Champions League QF second-legs

We are mid-way through the UEFA Champions League Quarter-finals, and at least three of the four ties are still very much in the balance as Europe’s elite look to book their places in the semi-finals. So with 90 minutes gone and another 90 to go, who needs what to advance to the next stage?

Barcelona v PSG (3-1)

Of the four ties, this is the one that already looks like it may be a foregone conclusion. Barcelona made a serious statement of intent to the rest of Europe when they sealed a convincing 3-1 win in Paris last week, and on the form the Catalans are in, it would seemingly take a catastrophe to stop them reaching the semis.

PSG will be boosted by the fact they will have their star man Zlatan Ibrahimovic back in the squad after missing the first leg through suspension, but even he would struggle to overturn a 3-1 deficit on his own, though he would probably disagree.

Given that Barca scored three away goals in Paris, PSG are going to need to score at least three goals themselves if they are to have a chance of completing a remarkable comeback, but they wouldn’t be able to afford to concede more than one, and with Messi, Neymar and Suarez in Barca’s attack, that is difficult to imagine, especially if David Luiz is playing in defence for PSG (a. k. a. the defender who can’t defend). Barca should advance without too much trouble.

Bayern Munich v Porto (1-3)

Most people (myself included) expected Bayern to get through this tie fairly comfortably. Suffice to say Porto had slightly different ideas, putting in a storming performance in the first leg against the 2013 European champions to take a 3-1 lead into the second leg in Munich. It was a result that also appeared to cost the job of Bayern’s club doctor, who said that his medical department had been blamed by the club for the defeat due to a number of injury absentees.

Despite the deficit, the game is still finely poised. A 2-0 win would see Bayern advance to the semis, and they will be confident that is well within their capabilities, given that they have one of the strongest squads in Europe. They can scarcely afford another performance like the one in the first leg though, and Porto will be thinking this is as good a chance as they will ever get of making what would be a first Champions League semi-final since 2004. With the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller, Jackson Martinez and Ricardo Quaresma on show, it could be a humdinger!

Monaco v Juventus (0-1)

Despite being based in a town with little more than 30,000 people, many of whom are often only around when the skiing season is over, as well as having to sell star players like Radamel Falcao and James Rodriguez last summer in an effort to cut costs, Monaco are in with a great chance of making the semi-finals, having only lost the first-leg 1-0 to Juventus in Turin. Given that in their previous nine games in the competition, Monaco have only scored seven goals and conceded five, this second leg is unlikely to be a goal fest, but the team from the principality won’t care if it helps them reach the last four.

Juventus however are the dominant force in Italian football for a reason, and they will surely feel they have the quality and strength to get the job done in the second leg, even if they weren’t quite as good in the first leg as they would have hoped. The fact they managed to prevent Monaco scoring an away goal means any goal the Italian side score on Wednesday night will send them a huge step closer to the semis.

Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid (0-0)

The only one of the first leg ties to end level pegging, it would be difficult to envisage this game being anything another than close. Real have the better squad on paper, but Atletico have a stunning recent record against Real, and heading to the atmospheric inferno that is the Bernabeu will hold no fears for Atletico, such is the discipline and never-say-die attitude that manager Diego Simeone has ingrained into the squad in recent years.

Real may be seen as having the slight advantage as they will be at home, but Atletico will now have the advantage of the away-goals rule, something Real couldn’t make use of in the first leg. Having lost the Champions League final to Real last season, revenge may well be in the air for Atletico, although they did exact some of that revenge with their 4-0 decimation of Real back in February. So will it be Atletico’s team spirit and siege mentality that will win the day? Or will Cristiano Ronaldo provide yet another moment of magic to take Real through?

For now, I’ll stick with my predictions from last week, so Atletico, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Juventus to advance. Possibly?