REAL MADRID - MANCHESTER CITY

For the third successive year these sides meet in the knockout rounds, with each having won one game apiece. Manchester City won last year after winning 4-0 in the second leg of the semi-final, but Real Madrid are stronger this season.

Real Madrid has many attacking options this year, but Jude Bellingham is the key. He scores at important moments with his strikes from distance and ability to make runs into the box both world class. He is undoubtedly one of the best players in the world this season, and it will be interesting to see Pep Guardiola’s plans to stop him – I suspect Rodri will stay close.

When the sides last met, Kyle Walker did a fantastic job keeping Vinicius Junior quiet, but with City’s right-back probably injured for this game, there could be an opportunity for Madrid to exploit City on the left. Rodrygo is also in form, dribbling very easily, creating many spaces and chances for his teammates, so Real look good going forward and should be able to put the opposition defence under a lot of pressure.

The midfield battle is important – Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva must not be allowed time on the ball. As such, Aurelien Tchouameni has a big role to make life difficult for them and Toni Kroos must use the ball wisely and not give possession away.

Finally, Antonio Rudiger’s match-up with Erling Haaland will be fascinating. I see the German defender making it a physical battle as he tries to intimidate the Norwegian, but he’ll know that one sight of goal and Haaland can punish him.

Carlo Ancelotti made a mistake in the tactics last season when they lost 4:0 in the Etihad Stadium, which was to play a defensive game and wait for their chances. In the first half Man City had more than 80% possession, and it didn't look like it was because of City's pressure, it looked like Real Madrid’s plan. And that was a huge mistake which cost them the qualification. At HT the result was 2:0 already.

For this fixture I expect Ancelotti to use a different approach, being brave and attacking, which is what we can expect from Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu in a UCL game. When they did that is when they managed to beat Man City, like in the 21-22 season when they made that amazing comeback winning 3:1. Last season at home they also drew 1:1 in a very tight game.

Madrid have had two weeks to prepare for this game. Ancelotti has made training to cut City’s interior game, which is their strong point. This has been the game in the season where Real have had more time to rest and prepare, and surely will have a positive impact.

Real will want to take a lead to City, so winning the first leg is important, and I believe at the Bernabeu they can do just that. Manchester City has struggled in their recent away UCL games against strong sides, as they didn’t manage to win against Borussia Dortmund (0:0 in 2022), RB Leipzig (1:1 in 2023) and Bayern Munich (1:1 in 2023). And of course Real Madrid (1:1 in 2023).

ARSENAL - BAYERN MUNICH

Historically, this is not a match Arsenal have enjoyed, with Bayern Munich eliminating them four times since 2005. The last time, in 2017, Bayern won 10-2 on aggregate in a humiliating defeat for the Gunners.

But Arsenal are mentally stronger these days, they are the leaders in the Premier League and are flying this season. In the recent draw 0:0 against Manchester City, Mikel Arteta showed how tactically astute he is.

At home, I expect him to attack more, with the emphasis on getting the ball to Bukayo Saka on the wing so he can run at the Bayern defence, while Kai Havertz will be a big goal threat due to his great form recently. Arsenal is an offensive team with a lot of quality upfront, which will be the key in this round against Bayern.

Saka had a great season so far: in the Premier League, he’s scored 14 and assisted a further eight and he’s averaged a goal or assist in every single Champions League game, with three goals and four assists in seven games. Bayern have conceded a goal in each of their past 10 Bundesliga games and Saka is best placed to score or set one up, for Arsenal.

Arsenal’s balance in midfield is fantastic. Martin Odegaard looks for key passes through the middle, Declan Rice is box-to-box and full of energy, while Jorginho sits back looking to intercept balls and thwart opposition attacks. For me, this trio can help the Gunners dictate the play here.

It’s also a huge game for Harry Kane. He moved to Bayern to win titles but it’s now almost impossible to win the Bundesliga, so the Champions League is the last chance. And it’s against his former club’s biggest rivals, so the Arsenal fans will make it very difficult for him!

I thought William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes nullified Erling Haaland superbly recently, so how they handle Kane will be intriguing. And, for sure, the Englishman will be looking to playmaker Jamal Musiala to draw defenders away and create openings for him.

Both Arsenal and Bayern Munich are having very different domestic seasons with the Gunners wrapped in a three-team title race in the Premier League. Arsenal are favorites for some but Liverpool and Man City are both incredible teams with devastating attacks, and it’s a race that will likely go down to the final few weeks of the season. That won’t be the case in Germany, with Bayern Munich second in the Bundesliga and 16 points behind Bayer Leverkusen, who have the title wrapped up, barring divine intervention.

Arsenal have the best defensive team record in the Premier League with four clean sheets in a row across all competitions so I expect them to keep Kane and Bayern’s attack controlled.

Bayern has a really poor defensive record this season, which is unusual for a Thomas Tuchel team, as he tries and fails to get to grips with this Bayern side. It’s also part of the reason that, despite Kane scoring, I expect Arsenal to have enough about them to go on and win this game. Bayern will hope their experience at this stage of the Champions League can benefit them, but Arsenal have been so impressive in pressure games this season. They’re in great form in the Premier League and have a home crowd behind them, so should secure the win.

