Atleti and Barca aiming to secure semi-final meeting
Atletico Madrid and Barcelona both hold slender one goal leads heading into the second legs of their Champions League quarter-final ties.
The Champions League quarter-final ties between Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund as well as PSG and Barcelona had a lot to live up to after the epic contests between Real Madrid and Man City as well as Arsenal and Bayern Munich.
Whilst they didn’t quite have as many goals as those classic ties in Madrid and London, equal entertainment was provided with both Spanish sides claiming a slender advantage ahead of the return legs.
Atleti, so formidable at home, raced into an early lead against Dortmund, with Rodrigo De Paul scoring after just four minutes.
The high press from Atleti helped De Paul to seize advantage of a defensive error from the German side and nonchalantly finish.
They peppered Dortmund’s goal with efforts as Axel Witsel and Samuel Lino went close before the latter accepted a pass from Antoine Griezmann and coolly slotted home a second goal.
Some of their attacking sequences in which they carved Dortmund open were a joy to watch, but they will rue their inability to establish a greater lead, especially after Sebastian Haller grabbed a lifeline with a late goal for the visitors.
Dortmund also hit the crossbar twice in a dramatic end to the game as they threatened to draw level in the tie.
Haller’s goal changed the dynamic of the tie and they will fancy their chances on home soil of turning the deficit around.
Atleti will have to be more clinical when the chances present themselves at Signal Iduna Park.
Edin Terzic’s side will have to stage a fightback without attacking duo Haller and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, who both left Dortmund’s win against Monchengladbach at the weekend with injuries.
But in front of a sell-out and hostile 81,500 strong crowd at the Westfalenstadion, they will hope to seal a return to the semi-finals of the competiton for the first time since 2013.
Atleti themselves could be without Saul Niguez after he was substituted early in the victory against Girona, whilst the energetic Lino is suspended, and it will be interesting to see who takes his place at left-wing back.
Diego Simone has proved to be a master in developing plans to win knockout ties and given the dynamism Atleti played with in the first leg, it will be intriguing to see what approach they adopt in their quest to progress to the final four this evening.
Season defining week for Barca
It is a big week for Barcelona, who face PSG and Real Madrid in the next six days, and they have prepared in the best possible manner with their last two results.
Whilst it has been a turbulent season so far for Xavi’s side, they really raised their game when it mattered against PSG last Wednesday to take a slim lead back to Montjuic.
They dominated the start of the game in Paris and deservedly went ahead through Raphinha.
Former Barca star Ousmane Dembele came back to haunt his former side with a thumping equaliser, before Vitinha put the hosts ahead with a low finish.
The back-and-forth nature of the contest continued as Raphinha levelled for Xavi’s side and Andreas Christensen headed home a late winner to cap a remarkable game.
La Blaugrana followed that up with an important 1-0 victory against Cadiz, with Xavi choosing to heavily rotate his side, with the fringe players coming good.
Ahead of two crucial games against PSG and Real Madrid, which will have huge implications on the season, confidence must be as high as it has been all year.
Only two players who are set to face PSG - Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Pau Cubarsi — and two who played in the first leg but are suspended for the second - Andreas Christensen and Sergi Roberto - featured against Cadiz.
Joao Felix, who has been inconsistent since arriving, scored the winner with a well-taken bicycle kick and he could start in what is Barca’s most important game of the season, due to the suspensions as well as Pedri’s lack of minutes.
Pau Curbasi did well to curb the threat of Kylian Mbappe and one suspects he will need an equally impressive performance alongside the rest of the defence tonight to help Barcelona progress, especially as the dangerous Achraf Hakimi returns for suspension and will be keen to get forward.
Ilkay Gundogen, creator of more chances than any other player in the Champions League this season, will once again be tasked with providing opportunities to the front three, who must be clinical.
There is a great possibility that we will see an all-Spanish semi-final between Atleti and Barcelona if both can find a way to take their chances at one end and remain compact at the other to help get over the line this evening.