The Uefa Champions League is set to return for the quarter-finals with Manchester City, Liverpool and defending champions Chelsea all still in the competition.
City and Liverpool are favourites to lift the trophy as they seek a treble and quadruple respectively, but other big hitters will also be challenging.
Fellow quarter-finalists Real Madrid have won the Champions League 13 times and Bayern Munich six.
Here are the fixtures to look out for in the last eight.
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Manchester City vs Atletico Madrid
Any match against a Diego Simeone side will be a struggle through the trenches as Manchester United discovered in the round of 16 but Pep Guardiola has praised Atletico Madrid’s “consistency” and style of play.
However, the La Liga outfit have conceded 12 more goals than last season in the league, suggesting they are no longer the defensive powerhouse they once were. City could well have the attacking minerals to dismantle the Rojiblancos, whose defence is missing Jose Maria Gimenez. The centre-back will not travel to the Etihad after sustaining a knock during Saturday’s 4-1 victory over Alaves.
Guardiola should still approach this game with caution and so should Kevin De Bruyne, Joao Cancelo and Gabriel Jesus, all of whom are a yellow card away from a one-game suspension.
The City head coach admitted that he does “love to overthink and create stupid tactics” but he is not discouraged from doing so because he has “very good results in the Champions League”.
- Date: Tuesday 5 April
- Kick-off: 8pm
- TV Channel: BT Sport 2
- Live stream: BT Sport app and via the BT Sport website
Benfica vs Liverpool
The quadruple is still on the line as Liverpool travel to Portugal to face Benfica.
It was arguably the most favourable draw the Reds could have asked for, but Nelson Verissimo’s team should not be underrated with Darwin Nunez leading the squad with 27 goals this campaign and even attracting rumoured interest from Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle.
Jurgen Klopp has already commended the “quality” and “experience” of the Portuguese side.
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The Reds often dismiss talk of potentially making history by achieving the first quadruple won by an English side, but it surely must be at the back of their minds.
“We all know one failure, one little misstep, and at least one competition can be gone,” said Klopp. “That’s no problem for us, we’re just ready for the next challenge.”
- Date: Tuesday 5 April
- Kick-off: 8pm
- TV Channel: BT Sport 3
- Live stream: BT Sport app and via the BT Sport website
Chelsea vs Real Madrid
The Blues may return to a back five after a 4-1 defeat to west London rivals Brentford.
Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior could punish Thomas Tuchel’s side as they did to PSG if Chelsea have not learned their lessons from Saturday’s embarrassment.
Amongst the mayhem surrounding Chelsea’s ownership, before the setback against Brentford the squad had been praised for remaining undefeated in the league since January’s 1-0 defeat to Manchester City. Fans will hope this is not the start of a downward spiral as they bid to get back on track against Real Madrid.
- Date: Wednesday 6 April
- Kick-off: 8pm
- TV Channel: BT Sport 2
- Live stream: BT Sport app or via the BT Sport website
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Villarreal vs Bayern Munich
Serial Europa League winner Unai Emery has reached the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time after beating Juventus 3-0 at the Allianz Stadium – and 4-1 on aggregate – as he targets another upset against the Bundesliga champions.
Back in Spain, Emery has been burying the memories of his time at Arsenal and is proving why he is more than just a Europa League specialist.
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Yet Bayern Munich have shown few signs of slowing down this season, especially with Robert Lewandowski scoring 31 goals in 28 league games.
The Poland international scored an 11-minute against RB Salzburg in the round of 16, the quickest in the history of the knockout stages, and Villarreal may not be able to contain him.
- Date: Wednesday 6 April
- Kick-off: 8pm
- TV Channel: BT Sport 3
- Live stream: BT Sport app or via the BT Sport website
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