皇家马德里对曼城

这是两队连续第三年在淘汰赛中相遇，各赢一场。去年，曼城队在半决赛次回合中以4比0获胜，但本赛季的皇马队实力更强。

皇马今年有很多进攻选择，但贝灵汉是关键。他在重要时刻进球，他的远射和跑动能力都是世界级的。毫无疑问，他是本赛季世界上最好的球员之一，看到瓜迪奥拉阻止他的计划将会很有趣——我怀疑罗德里会留在身边。

当双方上次相遇时，凯尔·沃克出色地让小维尼修斯保持安静，但由于曼城的右后卫可能在这场比赛中受伤，马德里可能有机会在左路利用曼城。罗德里戈的状态也很好，盘带很轻松，为队友创造了很多空间和机会，所以皇马看起来很好，应该能够给对手的防守带来很大的压力。

中场的战斗很重要——凯文·德布鲁因、菲尔·福登和贝尔纳多·席尔瓦不能有时间拿球。因此，奥雷连·楚亚梅尼的作用很大，可以让他们的日子不好过，而托尼·克罗斯必须明智地使用球，不要把控球权给别人。

最后，安东尼奥·吕迪格与厄林·哈兰德的比赛将会非常精彩。我看到德国后卫在试图恐吓挪威人时进行了身体对抗，但他知道只要进球，哈兰德就会惩罚他。

安切洛蒂上赛季在阿提哈德球场0比4输球时，在战术上犯了一个错误，那就是打防守，等待机会。上半场曼城拥有超过80%的控球率，这看起来并不是因为曼城的压力，而是皇马的计划。这是一个巨大的错误，让他们失去了资格。比赛结果已经是2:0了。

对于这场比赛，我希望安切洛蒂使用不同的方法，勇敢和进攻，这是我们可以期待皇马在圣地亚哥伯纳乌的一场欧冠比赛。当他们做到这一点的时候，他们成功击败了曼城，就像在21-22赛季，他们以3:1的比分取得了惊人的逆转。上个赛季在主场，他们也曾在一场非常激烈的比赛中1:1战平。

马德里有两周的时间来准备这场比赛。安切洛蒂的训练减少了曼城的内线打法，这是他们的强项。这是本赛季皇马有更多时间休息和准备的比赛，肯定会产生积极的影响。

皇马想要领先曼城，所以赢得首回合非常重要，我相信在伯纳乌他们可以做到这一点。曼城在最近的欧冠客场对阵强队的比赛中，未能战胜多特蒙德(2022年0比0)、莱比锡RB(2023年1比1)、拜仁慕尼黑(2023年1比1)，表现不佳。当然还有皇马(2023年1:1)。

阿森纳-拜仁慕尼黑

从历史上看，这不是阿森纳喜欢的比赛，自2005年以来，拜仁慕尼黑四次淘汰了他们。上一次是在2017年，拜仁以总比分10-2击败了枪手，结果是一场耻辱性的失败。

但是这些天阿森纳在精神上更强大了，他们是英超的领头羊，本赛季也在飞速发展。在最近0:0战平曼城的比赛中，阿特塔展示了他在战术上的精明。

在主场，我希望他能更多地进攻，重点是把球传给边路的萨卡，这样他就可以在拜仁的防线上奔跑，而凯·哈弗茨由于他最近的出色状态将成为一个巨大的进球威胁。阿森纳是一支进攻型球队，前场有很多高质量的球员，这将是本轮对阵拜仁的关键。

到目前为止，萨卡的赛季表现非常出色:在英超联赛中，他打进14球，助攻8次，在欧冠联赛的每场比赛中，他都有一个进球或助攻，在7场比赛中有3个进球和4次助攻。拜仁在过去的10场德甲比赛中每一场都失球，萨卡是阿森纳进球或助攻的最佳人选。

阿森纳中场的平衡非常棒。马丁·奥德加德在中路寻找关键的传球，德克兰·赖斯在禁区内充满活力，而若日尼奥则坐在后面寻找拦截球并挫败对手的进攻。对我来说，这三人组可以帮助枪手掌控比赛。

这对哈里·凯恩来说也是一场重要的比赛。他转会到拜仁是为了赢得冠军，但现在赢得德甲几乎是不可能的，所以欧冠是最后的机会。而且对手是他的前俱乐部最大的对手，所以阿森纳球迷会成功的

我认为威廉·萨利巴和加布里埃尔·马加拉斯最近很好地消除了哈兰德，所以他们如何处理凯恩将是有趣的。而且，可以肯定的是，英国人将会寻找组织者贾马尔·穆西亚拉来吸引后卫，为他创造机会。

阿森纳和拜仁慕尼黑在国内联赛的表现各不相同，枪手在英超联赛中与三支球队争夺冠军。阿森纳是一些人的最爱，但利物浦和曼城都是拥有毁灭性进攻的不可思议的球队，这场比赛可能会持续到赛季的最后几周。但在德国就不是这样了，拜仁慕尼黑在德甲排名第二，落后勒沃库森16分，如果没有神的干预，勒沃库森已经锁定了冠军。

阿森纳拥有英超联赛中最好的防守记录，在各项赛事中连续四场零封对手，所以我希望他们能控制住凯恩和拜仁的进攻。

拜仁本赛季的防守记录非常糟糕，这对于托马斯·图赫尔的球队来说是不寻常的，因为他试图抓住这支拜仁球队，但却失败了。这也是部分原因，尽管凯恩进球了，我希望阿森纳有足够的力量继续下去并赢得这场比赛。拜仁希望他们在欧冠这个阶段的经验能对他们有所帮助，但阿森纳本赛季在压力比赛中表现得如此出色。他们在英超的状态很好，并且有主场球迷支持他们，所以他们应该能确保胜利。