Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid
These two are leading the way in Spain, both are undoubtedly two of the best in the world at the moment, so picking a winner is impossible. Barcelona got past Manchester City, rather controversially, in the last round and have their talisman in superb form, a certain Mr.Messi. However, Atletico have overlooked somewhat this season whilst being the consistent force in this competition, dispatching of Milan with ease and cruising through their group, with the likes of Diego Costa, Raul Garcia and Arda Turan all playing in the form of their lives. Barcelona haven't been their fluent best this year, despite an El Classico win last week, they've had some rather un-Barcelona results, losing to Rayo Vallecano, Real Sociedad and Valencia in the league, but with Lionel Messi back to full fitness and form, Barcelona need to be taken seriously. They're undoubtedly a quality side and their record in the Champions League over the last 5 years has shown that reaching at least the semi-finals every year, winning it twice in that time. Gerardo Martino has had a difficult time in charge but progressing to the semi-finals will be a massive lift off his shoulders. Whereas, Atletico are having their best season in recent memory under Diego Simeone. Simeone is proving to be one of the best young managers about and his reputation has soared since his Copa Del Rey victory last season. As a team, Atletico arguably are the best in the competition, no single player really shines above others, they're a solid unit, united squad and have the belief to beat anyone and they certainly have the ability.
So I'm going to say this will be an extremely tight tie and will be decided by how Atletico handle Messi. I'll say Barcelona will win the 1st leg, narrowly 2-1 and Atletico will get a second leg 3-1 victory. Unfortunately Barcelona's dominance in Europe is gone for now.
Manchester United vs FC Bayern Munchen
It's safe to say that it's not been a happy season at Old Trafford, but the Champions League has been a happy place for David Moyes this season. Winning all their games at home and getting to this unlikely stage, despite a seemingly easy draw in the last round, Olympiakos. Now, David Moyes will really be put to the test, this is a new experience for him in his career, he's never faced one of Europe's heavyweights before and with key players unavailable, like Robin Van Persie, Juan Mata and Patrice Evra, it could well be Moyes' best or worst night in charge against European champions Bayern Munich. Bayern are unbeaten in 22 games, since their defeat against Manchester City in the Champions League, that could well be an omen for United. Their city rivals were the last side to beat Pep's men, so can the next be the other side in Manchester, why not with players like Wayne Rooney still in their armoury. Bayern's quality is undoubtable, Frank Ribery who was second on the Ballon D'Or list, Mario Gotze, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Phillip Lahm, Thomas Muller and Manuel Neuer are just a handful. Everyone wondered how a team that won the treble last year could be bettered, well if Bayern's league performances are anything to go by, I'll say that it is better considerably.
So, after seeing Bayern knock out Arsenal and United scrape past Olympiakos, Bayern are red-hot favourites, I'll say Bayern to win both legs, 2-0 at Old Trafford and 4-1 at the Allianz. It'll take a lot of work to get United back to their prime in Europe for David Moyes.
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