The finals four slots in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals will be filled this week, with the last four matches set to be played in England, Spain, Hungary and Germany. In England, Chelsea will be at home to take on Atletico Madrid while another Premier League side, Manchester City travels to Budapest to host Borussia Monchengladbach.
Record Champions League winners, Real Madrid will be at home in Spain to take on Italian side Atalanta and the defending champions Bayern Munich will also be home to face another Italian side, SS Lazio.
Real Madrid lead 1-0 from the first leg, having scored very late through Ferland Mendy to sink a hard fighting Atalanta. The Italians had to play that game with a man down from the 18th minute following Remo Freuler’s red card.
Atalanta did well under the circumstances and having picked on the away-day master’s tag, they will for sure give Real Madrid a run for their money. In the group stages, Atalanta beat Liverpool and Ajax away, and winning in Spain isn’t alien to them – last season they eliminated Valencia with a win in Spain.
Bayern Munich have been the best performing team in Europe over the course of the last two seasons and most Champions League betting tips bill them as favourites to proceed. SportyTrader is tipping the German giants to win both halves and after a thumping 4-1 win in Italy in the first leg, it is hard not to agree with that. A Lazio comeback also looks very unlikely.
Chelsea took a 1-0 lead away at Atletico Madrid, and just like Real Madrid, they can’t afford to rest easy. The quality at Atletico can turn this tie on its head given the slightest opportunity. Last season Atletico won at Liverpool to eliminate the then-defending champions and Chelsea gaffer Thomas Tuchel will know too well this is far from over.
In the first leg, there wasn’t much to separate these two sides as Olivier Giroud’s acrobatic kick won it for Chelsea. With Atletico fielding the likes of Luis Suarez, just one or two moments of brilliance in this game would settle the tie. This one is tipped to go either side, and the double chance bet is favoured by Marathon Bet at 1.39.
Manchester City is another side carrying a good lead to the return legs. After a 2-0 win over Borussia Monchengladbach, the German side’s managed Marco Rose admitted the Premier League side is ‘brutally good’. For a team with 23 wins in 24 matches, it is hard to find enough points to argue against Marco Rose’s statement.
City are on course for a domestic treble in England and they are definitely among the favourites to win the Champions League too. Heading to this second leg clash, they’ve been free-scoring while it is the stark opposite from Monchengladbach. As a result of the scores seen in these teams’ matches, the game is tipped to produce over 2.5 goals.
So far, Borussia Dortmund, PSG, Liverpool and FC Porto have booked their places in the next round.
