Champions League: Excitement as Arsenal, Real Madrid, PSG among teams battling for semi-final spots

The stage is set for this season’s UEFA Champions League (UCL) quarter-finals, following some surprises in the Round of 16 in March.

The Champions League last eight begins this week, with several European elite clubs competing for a spot in the semi-finals.

The first leg will be played on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the return match scheduled for next week.

There are 8 teams – Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Sporting Lisbon, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, and Barcelona – that will play in the last 8.

Only four clubs out of the eight will qualify for the semi-final stage, taking place towards the end of this month.

Here are the fixtures for the Champions League quarter-final first leg:

Tuesday’s fixtures:

Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich: Both teams are in good form in the competition so far. Real Madrid head to the game after losing 2-1 against Mallorca in the LaLiga at the weekend, while Bayern defeated Freiburg 3-2 in the Bundesliga. The Los Blancos eliminated Manchester City in the Round of 16 stage, while the Bundesliga champions sent Atalanta packing from the competition. It’s yet to be seen which team will come out on top at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday night when the first leg encounter is conclude as Alvaro Arbeloa’s side will hope to count on their home supporters and avoid a back-to-back after losing to Mallorca at Iberostar Stadium.

Sporting CP vs Arsenal: This match will take place at Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, by 8 pm Nigerian time. Sporting qualified for the Champions League quarter-final stage after beating Bodo/Glimt in the Round of 16 stage, while Arsenal eliminated Bayer Leverkusen from the competition. Of course, the Portuguese side will hope to make good use of their home advantage against the Premier League leaders. Sporting head to the game after beating Santa Clara 4-2 in the Portuguese domestic league last Friday, while the Gunners were eliminated from the FA Cup quarter-final stage at the hands of Southampton. Mikel Arteta’s side will hope to avoid another defeat on Tuesday night, while Spotting will hope to build on their last result.

Wednesday’s fixtures:

Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid: This is an interesting fixture as two LaLiga giants will clash in Europe’s top-flight competition at Camp Nou. Interestilngly both teams clashed in the LaLiga at the weekend. The Catalan club defeated Diego Simeone’s side 2-1 at Riyadh Air Metropolitano in Madrid, thanks to goals from Marcus Rashford and Robert Lewandowski. Obviously, Atletico will hope to have their revenge against the Blaugrana on Wednesday night, but it won’t be easy as Hansi Flick’s side will be playing at home. They both qualified for the Champions League last-8 after beating Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur, respectively, in the Round of 16 stage.

PSG vs Liverpool: This Champions League tie will take place at the Parc des Princes. PSG qualified for the quarter-final stage after humiliating Chelsea 8-2 on aggregate in the Round of 16 stage, while Liverpool dumped Galatasaray out of the competition after a 4-0 victory at Anfield in the last-16 second leg encounter. PSG head to the game after beating Toulouse 3-1 in the French Ligue 1 encounter played last Friday, while Liverpool were eliminated from the FA Cup competition after losing 4-0 against Manchester City on Saturday. However, the encounter in Paris is not going to be easy for the Reds as the Parisians will hope to take a good advantage of their home supporters.