Another week, another set of European fixtures across the Champions League and Europa League that are bound to cause some drama. We’re at the quarter-final stage in both competitions now and even though it may seem like we know who is going to make it through to the semis, there are plenty of twists and turns that can still pop up.
Today, our focus is going to solely be on the five remaining English clubs competing to win a piece of European silverware and write their name into the record books.
If you want to try and predict what’s going to happen and win some money doing it, head on over to our betting page.
Chelsea (2) vs. (0) Porto
Chelsea are a team in the rebuilding phase and even though Thomas Tuchel may seem like the finished product, he’s not – but that doesn’t mean we can’t get excited about what’s to come for the Blues. They hold a comfortable advantage over Porto heading into the second leg and it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which they don’t make it into the final four. If they do, weirdly enough, we think they’ve got every chance of reaching the final.
Liverpool (1) vs. (3) Real Madrid
Liverpool face an uphill challenge to make it into the final four of the UEFA Champions League but in many ways, that often seems to suit them quite nicely. The big problem is that they’ll be lacking the impact of an Anfield crowd on Wednesday night which could harm them, but at the same time, they know they can cause Real problems and they also know they can score against them. Whether or not they can hold Real off and record a 2-0 win to take them through remains to be seen, but they’ve got a shot.
Borussia Dortmund (1) vs. (2) Manchester City
Manchester City will have to face the onslaught of Erling Haaland but if they can show the same sort of resistance they did in the first leg, they should be okay. They need to get an away goal on the board early to really settle the nerves, and if they can do that, they’ll well and truly be off to the races.
Slavia Prague (1) vs. (1) Arsenal
Do we think Arsenal will progress to the semi-finals? Yes. Do we think it’s a foregone conclusion? Absolutely not. The Gunners love hitting the self-destruct button at the most inopportune times and if they manage to do so here, Mikel Arteta will have some big questions to answer. They should be okay but if they go through the first. half without scoring, it’s going to become quite nervy.
Manchester United (2) vs. (0) Granada
Manchester United just need to avoid being too complacent and they’ll be just fine here. They’re pretty much universally considered to be the favourites to win the UEL this season and even though we think it’d be a mistake for them to have that mentality, Granada didn’t show us much to convince us that they can threaten the Red Devils.
