The quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League are finally here. The first legs of the quarterfinals will be played today and tomorrow with the second legs being played next Tuesday and Wednesday. The final eight teams remaining are Bayern Munich, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona, Malaga, Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid and Galatasaray.
Today's Games:
Barcelona (Spain) @ Paris Saint-Germain (France)
These two teams are currently the best teams in their home countries and with a win in this game would be moving closer to the claim of being the best team in all of Europe. Barcelona have been arguably the best team in soccer the last two or three years and PSG has been moving closer and closer to possibly claiming the top spot. Both teams have gone completely different ways of building their teams with Barcelona bringing up must of their players through their youth squads and PSG going out and buying some of the world's best talent.
One of the key players at PSG right now is Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Ibrahimovic is a former player of Barcelona who had a falling out with the team about playing time and eventually moved to Italian side AC Milan before joining PSG last summer. Ibrahimovic and teammate Thiago Silva both left AC Milan to come to PSG over the summer and have been the keys for PSG's great season. The two of them are the keys for the French side.
Barcelona has managed to do what many teams haven't been able to do successfully. They have had a great youth program that has seen the likes of Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta grow up while playing together on the same team since before they were teenagers. They have been three of the top five players of the last three or four years and are the reason Barcelona are the best team in the world.
Both teams will manage to get a couple of goals in this game and as good as PSG is playing I don't know if they will be able to get a win over Barcelona. This game will likely end even as PSG will likely not lose at home.
Prediction: Draw 2-2
Juventus (Italy) @ Bayern Munich (Germany)
This game could easily be the championship game. Both teams are currently the best teams in the countries just as Barca and PSG are in theirs. Gianluigi Buffon of Juventus and Manuel Neuer of Bayern are two of the best goalkeepers in the world if not the best right now. Both teams will rely heavily on the play of their goalkeepers as they will try to slow down each teams scoring.
I think that Bayern Munich is one of the three favorites to take home the Champions League this year. Outside of the Spanish giants in Barca and Real Madrid they have the most talent at every position. The play of Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben will likely decide how many goals Bayern ends up with today as they are two of the best in the world when it comes to creating goals for themselves and others on the outside.
I think both goalkeepers will be able to keep the scoring relatively low, but Bayern will get enough for a win that will give them the edge when the second leg is played in Italy.
Prediction: Munich win 2-1
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