On Wednesday, two more first quarter-final matches will be played in the UEFA Champions League. Today, in Amsterdam and Manchester, two more clubs will enter the battle. The most attention should be focused on the clash at "Old Trafford" stadium, where "Manchester United" will host Barcelona players, while Amsterdam's Ajax, who eliminated the three-time champion in the early stages of the tournament, will lock horns with Turin's Juventus at home. Both matches will kick off at 22:00. Here is an overview of them: "Manchester United" - "Barcelona" After eight years, these two teams meet again in the prestigious European tournament. The last time "Manchester United" felt the strength of their Barcelona rivals was in the 2011 final when then led by Pep Guardiola, the Catalans triumphed with a score of 3:1. Just like in the final, today "Barcelona" remains the favorite. Ernesto Valverde's pupils are seriously targeting the "treble" this season and have already practically achieved at least two main goals. "Manchester United's" presence in the quarter-finals is a huge surprise. Already after the round of 16 draw, few could believe that the "Red Devils" would have a chance against PSG, but under the management of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, this team has proved that they can compete with Europe's elite. "Man Utd" started the round of 16 against PSG with a 0:2 setback, but unexpectedly defeated their opponents 3:1 in Paris. Meanwhile, "Barca" fought for a quarter-final spot against another French team - Lyon. The first match did not produce the desired result (0:0), but in the following clash, the "Lions" were already crushed with a score of 5:1. Undoubtedly, "Barcelona" is currently in the best phase of the season. The Catalans defeated Madrid's "Atletico" over the weekend and practically secured the "La Liga" title. However, that's not the most impressive part - "Barca" has been undefeated in 16 matches in Europe and in Spain. During this period, they have won 11 times and played to a draw five times. In the last five matches, "Barcelona" has only failed to beat their opponents once. During these matches, they scored 17 goals. However, their defense has not been as solid - they have conceded six goals. In contrast, "Manchester United" has faced difficulties recently, despite a strong start under Solskjaer's leadership. In their last five matches, "Man Utd" suffered three defeats and achieved victory twice. Last week, "Man Utd" played in the English Premier League against "Wolves" and acknowledged the superiority of their opponents with a 1:2 loss. David De Gea has been unable to maintain stability in the team's results - "The Red Devils" goalkeeper has not kept a clean sheet in seven consecutive matches. In total, under Solskjaer's short tenure, the Manchester team has played 21 matches, winning 15 of them, drawing twice, and suffering four defeats. These results have guaranteed the Norwegian football specialist a profitable three-year contract with "Man Utd". In this match, "United" will be without Ander Herrera, Eric Bailly, Matteo Darmian, Alexis Sanchez, and Antonio Valencia. Although there are some doubts surrounding Nemanja Matic and Marcus Rashford, at least Rashford should definitely step up. "Barcelona" does not have similar problems - except for Rafinha, everyone is ready to play in Manchester. Ousmane Dembele has not played in the past few weeks due to injury, but the Frenchman has been training normally with the team and is ready to return to match rhythm. Predicted starting lineups: "Man Utd": (4-2-3-1) David De Gea; Ashley Young, Chris Smalling, Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw; Scott McTominay, Paul Pogba; Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard, Diogo Dalot; Romelu Lukaku. "Barcelona": (4-3-3) Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Gerard Pique, Clement Lenglet, Jordi Alba; Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets, Arthur; Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Philippe Coutinho. Ajax - Juventus The clash between these two clubs is expected to be no less exciting than the match in Manchester. Ajax has become the darling of neutral football fans this season, especially after toppling the three-year champions of Europe. The journey of Juventus in this season's Champions League is not easy, but they have a man in their team who knows the taste of victory in this tournament the best - Cristiano Ronaldo. Just for that reason, "The Old Lady" is considered not only the favorite of the pair but also one of the contenders to win the tournament. Ajax's path to the quarter-finals has been marked by major upsets - the Amsterdam team performed superbly in the group stage and never lost to Bayern Munich, and in the round of 16, they did what no team had done in the last three years - eliminate Real Madrid. Ajax lost the first leg of the round of 16 at home 1:2. It seemed that the Madrid team would finish the formalities at home and continue to compete in Europe, but Ajax stunned the entire Santiago Bernabeu stadium - Dusan Tadic delivered one of the best performances of the season, leading his Dutch team to triumph with a 4:1 result. Juventus also had an impressive performance in the round of 16. Massimiliano Allegri's team was in serious danger of ending their tournament performance, but at a crucial moment, the Cristiano Ronaldo factor came into play. Juventus lost the first leg of the round of 16 to Atletico Madrid 0:2, but at home, C. Ronaldo's hat trick solved all the problems, and Juventus made it to the quarter-finals. Allegri's team could have secured the championship title in Italy over the weekend, but a victory against "Milan" alone was not enough. However, this eloquent fact only shows that Juventus can focus their full attention on the Champions League this season, where there is still a lot of work to be done. Juventus have suffered two defeats in their last ten matches and won eight of them. During this period, the Turin team kept five clean sheets and scored 18 goals against their opponents. Ajax also cannot complain about their form - nine wins and one loss in their last ten matches. Over the weekend, Ajax defeated "Willem II" with a 4:1 result and returned to the top position in the country's championship after a long break. The Amsterdam team doesn't have any major losses ahead of the game - the only absentee will be right-back Noussair Mazraoui, who has accumulated yellow cards. The other key players in the lineup are one hundred percent ready to take the field. More problems are faced by the Juventus team, who just before the game lost Giorgio Chiellini to injury in the final training session before the trip to Amsterdam. The team will also be without Emre Can. Douglas Costa and Cristiano Ronaldo are ready to return to the field. Predicted starting lineups: Ajax: (4-3-3) Andre Onana; Rasmus Kristensen, Matthijs de Ligt, Daley Blind, Nicolò Tagliafico; Donny van de Beek, Frenkie de Jong, Lasse Schone; Hakim Ziyech, Dusan Tadic, David Neres. Juventus: (4-3-3) Wojciech Szczesny; Joao Cancelo, Daniele Rugani, Leonardo Bonucci; Alex Sandro; Miralem Pjanic, Rodrigo Bentancur, Blaise Matuidi; Federico Bernardeschi, Mario Mandzukic, Cristiano Ronaldo.
