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Tune into leg 1 of the UEFA Champions League Quarterfinals where just eight clubs remain to compete for the title of ”Best club team in Europe” with each of their eyes set on the prestigious UCL trophy. Bundesliga’s Bayern Munich takes on Serie A’s Inter Milan right as Premier League’s Arsenal takes on La Liga’s defending champions Real Madrid.
Both games kick off at 3 PM ET, so review our picks below and see if our picks match yours!
While Bayern Munich failed to show dominance early on in the UCL campaign, they did so by the Round of 16 against German counterparts Bayern Leverkusen, showing a 5-0 aggregate result after two legs. Since then, they haven’t lost a game in the Bundesliga, with just one tie on March 15 to Union Berlin, which ended 1-1.
Bayern’s offense put that subpar result past them and would have no trouble sending goals to the back of the net. They earned a clutch 3-2 victory over FC St. Paul on March 29 before their most recent 3-1 win over Augsburg. Leroy Sane will come into this UCL match with 3 goals in his last three games, while Harry Kane comes in with 2 in his previous two.
Inter Milan would finish their Round of 16 with a 4-1 aggregate win over Feyenoord after two legs, where they’d immediately head back to Serie A to take a 2-0 victory over Atalanta. On March 30, they defeated Udinese narrowly in a 2-1 result, before tying longtime rivals AC Milan 1-1 in the first leg of the Coppa Italia. Their last game against Parma in the league also saw a 2-2 result, and while they would drop points overall, they would still put out several solid performances.
In this Champions League matchup, Bayern Munich will need to lock down Inter’s Lautaro Martinez, a striker with 6 goals in nine games. Bayern’s Harry Kane, on the other hand, will most likely add to his tally of 10 goals in 11 games, with another goal in this Munich home game against the Italian side.
Arsenal’s Round of 16 matchup was hardly a challenge, as they dominated PSV 9-3 on aggregate after two legs to move on to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2009/2010.
Since then, they’d played three separate Premier League games, the first of which was a 1-0 victory against Chelsea. On April 1, they faced Fulham for a close 2-1 win before drawing against Everton 1-1 over the weekend. Arsenal’s Kai Havertz and Bukayo Sako, both with 4 goals each in the campaign, will need to ramp up scoring efforts to earn the early aggregate lead in the first leg of this tough matchup against reigning champions Real Madrid.
Real Madrid would see out a nail-biter against Atletico Madrid in the previous Round of 16, a game that was 2-2 on aggregate by the end of the 2nd leg’s regulation, leading Real to take the win (4)-(2) in penalty kicks.
On March 15, they’d nab a 2-1 victory over Villareal before winning 3-2 against Leganes on the 29th in La Liga. Next, they’d draw 4-4 against Real Sociedad in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals, which was enough to put them through to the finals with 5-4 on aggregate. Unfortunately, they’d drop 3 points in La Liga, with their most recent 2-1 defeat against Valencia.
Both Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior boast 7 goals a piece, with midfielder Rodrygo carrying another 5. While Arsenal will be a tough test for the Royal Whites, we still expect Kylian Mbappe to net at least 1 goal, with the game ending in a draw.
Bayern Munich’s defense will likely hold strong against Inter, especially considering the game is in Munich, although a goal could slip through, as both sides present consistent goal-scoring threats. Michael Olisse and Harry Kane have 15 goals combined so far in the competition, and while Inter’s main goal-scoring threat is mainly Latauro Martinez, we think this game could end in a draw.
Arsenal have had one of their best seasons in both the Premier League and Champions League to date, and a home-field advantage in this first leg could spell trouble for Real Madrid. While Real Madrid has unprecedented firepower upfront between Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior, and Rodrygo, we think Arsenal can hold out for at least a tie in this one leg. However, it’ll be difficult to star Mbappe, and he should score at least once.
Liam has been a major sports fan and soccer player for over a decade, with a particular focus on major top-level soccer leagues, including the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and MLS. He has written numerous promotional articles for various top sportsbooks and continues to publish historical and factual sports articles covering the NFL, MLS, NHL, MLB, EPL and more.