Barcelona vs Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint Germain vs Aston Villa. If the last 16 games are anything to base predictions off, we can expect some serious levels of entertainment with each team battling it out for a place in the Semi-finals.

Arsenal vs Real Madrid

The first game of four games looks to be a thriller with LaLiga contenders Real Madrid visiting the Emirates to face Mikel Arteta’s side who will be looking to try and win a first major trophy in 5 years following their heartbreak fighting for the Premier League title the last 2 years and the title being almost unreachable this year after Liverpool’s stellar form in the league. Following their hammering of PSV in their previous games, beating them 9-3 on aggregate they will be firing on all cylinders and ready to try and get that one step closer to european glory. On the other hand, Real Madrid will be looking to retain the title with the aim of making it their 16th Champions League trophy in an ever expanding trophy cabinet. Los Blancos came through in dramatic fashion, beating Atletico Madrid in a derby for the ages, going through following a penalty shootout victory.

Bayern vs Inter

The next blockbuster fixture sees two european giants facing off, both teams looking to win a european trophy for the first time in over a decade. Both teams put in convincing performances in their previous games, Bayern demolishing Leverkusen 5-0 on aggregate and Inter claiming a 4-1 aggregate victory over Feyenoord, they will both have clear strategy coming into the games. Bayern will likely come out ‘all guns blazing’ aiming to create a constant threat to Inzaghi’s Inter side who are extremely difficult to break down, Bayern will be relying on the pace and skill of Michael Olise and Jamal Musiala to try and work balls into the box and create a threat to Inter’s solid back line. To negate this, Inter will look to hit Bayern on the counter, exposing their high line and aiming to try and create as many one-on-one opportunities for Lautaro Martinez as possible.

Barcelona vs Dortmund

When watching Barcelona vs Dortmund expect a clash that combines football heritage and youthful exuberance. Last year's runners up Dortmund will be looking to make back to back finals with Barcelona being just the next step in their journey, this step however may be more difficult than previously anticipated as after not qualifying for the competition last season, Barcelona are currently joint favourites to win after their more than convincing performances so far this season. Dortmund however currently sit at 40/1 making them the least likely winners of the tournament in the eyes of the bookies. -tweet-

PSG vs Aston Villa

This lines up to potentially be the most interesting fixture of all quarter finals, after dominating Liverpool across both legs in their last games PSG will be looking to continue their european charge aiming to prevent Villa from reaching their first UCL semi final since 1983. PSG have made themselves a formidable opponent displaying high energy levels and sensational attacking play having caused Liverpool all sorts of problems, they will look to continue this form and aim to exploit Villa’s defensive incompetencies, the Villains having kept only 10 clean sheets across the Premier league and Champions league this season. Villa will look to try and keep the damage to a minimum when visiting the Parc des Princes, aiming to head into the reverse fixture at Villa Park where they have lost just 2 games this season, this will give them a much greater advantage over the french side.