Well, the Champions League round of 16 concluded on Wednesday night with some unforgettable second legs and plenty of penalty shoot-out drama. Not only did Paris Saint-Germain eliminate Liverpool on spot-kicks at Anfield this week, but Real Madrid emerged from a trip to rivals Atletico Madrid with a similar victory after 120 tension-packed minutes to complete the field for the quarterfinals.
All in all, the ties offer plenty to talk about, from Arsenal getting a shot at Real Madrid to Aston Villa hoping to take down Paris Saint-Germain in what should be an electric affair. And how about Inter Milan taking on the presumptive champions of Germany, Bayern Munich?
While the dust settles on this week’s mayhem, let’s take a way-too-early look at how we think the quarterfinals — to be played April 8/9 and April 15/16 — will play out as Mark Ogden, Gabriele Marcotti, Beth Lindop, Rob Dawson and Julie Laurens make their predictions.
QF ONE: Arsenal vs. Real Madrid
First leg: April 8 | Second leg: April 16
OGDEN: Arsenal are Champions League rookies at this stage of the competition, and maybe the biggest club never to win it. Against Real Madrid, that matters. Real have absolutely no inferiority complex, no doubts when it comes to the Champions League, but there are question marks all over this Arsenal team — principally, who can score the goals to win the tie?
Meanwhile, Real have too much firepower and they win in every department, including on the touchline with Carlo Ancelotti overshadowing Mikel Arteta. There is a real danger of Arsenal being taken back to school in this tie. Real Madrid advance, 4-1 on aggregate
MARCOTTI: Real Madrid’s pedigree and star quality suggest they’ll go through, but there are factors Arsenal can exploit. Starting with the fact that they’ve clearly given up on the league, which means between now and April 8, if I’m Arteta, all I’m doing is preparing this game.
If he’s going to stick with Mikel Merino up front — it’s an absurd situation that was wholly avoidable, but let’s not go over old ground here — he needs to tweak his patterns of play so that he becomes an asset in the final third, and not just an out-of-position passenger. Remember when we used to bang on about Arsenal and their set pieces? Well, that guy is still there and set-piece defending is not Madrid’s forte.
I actually think this is going to be closer than many expect. Madrid still aren’t clicking, LaLiga’s title race is draining and too often the game plan is wait for Kylian Mbappé, Jude Bellingham or Vinicius Jr. to do something (or for Fede Valverde to leather it from deep). If that happens, there’s no much you can do, but if it doesn’t and this game is decided on football and tactics, it’s a toss-up. Real Madrid advance, 1-0 on aggregate
LAURENS: Real Madrid will be the favorites, especially with the second leg at the Bernabeu. Arsenal are struggling for creativity at the moment, unless they play PSV Eindhoven. They don’t have a proper No.9, even with the return from injury of Gabriel Martinelli.
It might not be a bad thing for the Gunners to be the underdogs and they’ve hopefully learned a lot from their loss at this stage of the competition last season against Bayern Munich. But Real Madrid are the Kings of Europe, the reigning champions. There is an aura about them in this competition, and it will count for sure next month. Real Madrid advance, 4-2 on aggregate
First leg: April 9 | Second leg: April 15
OGDEN: PSG are a really, really good team and their win at Liverpool will give them the confidence that they can finally win the Champions League this season. They tore Man City apart at Parc des Princes in the League Phase, and also made Liverpool look ordinary over two legs. So despite Villa’s great run to the quarters, there is only one winner in this tie and that’s PSG. Vitinha, João Neves and Ousmane Dembélé have been outstanding in recent weeks and they’ll be way too good for Villa. PSG advance, 4-1 on aggregate
First leg: April 8 | Second leg: April 16
1:16
Who’s favourite to advance when Bayern face Inter?
Ale Moreno previews the Champions League quarterfinal matchup between Bayern Munich and Inter.
OGDEN: This is my tie of the round in terms of the magnitude of the two clubs, the clash of styles and what boils down to Inter’s rock solid defence measuring up against Bayern’s goal threat from Harry Kane, Kingsley Coman, Jamal Musiala and Michael Olise. Bayern have scored 28 goals in the competition, Inter just 15, but Inter have conceded just two goals, and kept 8 clean sheets, so far.
Bayern have conceded 14 goals already, so I’m taking Inter’s solidity to be the deciding factor. Inter Milan advance, 2-1 on aggregate
MARCOTTI: I think this is really tight. Bayern are in a transition season and generally haven’t been impressive but they’re 8 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga and just beat Leverkusen 5-0 on aggregate. That has to mean something, right?
I think it’s also hugely relevant that, while Inter have a big squad and Inzaghi loves to rotate, they’re showing signs of wear and, unlike Bayern (whose domestic season is over), they’re in a dogfight for the Serie A title and have a derby against Milan coming up in the Coppa Italia. That’s why I’m leaning Bayern in this one: they’re going to be far fresher. Bayern Munich advance, 3-2 on aggregate
LAURENS: This is without doubt the tie I’m the most looking forward to seeing! Inter are by far the best defence in the competition so far and Bayern, even with their attacking firepower, will have to be really good to trouble them. On the other hand, the Italian front two of Lautaro Martínez and Marcus Thuram could hurt any team. Tactically, Simone Inzaghi has surely the upper hand in terms of experience and savoir faire than Vincent Kompany but it will be interesting to see how Inter deal with the German’s press, especially in Munich. Inter Milan advance, 2-1 on aggregate
DAWSON: Bayern Munich are well on their way to reclaiming the Bundesliga title, but they’re form in the Champions League has been mixed. There were defeats at Aston Villa, Barcelona and Feyenoord in the league phase and they only just scraped past Celtic in the play-off round. They’ll rely on an attacking threat spearheaded by Harry Kane — who has got 10 goals in 11 games in Europe this season — but Inter Milan are disciplined and organised under Simone Inzaghi. A tight tie, it may come down to a tactical battle on the touchline and Inzaghi has the edge over Vincent Kompany. Inter Milan advance, 3-2 on aggregate
LINDOP: I think either way, this tie is going to be tight. Bayern Munich are doing well domestically and have some really talented attacking players, spearheaded by the talismanic Kane. However, their performances in the Champions League haven’t been entirely convincing this term and Inter’s defensive discipline, coupled with the power of the San Siro, might just prove to be their undoing.
I think this could be the most tactically interesting of the quarter-final ties, with Inter just edging it for me on aggregate. Inter Milan advance, 3-2 on aggregate
