The biggest clubs in Europe are set to clash for the prestigious Champions League trophy. Europe’s premier competition will see four amazing fixtures next week.
With the thirteen-time champions, Real Madrid, already eliminated from the competition, we’ll finally get to see another team lift the Champions League trophy after a wait of three long years.
Before we go on to discuss our predictions for the later part of the competition, let’s analyze the current situation first. Who do you think will qualify for the semi-finals of the competition? That depends on a number of factors, and I’ve listed some of them in the complete UCL Quarter-Final preview below:
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Manchester City
Two famous English clubs will go head-to-head in the upcoming Champions League Quart-Finals. Manchester City are currently leading the Premier League title race by one point.
The competition in the Premier League is intense, and we all know that Pep Guardiola prefers winning the league over the European competition. Manchester City fans are of another view, however. The club has never lifted the Champions League trophy, and they would definitely prefer winning the European competition over the Premier League.
Manchester City certainly has the squad depth to compete for both competitions. The team is in good form, and there is a high chance that they’ll win at least one major trophy this year. Which one will it be? We can only wait and watch.
Tottenham, on the other hand, is in poor form these days. They’ve lost three of their last five Premier League matches, and are third in the Premier League table – only a point ahead of Arsenal and Chelsea. Remaining inside the top four is certainly more important for Pochettino and co than trying to compete for any major trophy this year.
The one billion pounds investment for the new stadium certainly had its effect on the sporting performance of the team. The club hasn’t participated in the previous three transfer windows at all. The delays in the construction of the stadium also affected their morale. The stadium is ready though, and with a seating capacity of over 60,000, it’s one of the largest stadiums in the United Kingdom.
The new stadium will be hosting its first Champions League fixture against Manchester City next weekend.
Liverpool vs. FC Porto
Liverpool were runners-up in last year’s Champions League and they are certainly in top form this year as well. Klopp pledged to his fans that he will reach glory, after a heart-breaking defeat at the hands of Real Madrid last year. The club started the Premier League strongly and remained undefeated for several months. They’ve also managed to beat heavyweights such as PSG in the group stages of the UCL.
Liverpool is not only strong with regards to offense, but they are also solid in defense. They’ve conceded the least number of goals so far in the Premier League. Problem is, the club is competing for the Premier League trophy as well. They lack the squad depth that Manchester City possesses, and Klopp would certainly hesitate to add more fatigue to his starting eleven players.
Porto, on the other hand, is not an easy team to compete with. The team is strong in terms of defensive, with Iker Casillas and Eder Militao in top form. It would be an overstatement to predict that the club can go on to win the Champions League trophy, but they can certainly give a hard time to the Merseyside club.
The crowd is certainly going to be on its feet when Liverpool take on Porto in the Champions League Quarter-Finals.
Ajax vs. Juventus
Ajax produced the impossible last month, when they eliminated the record Champions League winners from the competition. Real Madrid lifted the Champions League trophy thrice in the past three years. After remaining European Champions for over a thousand days, the club faced Ajax in the Round-of-16 of the competition.
Many thought that the young Ajax team would lose to Real Madrid. After a 2-1 defeat at their home, more people started agreeing to this point of view. The second leg at the Bernabeu stadium certainly seemed like a piece of cake for the Los Merengues, but the impossible happened at the Bernabeu. The young Ajax team ran riot in the match and beat the retaining Champions League winners 4-1 in the match. This definitely led to the sacking of Santiago Solari, and many people now have high expectations from the young Dutch club.
Juventus produced their own comeback in the Champions League Round-of-16. Facing Atletico Madrid, the club lost 2-0 in the opening leg of the Champions League fixture. It was a humiliating night for the record Italian champions. Who knew that Cristiano Ronaldo would put the pedal to the metal in the second leg of the competition?
Ronaldo did just that in the second leg when he outclassed Diego Simeone’s team and scored an incredible hat trick. Juventus won 3-0 and qualified for the Quarter-Finals. However, Ronaldo got injured during the International break and there are less chances that he’ll be able to play in the first-leg against Ajax. We know what Ajax were able to produce in the absence of Sergio Ramos. Can they do more of the same against Ronaldo-less Juventus? We’ll find out soon enough.
Manchester United vs. Barcelona
Who remembers the Champions League finals of 2009 and 2011? Manchester United, under Alex Ferguson, were the reigning Champions League winners in 2009. Ronaldo and Messi were still young but were already considered among the best players in the world. The Blaugranas were the victors in that competition, and this was the start of their European domination that continues till this day.
Both clubs faced each other yet again in the 2011 Champions League final. It was an easy win for FC Barcelona, and the Red Devils haven’t been able to reach the Champions League Final since then.
Times have changed for the better for Barcelona. The club looks set to win the Domestic double this year and is in high-form in the UCL as well. Manchester United is in really bad form. When Ole took over the wheels, the club produced some incredible results and even managed to knock out PSG from the competition. But with three losses in the last four matches, the fans are not too sure at the moment.
After climbing to fourth in the table, the club has fallen to sixth place. There are still high-expectations though. The club achieved the impossible against PSG. They may produce something similar yet again against the mighty Blaugranas.
How to Watch UCL Quarter Finals?
Watching the UEFA Champions League Quarter-Finals is a tad difficult if you prefer to stream the matches online. The channels broadcasting the UCL are geo-blocked in most countries around the world, but you can stream the competition for free if you subscribe to a VPN service today!
SonyLIV is one of the channels that shall be broadcasting UEFA Champions League matches live online for free. But SonyLiv channel is only accessible from the Indian subcontinent. To access the channel from your location, all you need to do is connect to a VPN server in India and this will allow you to access the channel easily.
There are loads of VPN services available, but none provide better online freedom and speeds than PureVPN. With over 2,000 servers and 300,000 in 140 countries, which includes India, PureVPN is definitely the best of the lot.
So, if you want to stream UEFA Champions League live online for free, PureVPN is good option.
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