With the round of 16 officially in the rear view mirror the Champions League roars on to the quarter finals. After a relatively bland round of 16, with the only real surprise being Arsenal’s defeat to Monaco, the action should pick up as the quality of teams remaining increases.

Real Madrid vs. Atletico Madrid

The draw of the round will far and away be the Madrid derby, as the Mighty Los Blancos take on less heralded but equally dangerous Atletico side. Real have the bigger names and bigger transfer budget, yet for some reason they have been completely unable to best their cross city rivals this season. Atletico have served as Real’s kryptonite recording a 4-2-0 record against the Madristas this season, and also knocking Real out of two cup competitions this year. Their most recent victory being a 4-0 drubbing back in February. It’s honestly hard to imagine a worse draw for Carlo Ancelotti’s man especially following their dip in form from the beginning of the season. Having relinquished their lead atop La Liga to arch rivals Barcelona, which was compounded by their 2-1 defeat to the Catalans at the Camp Nou in El Clasico, not much is going right for Real right now. Unfortunately for the Los Blancos supporters I don’t see their side turning things around in this matchup.

Winner: Atletico
Agg. Score: 4-2

Barcelona vs. Paris Saint Germain

PSG remain the only team to defeat Barcelona in the Champions league this year. They knocked off the Catalans in a September group stage meeting in Paris 3-2. Barcelona were then able to return the favor later in December beating the French side 3-1. The victory gave Barcelona the goal advantage and subsequently first place in the group while the Parisians had to settle for second. PSG’s midfield has the ability to frustrate Barcelona’s terrific attacking triumvirate of Messi, Suarez, and Neymar. But they will also be without their leading goal scorer Zlatan Imbrahimovic in the first leg which will prove crucial. It won’t be easy but expect Barcelona to do enough to advance.

Winner: Barcelona
Agg. Score: 3-1

Bayern Munich vs. F.C. Porto

Bayern once again lucked out with an easy draw. Porto will prove a tougher out than Shaktar Donetesk were but ultimately will fall to the German Giants. Porto are young and athletic but Bayern are simply in a different stratosphere of class. Quite simply Bayern have a world class player at each position and Porto don’t, enough said.

Winner: Bayern
Agg. Score: 5-0

Monaco vs. Juventus

Monaco scored the upset of the round with their stunning victory over Arsenal. They did not do it in the most impressive fashion however. After winning the first leg 3-1 the French side had to hold on for dear life in the second leg, losing the game 2-0 but advancing on away goals in a 3-3 aggregate score. The second leg proved that Monaco may be in a little over their heads in this competition, with their lack of ambition and general nervousness against Arsenal in the second leg. They invited pressure and were honestly very lucky to escape only losing 2-0 as Arsenal wasted many clear cut chances. Juventus on the other hand possess superior quality and are coming in confident following their dismantling of Dortmund in their round of 16 tie. They’ll have to cope with the loss of Paul Pogba to injury but they should still see themselves through to the semi-finals for the first time since 2003.

Winner: Juventus
Agg. Score: 3-0