The UEFA Champions League quarterfinals got off to a thrilling start on Tuesday as 10 goals were scored across two games, each of which ended in a draw ahead of some very consequential second leg matches in a week.
Tuesday’s matches were arguably the most anticipated games of the quarterfinals and lived up to the billing in every way. Real Madrid’s 3-3 draw with Manchester City seems poised to go down as one of the Champions League’s best knockout games, while Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich did not disappoint despite the contrasting form of both teams heading into the matchup. It sets up for second legs that are destined to entertain thanks to the high stakes involved, even if they only provide a fraction of the drama the first legs did.
Never will an eight-day wait for a set of matches feel as long as this, so while we come down from the high of an epic day in the Champions League, here’s a batch of predictions for next week’s high-profile ties.
Fewer goals, but still plenty
Let’s get one thrilling prediction out of the way — there might not be as many goals in the second legs since Tuesday’s games were an exercise in outperforming expected goals tallies, but we will not necessarily have a shortage of them. Both City and Madrid are reliable to concede a goal or two every few games regardless of the opponent, but as Tuesday’s first leg proves, they are destined to do so against top-tier attacks. The same is very much true for Bayern Munich, who are in the midst of an underwhelming season, but even Arsenal demonstrated some defensive instability despite strong performances in the back in recent weeks.
Each one of these teams has at least one, if not more, goalscorer that can get the job done regardless of the game state, as Tuesday’s outings showed. The list of names on the scoresheets of both games looks like an all-star cast — Phil Foden, Rodrygo, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka…
