Champions League: 2023/24 Quarter-Finals Preview

Ever since the draw was made a few weeks ago, the Champions League quarter-finals have been highly anticipated. Four ties that are each difficult to predict, these matches should make for a couple of very good rounds on Superbru.



Here's a quick look at each quarter-final ahead of kick-off this evening at 8pm (UK).

Arsenal vs. Bayern Munich

When looking at this fixture, I think we all remember Bayern inflicting pain on Arsenal for three straight meetings towards the end of Arsene Wenger's reign when the Gunners were in a period where they'd struggle like mad to reach the Premier League top four and qualify for the Champions League, only to get destroyed in the knockout stages each time anyway.

However, those three successive 5-1 wins for Bayern are unlikely to continue here, with Arsenal looking like far more of a force now that they're back in this competition. Whereas the Gunners are on the up having challenged at the top end of the Premier League table for a couple of years, Bayern look to be heading in the opposite direction. Last season was a scare for the German giants as they scraped an 11th successive Bundesliga title thanks to Borussia Dortmund buckling under pressure rather than through their own quality, and this year has proven to be a humiliating end to their decade-long domestic dominance as they haven't just lost their crown to Bayer Leverkusen, they've been blown out of the water.

Bayern's form has been inconsistent in an unusually poor season, with their 3-0 defeat at Leverkusen appearing to end their belief that the title was possible very early in the campaign.

So is now the perfect time for Arsenal to get some Champions League revenge on Bayern for those hammerings 7 years ago? Perhaps. But the fact that Bayern have lost the Bundesliga title race so early in the season could yet prove troublesome for the Gunners as while Arsenal continue to compete in an intense three horse Premier League race in addition to this tie, Bayern are focused only on this competition.

Expect most of the Superbru community to predict an Arsenal win, particularly in this week's first leg at the Emirates, but there's definitely still potential for jeopardy given the previous meetings, Bayern's Champions League pedigree, Arsenal's lack of experience at this stage and Harry Kane's return to face his former club's biggest rivals. Kane's record in the North London derby was rather handy after all...

Real Madrid vs. Manchester City

Given how exciting that Arsenal tie has the potential to be, it's a little frustrating that just as things kick-off at the Emirates, this monster fixture gets underway in Madrid so if you're anything like me, you'll have two screens on the go on Tuesday night (and probably on Wednesday as well to be fair). Real Madrid vs. Manchester City has been an incredible tie in this competition for several seasons now, but the narrative around it changes quite significantly between each matchup due to the success and number of transfers these teams tend to enjoy every summer.

In the last two seasons, Real Madrid and Man City have had some excellent Champions League meetings.

Rather than being the team still chasing an elusive Champions League title and attempting to surpass the kings of this competition as they did last season, Pep Guardiola's Manchester City are now defending champions, meaning Madrid are in the fairly unfamiliar position of having to try and take the crown from somebody else in this tournament. Instead of working on a plan to stop Karim Benzema, City are now up against a team that Carlo Ancelotti has quickly built around Jude Bellingham, meaning there are plenty of fresh tactical challenges in this edition too.

It's tough to pick a winner, but as the above image shows, winning the away leg would be a considerable achievement for City. There's no doubt the the holders can hurt Real Madrid with their attackers but from a defensive point of view, Kyle Walker is unavailable so Guardiola will have to think carefully about how Vinicius Jr can be dealt with. Given how good Walker has been in that duel in previous seasons, it could prove challenging to come up with a Plan B that doesn't detract from the defence of Bellingham centrally and Rodrygo on the other flank who is of course a second elite Brazilian winger who is also in excellent form - Rodrygo scored a fantastic brace against Athletic Club in Madrid's most recent outing.

Atletico Madrid vs. Borussia Dortmund

Atletico Madrid remain a team that you probably don't want to face over two legs in the Champions League, but Diego Simeone's side have evolved (not necessarily for the better) somewhat from the dogged, defensive team that many still perceive them to be based on their run to the final and semi-finals across 2015/16 and 2016/17. Antoine Griezmann is their key man as one of the greatest forwards in Europe, and there's often plenty of players being thrown forward around him which means Atleti concede far more goals these days - they have just 1 clean sheet in their last 9 LaLiga games.

That hasn't really been a problem at the Metropolitano where they remain immensely difficult to beat as Inter found out in the Round of 16, but whereas Atleti have won 13 of their 15 home league this season, they've won just 5 out of 15 away. As a result, this looks like a fairly even tie against a Borrusia Dortmund side who are also unbeaten at home in the Champions League this season despite a very tough group stage draw.

Both clubs are fighting for top four finishes in their respective domestic leagues, which means there's little advantage for either in terms of schedule management and the ability to prioritise this tournament, but Atleti are helped by the fact that they didn't have to play a league game at the weekend due to the Copa del Rey final (which they weren't involved in). Donyell Malen, who is Dortmund's joint top scorer in the Bundesliga, is an injury doubt for this first leg.

Paris Saint-Germain vs. Barcelona

Like Atleti and Dortmund, PSG and Barcelona will both really fancy their chances on this very open side of the draw, and we may well be set for a far more even tie between the two clubs than we've seen in their last two meetings. In fairness, you can argue 'La Remontada' was an even tie, just made up of two very uneven legs. While in 2020/21 Kylian Mbappe absolutely destroyed Barca at the Camp Nou.

Mbappe remains the standout player from either side who is capable of winning this tie on his own, but we should be set for a very interesting tactical battle between two teams that will look to play in a similarish style. That's not too surprising when you consider that PSG are coached by the manager that was in charge for Barcelona's last Champions League triumph back in 2015. Luis Enrique has created a more controlled and balanced PSG team than we've seen during the years where it felt like Paris focused hard on obtaining the ridiculous front three of Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar while largely forgetting about the rest of the XI, but it remains to be seen if enough progress has been made to break PSG's trend of falling apart at the business end of this tournament.

Results wise, things could hardly be going much better considering PSG haven't lost since November, but Paris having to raise themselves for incredibly difficult Champions League ties that are a considerable step-up from the opposition they routinely beat in Ligue 1 isn't a new problem.

PSG have lost just once in Ligue 1 this season, but only narrowly came through a difficult Champions League group they shared with Dortmund, Milan and Newcastle.

Barcelona are also going very nicely at the moment in terms of domestic results. Ever since Xavi announced he would be stepping down from his position at the end of the season due to his probable failure to defend the LaLiga title and the incredibly intense nature of media scrutiny at Barca, results have been strong. Barca have a particularly good recent defensive record, with 17-year old centre back Pau Cubarsi having an incredible breakthrough season, but this first away leg will be a huge test. Jules Kounde is likely to be tasked with dealing with Mbappe at right back, while Frenkie de Jong is expected to return from injury and strengthen the Barca midfield.

Predictions: Personally, I'm torn between 2-1 and 1-1 for Arsenal v Bayern this week but I feel Bayern will be relatively satisfied with either of those results since they'd remain well in the tie for their home leg. I'll probably end up going with the narrow Arsenal win.

I'm looking at a draw for the Madrid vs. City first leg and feel the PSG v Barcelona game may also end up level but Atleti should get the better of Dortmund at home and I've gone 3-1 as Simeone will be eager to build a relatively substantial lead ahead of the trip to Germany.

What are your predictions for this week's first legs?

All screenshots in this article are from the Superbru Football app which you can download by clicking here.