1 week Ago By Steen Kirby, Last Word On Sports
Only one of the four Champions League quarterfinals for season 2024-25 has an aggregate score after the first leg of a 1 goal margin or less. Thus, any upset comebacks would be rather historic for these return legs of the tournament, and that should make for some high octane football on Tuesday and Wednesday as the semifinals will be set for the world’s top club football competition. PSG at Aston Villa (PSG leads 3-1 on aggregate) The fans at Villa Park will need to be in full voice if Aston Villa is going to pull this tie back to level during the home leg.
Villa scored the opening in goal in Paris through Morgan Rogers but PSG then pressed on the accelerator and showed their prowess. Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia both scored goals, and a late penalty goal gave PSG a precious two goal lead in the first game. PSG’s young and talented squad under Luis Enrique is looking lethal and Marquinhos is coming back into the side from a suspension to bolter the defence.
Aston Villa has looked dominate at times when they weren’t playing PSG, the last two months have been fantastic for one of the best teams in the Premier League, Ollie Watkins and Marcus Rashford, a pair of England internationals, will need to lead the Villa attack to begin the fightback. Unai Emery is going to give this his best shot, and Villa can score, but I’m not convinced they can keep Dembele and PSG off the score sheet, as going forward will leave them vulnerable to the counterattack. Prediction: 2-2 Draw ( PSG wins 5-3 on aggregate) FC Barcelona at Borussia Dortmund (Barcelona leads 4-0 on aggregate) Barcelona’s attacking trio of Raphina, Robert Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal all ended up on the scoresheet as they put Dortmund to the sword in the home leg of this tie.
A struggling Dortmund side did manage a draw in the derby against Bayern Munich on the weekend, but Barcelona shredded them in the opening leg and will likely look to park the bus here and prevent disaster. Hansi Flick has shown he knows how to setup against Dortmund, and they purposely pressed their advantage in the first leg to be able to not feel the stress of the Yellow Wall. Missing Alejandro Balde is a blow for Barcelona, but at least for this game they should be able to see things through, as any attack’s Dortmund launches will make them vulnerable to all of the attacking talent Barcelona has.
Prediction: 2-1 Barcelona (Barcelona wins 6-1 on aggregate) Arsenal at Real Madrid (Arsenal leads 3-0 on aggregate) Declan Rice scored two magical free kicks that will live in the lore of the Champions League forever, as Spaniard Mikel Merino poured salt on Real Madrid’s wounds, with Arsenal heading to Spain with a solid 3-0 lead. Real Madrid will be looking to make a magical comeback in front of their home fans and avoid their season continuing to disappoint. While Arsenal is an English side, Mikel Arteta has given the London gunners a Spanish DNA and they looked fearless in the first leg.
Kylian Mbappe is under fire after a violent tackle in Real’s La Liga game on the weekend, while Eduardo Camavinga misses this game after a red card in the first leg. Aurelien Tchouameni swaps in the RM midfield while Jurrien Timber is key in the back for Arsenal. Arsenal showed plenty of attacking prowess despite not having a completely first choice side in the first leg, Real Madrid’s trio of Bellingham, Vinicius Jr.
and Mbappe has struggled to look comfortable in many key games this season. They will all need to put in a magical shift to pull off this comeback, Real Madrid should win, but not by enough as I don’t believe they can keep Arsenal off the scoreboard. Prediction: Real Madrid 2-1 ( Arsenal wins 4-2 on aggregate) Bayern Munich at Inter Milan (Inter Milan leads 2-1 on aggregate) The most intriguing tie in terms of scoreline from the first leg, Davide Fratessi pulled off a surprise late goal after the ageless veteran Thomas Muller had brought Bayern Munich level, with Serie A’s leader Inter Milan holding the advantage at San Siro against the leader of the German Bundesliga.
Inter Milan wanted a lead to defend at home, and they got it, as Lautaro Martinez scored the first goal and will be the danger man in this second leg as Inter look to put the tie on ice. Bayern Munich was pressing in the second half before they got the breakthrough, but a makeshift backline has left them at a disadvantage against an Inter side that maintains its shape. With so many backline injuries, even Harry Kane magic may not be enough for Bayern, Inter are hard to score against, and even conceding a goal could doom Bayern’s hopes at this point.
Prediction: 1-1 Draw ( Inter Milan wins 3-2 on aggregate) This article first appeared on Last Word On Sports and was syndicated with permission..
