The second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals is about to start, Spanish legend Hierro predicts that Real Madrid will beat Manchester City in extra time, Bayern will beat Arsenal at home, Dortmund will draw with Atletico Madrid at home, and Barcelona will win Paris Saint-Germain at home, and finally Real Madrid, Bayern, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona will advance to the semi-finals.
Real Madrid drew 3-3 with Manchester City in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals, Arsenal drew with Bayern, Paris Saint-Germain lost 2-3 at home to Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 at home.
Manchester City vs Real Madrid
The first leg showed great results in the Champions League, a really good game with incredible goals and I think the second leg in Manchester was a similar game.
With away goals no longer an influencing factor, a draw is not a bad result for Real Madrid, who are well-versed in this competition. As the defending champions and home team, the pressure fell on Manchester City. City will certainly be in possession but Carlo Ancelotti will instruct his players to remain calm and try to force opponents into areas where there is no threat and preventing them from making a one-touch pass in the final third will be crucial.
Foden is now in the best form of his career and, as we have seen from his goal, he has a lethal long-range shot that I think is key and I believe Kevin De Bruyne will return to the starting line-up. Of course, Haaland is a dangerous man, but Rudiger did well in the first leg and if you cut off the passing route to Haaland, he is usually not much involved in other areas of the pitch.
Real Madrid can hit City on the counter-attack, can use speed and the swapping of positions between Vinicius and Rodrygo, and in this regard, goalkeeper Lunin's quick and accurate distribution is also important. In terms of creativity, Federico Valverde's passing will be key and I hope Bellingham can step up and create something special in his home country.
With world-class players on both sides, I think there will be more attacks and goals. I hope and believe that Real Madrid can qualify and I think they will go to the next round after extra time.
Bayern Munich vs Arsenal
The first leg between the two sides was very interesting and both teams had chances to win, but I think a draw is a fair result and that means Bayern Munich are the slightly favourites at the start of the second leg.
I think Bayern have caused more problems at the Arsenal backline than any other team lately, with Leroy Sane's pace and direct style of play catching the Gunners' weaknesses on a couple of occasions. In this regard, Gunners defenders Saliba and Gabriel will both need to be better in the second leg. This is especially true considering how aggressively Harry Kane will score goals to knock out Tottenham's sworn enemies. Bayern are playing at home and I'm expecting Kane to get some chances, especially if Musiala and Leroy Sane both play at a high level.
Similar to Bayern, Arsenal are also quick, with Bukayo Saka scoring in the first leg and I think he is the Gunners' most dangerous player, with plenty of chances on the flanks thanks to the suspension of fast Bayern left-back Alphonso Davies.
For Arsenal to play effectively on the counter-attack, they will need to make fast, accurate passes in the transition between attack and defence, and Odegaard will be crucial in this regard, as he can deliver clever passes to the forwards in front of him, which is the key to unlocking the Bayern defence.
However, Arsenal are also fighting for the Premier League title and Bayern are out of the Bundesliga title race, so this game could be a little more important for the German side, so I predict Bayern will win at home and progress to the Champions League semi-finals.
Barcelona vs Paris Saint-Germain
Barca's away win over Paris Saint-Germain was a great game and they are favourites to advance ahead of the second leg. The return of midfielder Frenkie de Jong is key as I think he is calm and well on the ball, so I expect him to play a similar role with Gundogan in this game.
In the first leg, another returning player, Pedri, came off the bench to provide a fine assist for Raphinha, who was likely to start and threaten the opposition. Raphinha has done an excellent job of attacking opposition defences and I'm well aware that PSG miss the suspended Achraf because they are struggling without the right-back. Achraf will return for this game, and while he will have to keep Raphinha quiet, he will also step forward to threaten when PSG hit back.
Importantly, this could be Mbappe's last Champions League game for PSG, he didn't perform well in the first leg and Kounde marked him well, but Mbappe won't give up on his dream, so I expect him to put in a good performance.
Dembele is another player to watch as he scored a brilliant goal in the first leg. After Barca's lack of success, he wanted to show the home fans what he was capable of. However, despite the PSG striker causing problems for their opponents, I believe Barcelona will win the battle in midfield and since this French side is also shaky at the back, I predict that Barcelona will win.
Borussia Dortmund vs Atletico Madrid
Atletico deserved to beat Borussia Dortmund in the first leg, but they conceded a late goal that gave Dortmund hope of a comeback, which also left Atletico very frustrated. One thing is for sure, Simeone will be getting his team ready to fight, and I expect them to play a game full of physicality, press their opponents and try to make sure the home team doesn't build any offensive as they want to quiet the home fans.
Koke and De Paul will have to make a lot of runs in midfield and I wouldn't be surprised if the wing-backs drop back more to try to limit Dortmund's attacking space. Of course, with Antoine Griezmann up front, Atletico have the ability to break down the Dortmund defence, while Atletico are also a threat from set-pieces. Simeone wants to score a goal and if they can do it they will be in a good position.
In my opinion, Jadon Sancho was Dortmund's most dangerous player in the first leg, and his quick runs and dribbling disrupted the opposition defence, and he will bring the same threat here. On the other hand, Mullen is back in the team and he has a very direct style of play and is fast, so I think Dortmund will cause problems on the wings. Of course, Brandt will start because he has the ability to pull off miracles in the final third.
However, with the first leg ahead, Atletico will be very focused defensively and the defence will be difficult to penetrate. I think the two sides will be tied and Atletico will progress to the last four.