After a short break, UEFA Champions League football returns to the bright TV screens on Tuesday. The most powerful teams in the Old Continent tournament start the second-leg quarterfinal matches, after which the first two participants of the quarterfinals will be revealed.
The battle for the first tickets to the quarterfinals in Italy will see Napoli face Madrid's Real, while Bayern Munich will seek to settle scores with Arsenal in London.
Napoli - Madrid's Real
Before the first match between these two teams, there were many predictions, but Zinedine Zidane's students confidently surpassed their opponents from Italy with a 3-1 result at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. After Lorenzo Insigne's brilliant goal, Napoli's footballers took the lead, but Real showed champion's character and equalized by scoring three goals.
Napoli had shown impressive form until then and had not suffered defeat since November, but after the disappointment in Madrid, the Italians stumbled and experienced two losses. However, they managed to win just as many victories.
After the defeat in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal, Napoli celebrated a victory in the Italian championship, but later suffered two consecutive defeats - lost to Atalanta in the Italian Cup and Juventus in Turin with a score of 1-3. However, in the last matches, the Neapolitan team achieved a significant victory against Roma.
Real Madrid have scored in a Spanish record 46 consecutive games in all competitions. #UCL pic.twitter.com/QybqtZuwUK
After a successful start in the quarterfinals, Real Madrid couldn't boast of an impressive sports form - they have won three out of the last five matches, once played a draw, and suffered a defeat against Valencia.
Zinedine Zidane's students have recently struggled to achieve secure victories, but over the weekend, Real, without Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, easily won 4-1 against Eibar, with Karim Benzema scoring two goals.
Both teams avoided serious losses before the quarterfinal match, so they can compete with their strongest lineups. Due to an injury, C. Ronaldo did not play over the weekend, but he arrived in Naples with the team and is ready to step onto the field. The main absence in the Real squad is the center-back Raphael Varane.
Predicted starting lineups:
Napoli: Pepe Reina; Elseid Hysaj, Raul Albiol, Kalidou Koulibaly, Faouzi Ghoulam; Piotr Zielinski, Amadou Diawara, Marek Hamsik; Jose Callejon, Dries Mertens, Lorenzo Insigne.
Real Madrid: Keylor Navas; Dani Carvajal, Pepe, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo; Luka Modric, Casemiro, Toni Kroos, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Arsenal - Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich was considered the favorite from the start of this pairing, but few expected such a result after the first match. Carlo Ancelotti's students defeated the "Gunners" with a score of 5-1 at home, so Arsene Wenger's team can only hope for a miracle.
After the humiliating defeat in Germany, the North London team did not have many matches - only two. They defeated a little-known Sutton United in the FA Cup with a score of 2-0 and in the last match, which took place on Saturday, the "Gunners" lost 3-1 to Liverpool.
After the very poor results, Arsenal's dressing room is in shambles - over the weekend, Arsene Wenger left Alexis Sanchez on the bench, who watched the match with a broad smile.
Bayern are 16 games unbeaten in all competitions (W14 D2). #UCL pic.twitter.com/mvA9Tk0C7X
The team atmosphere in Bayern's camp is much better - after the demolition of the Arsenal team, the Bavarians only once failed to celebrate victory - they played a draw in the German Bundesliga with Hertha Berlin.
However, later the Bavarians did not encounter difficulties and crushed their opponents. C. Ancelotti can boast of the team's performance in both attack and defense - they scored 14 goals in the last three matches and did not let in any goals in their net.
Arsenal has serious absences - due to the flu, Mesut Ozil will not be able to help the team, and Mohamed Elneny and Santi Cazorla continue to recover from injuries. Philipp Lahm will miss the match against Arsenal due to disqualification, and it is also uncertain whether Bayern's goal will be guarded by Manuel Neuer.
Predicted starting lineups:
Arsenal: David Ospina; Hector Bellerín, Shkodran Mustafi, Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal; Francis Coquelin, Granit Xhaka; Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Alex Iwobi, Theo Walcott; Alexis Sanchez.
Bayern Munich: Sven Ulreich; Rafinha, Javi Martínez, David Alaba, Juan Bernat; Joshua Kimmich, Thiago, Thomas Muller; Douglas Costa, Arjen Robben; Robert Lewandowski.
