UEFA Champions League 2015/16 quarter-final predictions
The final eight of the Europe's elite remain and continue to kick in the UEFA Champions League. Defending champions, Barcelona, are accompanied by two other Spanish teams Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid. Italy have no representation in these final rounds while Manchester City are the sole English participants.
Also read: UEFA Euro 2016 fixtures: Dates, group, schedule, time and venues for the tournament, PDF Download
Germany have two in Bayern Munich and VFL Wolfsburg. France and Portugal have one each in Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica respectively. Having entered these final rounds, the geographical aspects that used to divide teams – no two teams from the same country can play each other – no longer comes into effect and its because of this, we kick the evening off with a mouth-watering clash between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
Also read: UEFA Champions League 2015-16 semi-final draw: Timings, Live streaming and TV Information
Having introduced and mentioned the teams who still stand a chance to claim the UEFA Champions League, let's dive into the predictions and see who can progress to the semi-finals of Europe's top footballing competition.
#4 Bayern Munich vs Benfica
While many might assume that this game is heavily one-sided, the reason Benfica are here is because they are able to compete with the best. Bayern Munich's manager, Pep Guardiola, acknowledged their presence in these final rounds by claiming they can beat the best on their day.
Bayern Munich, on the other hand, are out on a mission to win the UEFA Champions League once again. While Guardiola en route to winning the Bundesliga all the three years he's been in charge of the club, the lack of the Champions League trophy will leave a stain on his time here given he won the coveted trophy twice with former club, Barcelona.
Coming the squads, Benfica have a bunch of underrated stars who work well as a team. Renato Sanchez, a midfield general, has been mghtily impressive for the Portuguese side that he's been tipped to join Manchester United in the coming window. Elsewhere, the pace and guile of Eduardo Salvio and Nicolas Gaitan seem to cause every defence they've played this season a massive nuisance. With the likes of Konstantinos Mitroglou and Raul Jimenez to tuck away chances, they have every chance to bother the Bayern defence.
Bayern's squad meanwhile is probably one the best in the world behind Barcelona alone. Thomas Muller, Robert Lewandowski, Thiago Alcantara and Douglas Costa have been revelations this season eclipsing every other season. The best aspect of this Bayern squad is the fact that they gel extremely well as a team.
And that, according to me, gives them the chance to end Benfica's excellent run in the Champions League.
Prediction: (On final aggregate) 5-1 to Bayern Munich.