Doubts still surround Arsenal
Arsenal will be looking to prove their mettle in the return leg at Bayern Munich after being held to a 2-2 draw in the first leg. Familiar doubts are starting to arise over whether the Gunners can handle the pressure of last weekend's 2-0 Premier League home defeat to Aston Villa. The defeat brought back unpleasant memories for Mikel Arteta's side, who led for much of last season before falling behind and allowing Man City to win the title. Arsenal fans may be fearing the worst for their side once again, so the Champions League could be seen as a chance to change the 'wheel of fate'. Until the defeat to Aston Villa, the Gunners were in convincing form, winning 10 of their 11 Premier League games. Now Arsenal, who have never won the Champions League, travel to Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena with little time to heal their wounds, aiming to reach the semi-finals for the first time in the competition since 2009.
Haaland (left) will still be Man.City's fearsome striker in the second leg against Real Madrid.
Arteta's side are normally considered weaker than the six-time European champions, but Bayern Munich are in the midst of an inconsistent season as they look to end their 11-year dominance of Germany's top flight. The Bavarians will have to put their domestic struggles behind them and hope Harry Kane can score again, as he did in the first leg, to send them into the semi-finals of the Champions League, which is their main focus at the end of the season. However, Bayern will be without a number of key players, with defender Alphonso Davies suspended, while strikers Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman are injured.
What attractive scenarios for the second leg of the 2023-2024 Champions League quarter-finals?
Man.City wants to continue to cause sadness for Real Madrid
Man.City are closing in on a second consecutive treble, but Erling Haaland and his team-mates still have a number of obstacles to overcome, the first of which is hosting Real Madrid at the Etihad after a 3-3 draw in the first leg. Fourteen-time European champions Real Madrid suffered a 4-0 defeat in their trip to Manchester 11 months ago in the Champions League semi-finals, before Man.City won the competition for the first time. Pep Guardiola's team have 12 games left to repeat the historic achievement. Haaland's 31 goals in 38 games this season are still impressive, but he has failed to score in Man.City's three meetings with Real Madrid in the past year and has failed to score in 13 of his last 20 games for club and country. But Real Madrid's defence will still have to be on high alert for the 23-year-old. Guardiola believes the Norwegian's presence had a significant impact in the first leg in Madrid, when Phil Foden and Josko Gvardiol had plenty of space on the edge of the box to score. As a result, visiting coach Carlo Ancelotti will have to rely on centre-back Antonio Rudiger to keep Haaland at bay. Last season, the Italian paid a heavy price for leaving the German out of the second leg despite his excellent performance in the first leg at the Bernabeu.
Man.City have won the European Super Cup and Club World Cup this season and are on course to retain the Champions League if they beat Real Madrid. A 3-3 draw in the first leg gives Man.City a slight advantage as they reach the semi-finals for the fourth time in a row. They have not lost in 30 Champions League games at the Etihad since 2018, and are unbeaten in 41 home games in all competitions since November 2022.
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