The quarterfinals is one of the most exciting and intriguing round of the Uefa Champions League. At this stage, the last eight teams will be jostling for the semifinals spot with the aim of making the final and probably winning the trophy. There are also good teams left for there to be plenty of soccer, and one tie becoming a blowout doesn’t take the drama out of half of the round. As a fan, this is probably as good as it gets. Which team will eventually progress to the final four, here, we take a critical analysis of the draws and the chances of each team in making it to the semifinals.
Barcelona v. Atletico Madrid
Considered to be the toughest draw, Barcelona are rated the best team in the world right now in terms of current form. Having Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar will do that for you. But eight months into the season, Atletico Madrid are nine points behind Barcelona in La Liga. That’s not a small gap, and the Catalans are likely to win the league. Atletico Madrid are known to be rugged, ability to defend very well and deadly on the counterattack, that gives them a chance against a Barcelona team that looks borderline unbeatable.
Atletico went ahead of Barcelona earlier this season and it took Messi’s ability to find a loose ball in the 77th minute to earn his side a vital win.
These two teams are building a nice rivalry, and it could go either way.
PSG v. Manchester City
Sheikh Mansour from the United Arab Emirates’ royal family in 2008 bought Manchester City and started investing huge amounts money into the club.
In 2011, Qatari Sports Investments took over Paris Saint-German and it too joined in the spending spree. Both clubs aimed to join the elite and it didn’t take them long to join the best in their respective Leagues, but have failed to make a statement in Europe.
Man City and PSG meet, and the winner will progress into the Champions League semifinals for the first time ever. It will essentially be great return of an investment on the billions of dollars.
Both sides parades prolific stars like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Angel Di Maria, Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure, a 50-50 tie.
Bayern Munich v. Benfica
Seen as least interesting quarterfinal tie, does not rule out any possible upset. A large part of Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich legacy hinges on this Champions League, so any match the Bavariansplay in this competition has intrigue.. Meanwhile, Benfica feature 18-year-old wunderkind Renato Sanches and one-time future Mexican hope Raul Jimenez.
Bayern Munich are favorites to qualify, but anything can happen. Guardiola have a magnificent team and Benfica are not the Portuguese powerhouse this season. This tie is most likely to be a dead rubber game.
VfL Wolfsburg vs. Real Madrid
Surprise inclusion and underdog, VfL Wolfsburg have struggle a bit this season. The Wolves were brilliant a year ago, but adding the Champions League to their fixture list taxed them, and they sold prized winger Kevin de Bruyne to Manchester City.
Julian Draxler has been good, but nowhere near what de Bruyne was last season. The result is being out of the Bundesliga top four race by the winter break and getting to the Champions League quarterfinals largely thanks to a very kind draw. Wolfsburg face daunting task against Real Madrid.
A team that won the trophy two years ago and parades the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, whose 52 Champions League goals since 2012 is 20 more than any other player. The same Real Madrid who have improved since club legend Zinedine Zidane took over as manager. Well on paper, Wolfsburg have reached their last point, but football is not played on paper and we could see another upset.
Soccer fans are in for some tasty ties.
Anthony Nlebem
