The Champioooooons. If you tell me there is a better sports theme out there, I will throat punch you. Regardless, soccer fans can rejoice because this week the world’s most prestigious club tournament returns as the Champions League Quarterfinals will begin on Tuesday. Eight teams will continue their battle for the right to call themselves the continent’s best team. As always, when the competition gets to the knockout stages the matchups will make any footy fan salivate at the prospect of the matchups the tournament gives us, and this season there are plenty of storylines to watch for.
Atletico Madrid vs Leicester City
Seven of the eight teams remaining in the tournament are currently in the top five in their respective league table. The only outlier? Leicester, who are currently 11th in the English Premier League. To be fair, that is much better than where the Foxes were earlier in the season when they had to battle relegation. However, ever since the firing of Claudio Ranieri, Leicester’s magic from last year’s title race has translated to the Champions’ League. Mahrez and Vardy are on a roll, however they haven’t faced a defense quite like Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid. Never rule anything out, but the Spanish side should have way too much talent for Leicester to Continue their magical run.
Winner: Atletico Madrid.
Borussia Dortmund vs Monaco
Okay, so not the most notable teams in Europe, but this is definitely the matchup of the round. Why? Because of the amount of offense this has the potential for. Both teams play a style of soccer that is non-stop, constant pressure that will make the tie entertaining. Oh, and it features some of the best young talents the game has to offer. Kylian Mbappe is 18 years old and is now the hottest prospect in the game. As for Dortmund, they have an 18 year old starlet of their own: Christian Pulisic and he’s the future of the American game, too. In what should be an even match-up, the current French leaders should just have enough experience to muscle their way through to the semi-finals thanks to the inevitable late goal by the resurrected Radamel Falcao.
Winner: Monaco
Barcelona vs Juventus
The classic offense vs defense matchup and a rematch of the 2015 final. Barcelona has Messi, Suarez and Neymar. Juventus has the best defense in all of Europe. On top of that, both teams are incredibly inconsistent. Sure, Juventus is dominant in the Italian Serie A, but do still have a difficult time dealing with some of the top teams in the country. As for Barcelona, on any given day the Barcelona that beat PSG 6-1 could show up and there’s also an equal chance that it’ll be the Barcelona side that lost to Malaga 2-0 this past weekend. However, the Catalan side should be the favorites due to their ability to turn it on when they absolutely need to. If you’re asking me if I trust Barcelona’s stars over Juventus’, I’d take Messi and company everyday.
Winner: Barcelona
Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid
So many storylines in this tie. Carlo Ancelotti returns to Madrid and faces his protege in Zinedine Zidane. The best team in Spain squares off against the best team in Germany; and maybe most importantly is this the year Bayern finally gets past a Spanish side in the tournament For the past three years, Bayern’s quest for the title has ended by La Liga’s Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid respectively. The difference this year? They have the best manager in the world on their touchline. Ancelotti has won three Champions Leagues with two different teams, including one in 2014 with Madrid. After being unjustly fired the year after he won “La Decima,” I expect this battle of the giants to be won by the German side and Ancelotti to get revenge on his former team. Oh, and Robert Lewandowski really likes scoring against Real Madrid, just remember that.
Winner: Bayern Munich
