SIX Spanish teams have reached the business end of the season in UEFA competitions with clinical efficiency. This is the best showing of any European league; England’s Premier League is second with five.
Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Real Betis, Celta Vigo and Rayo Vallecano are all preparing for quarterfinal first legs that could define their seasons.
In this article we’ll examine the three teams in UEFA’s top competition, the Champions League. The other three playing in the Europa and Conference Leagues will be previewed here.
Champions League: The Usual Suspects
Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich Preview
Leg 1: Estadio Santiago Bernabéu
Date: Tuesday, April 7 @ 3:00pm ET
There is no fixture in world soccer that carries the weight of history quite like Real Madrid versus Bayern Munich. This is the “European Clásico” as fans so affectionately call it.
Real Madrid enters this match on the back of a disappointing domestic slip, a 2-1 loss to Mallorca, which has intensified the pressure on Alvaro Arbeloa to deliver in Europe. With that loss, Real Madrid have slipped to 7 points behind league leaders FC Barcelona, with just 8 games to go in La Liga. Bayern, meanwhile, are flying in Germany, with the Bundesliga title all but confirmed.
After missing out on a top-eight place in the league phase, Real Madrid narrowly beat Benfica 3-1 in the knockout playoff round before beating Manchester City convincingly 5-1 in the Round of 16. Bayern Munich sealed their place directly into the Round of 16 thanks to finishing second in the league phase, and completely dismantled Atalanta 10-2 on aggregate.
This is the most played fixture in European history, with these two giants facing each other a total of 28 times before this. Real Madrid have had the slight upper hand in the matchup, winning 13 and losing 11 of their 28 meetings, while they remain unbeaten in their last nine clashes, with seven wins and two draws.
Team News:
Thibaut Courtois and Rodrygo are out, while Ferland Mendy and Dani Ceballos are doubts to feature. Kylian Mbappé is expected to start after returning from injury over the weekend against Mallorca.
FC Barcelona vs Atlético Madrid Preview
Leg 1: Camp Nou
Date: Wednesday, April 8 @ 3:00pm ET
An all-Spanish clash takes place in the Champions League as Barcelona prepares to play Atleti for the second time in five days. In fact, this will be the fifth (and sixth) clash between the two opponents this season.
They met twice in La Liga, twice in the Copa del Rey semifinals, and will now face each other twice in the Champions League. Barca has won three of those clashes; while Atleti won the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinal 4-0. That was enough to move them onto the final, however, despite losing the second leg 0-3. Don’t be surprised if Atleti looks to replicate a similar two-legged game strategy.
In their previous rounds in the competition, both teams displayed dominating performances. Atlético Madrid dispatched Tottenham Hotspur 7-5 over two legs, while Barça beat Newcastle 8-3. Barça qualified automatically to the Round of 16 in the UCL after finishing 5th in the league phase, while Atleti had to take the longer route and beat Club Brugge in the playoffs to get to the knockouts.
Notes from Saturday
In their most recent fixture, Atleti played a heavily rotated lineup in preparation for the UCL tie. Barça, meanwhile, played their near full-strength side but only managed to scrape a win after a late lucky goal from Robert Lewandowski. The final score was 2-1.
Atleti had nothing to play for in the league, sitting 4th in La Liga and with European qualification all but secured for next season. But Barca played to extend their lead at the top of the table, especially because Real Madrid had lost to Mallorca earlier that day, and as such Barca now have a 7-point lead at the top.
Atleti will definitely go all guns blazing in the first leg, given that they rested so many players over the weekend and managed to tire out Barcelona until the final whistle. They would love to have a result like their previous first-leg knockout tie, when they scored four goals against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey semifinal.
Team News: Barcelona
Raphinha, Marc Bernal, Frenkie de Jong, Andreas Christensen, Alejandro Balde and Ronald Araujo won’t feature for the Catalans due to injuries.
Team News: Atlético Madrid
Unfortunately for Atleti, their list is extensive as well. José Maria Gimenez, Johnny Cardoso, Marc Pubill, Jan Oblak, Pablo Barrios and Rodrigo Mendoza are all out with injuries.
