The UEFA Champions League resumes this week with the first leg of the quarterfinals.
Sportsnet’s panel of soccer writers and broadcasters preview all four of this week’s matches and offer their predictions.
Wednesday programming alert: Watch Paris Saint-Germain vs Barcelona on the four main Sportsnet channels and Porto vs Bayern Munich on Sportsnet World. Coverage starts at 2:30 pm ET. || Sportsnet World NOW || Broadcast schedule
Paris Saint-Germain vs. Barcelona
Gerry Dobson, Sportsnet: Having played each other in the group stage where they split their two meetings, these European heavyweights hook up again in the knockout round—but this time its feels different.
These teams head into this quarterfinal riding the wave of different emotions that may or may not mean anything. We’ll see. But Barcelona must be feeling awfully ornery after they frittered away a two-goal lead against Sevilla on the weekend, and had to settle for a draw. They missed tons of chances and the goals they conceded were direct results of mistakes. Luis Suarez misfired on more than one occasion; still he’s still enjoying a tremendous run of form and could be a terror on Wednesday. They saw their La Liga lead drop to two points over Real Madrid, but they’re still on schedule for the treble and only a fool would bet against them.
PSG meanwhile could still win four titles. The Ligue Un leaders are on high after winning the French League Cup on the weekend and they’re still on pace for the French Cup, the league and of course the Champions League. But they go into this one missing some key players. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marco Verratti are both suspended while David Luiz and Thiago Motta are out injured. Yikes. That could be the tipping point.
Prediction: A 1-1 draw.
Porto vs. Bayern Munich
John Molinaro, Sportsnet.ca: With all due respect to Real Madrid and Barcelona, Bayern Munich, for me, is the team to beat in this year’s competition. The Bavarians cruised through the group stage and dispatched Manchester City in the round of 16 with relative ease, and are playing at a confidence level that is unmatched in European club soccer.
Porto is a very formidable side, and the Portuguese outfit has done very well to get to this stage. Their achievement is even more impressive considering they did it minus the injured winger Cristian Tello and Colombian forward Jackson Martinez, two of their most influential stars. Ricardo Quaresma has been on form in recent weeks, while Cameroonian Vincent Aboubakar has deputised admirably for Jackson. The Estádio do Dragão is a pretty intimidating place to visit, and I think that will play a big part in making this game a lot closer than it appears to be on paper.
Bayern is dealing with a rash of injuries, as both winger Franck Ribery and midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger have been ruled out for Wednesday’s match. The German outfit is already without top scorer Arjen Robben, David Alaba and Javi Martinez. Still, the Bavarians have great depth, and that should see them through this tricky first leg in Portugal.
Prediction: Bayern Munich wins 1-0.
Atletico Madrid vs. Real Madrid
James Sharman, Sportsnet: To suggest Atletico Madrid has Real Madrid’s number this season is an enormous understatement. Six times they have waged war, with Atletico going undefeated (with four wins), including that 4-0 thumping in February. In recent weeks, though, Real has begun to look as if it has thrown out its poor form with the dish water, and is beginning to look like a force once again. Real were very good in an El Clasico loss three weeks ago, and have since scored 14 goals and conceded just one in three games. Cristiano Ronaldo has ten in his last five, including two in that utterly breathtaking and bowel clenching 4-3 win over Schalke in the round of 16 second leg. James Rodriguez is back, and so too is Luka Modric, which might explain why things are going so swimmingly.
Atletico, meanwhile, has its swagger back, and enter this one as one of perhaps three teams in world football that doesn’t fear Real. Winning seven of the past 11 derbies without conceding a goal in those wins will make a boy feel brave, and none are braver that Diego Simeone, who has just signed a new deal at the Calderon that will keep the second coolest manager (Jurgen Klopp is the coolest) in the world in Madrid for a few more years. A gutsy penalty shootout win over Leverkusen booked Atletico into the quarterfinals, and although some will argue their overall form has been questionable in 2015, this is the derby, and for some reason they grow a few inches in such matches.
Prediction: A 1-1 draw.
Juventus vs. AS Monaco
John Molinaro, Sportsnet.ca: Full disclosure: I’ve been a die hard Juventus fan since I was six. And normally I wouldn’t offer predictions for any Juventus match in order to avoid the appearance of bias. But Jamie Doyle, my colleague and Sportsnet magazine, was supposed to offer his thoughts on this match, but he had to back out at the last second. So it’s fallen to me.
Putting aside my love of Juventus, I don’t think I’m out of line in suggesting that the Italians would have to be considered the favourites in this one—and I think it’s safe to say most neutral pundits would agree. The Bianconeri are running away in the Serie A title race, they survived a tough opening group that included Atletico Madrid, and defeated a dangerous Borussia Dortmund side in the round of 16. Even without the injured Paul Pogba, Juve are still loaded with attacking talent, with both Carlos Tevez and Alvaro Moratta in fine form.
Still, Monaco is looking for a third straight away victory in the Champions League and has conceded only two goals in four away games this season. In their last road game, Monaco defeated no less of a side than Arsenal, scoring three times at the Emirates. Two injury concerns for Monaco: key midfielder Jeremy Toulalan and veteran defender Ricardo Carvalho went off injured during a league game against Caen last Friday.
Prediction: Juventus wins 2-0.
Tuesday programming alert: Watch Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid on the four main Sportsnet channels and Juventus vs AS Monaco on Sportsnet World. Coverage starts at 2:30 pm ET. || Sportsnet World NOW || Broadcast schedule