European Champions League Quarterfinal: Previewing the Last 8 Teams

The UEFA Champions League has been whittled down to eight teams as the tournament marches on to the final in Munich.

A few of the favourites—Manchester United, Manchester City, Inter—have already gone out of the competition, and the eight clubs that remain have all been here before, except one.

Of the remaining eight teams, six have lifted the European Cup previously. Barcelona will try to be the first team to win back-to-back Champions League tournaments since the tournament was reformatted in 1992. Meanwhile, Chelsea and APOEL Nicosia are in search of their first ever European Cup.

UEFA has conveniently made a quarterfinal and semifinal draw that will allow a Real Madrid-Barcelona final. Conspiracy theorists should note the football media has overlooked this aspect. Regardless, one of the two Spanish clubs are odds on favourites to lift the trophy. Meanwhile, Bayern Munich and AC Milan are next best and may disrupt the expected dream final. 

Now, with the quarterfinals kicking off March 27-28, let's look at the eight remaining clubs in Europe's premier football competition. 

APOEL F.C.

Prior to this year's UEFA Champions League, no Cypriot team had qualified for the knockout stages. Enter APOEL, who has not only qualified for the knockout stages, but has done so at the expense of teams with Champions League experience. 

APOEL's Champions League campaign started way back on July 13, eight months ago. The club originally qualified for the Champions League preliminary rounds thanks to their 2010-11 Cypriot League title. However, just to get into the tournament proper, the club had to knock off Albanian club Skenderbeu Korce, Slovakia's Slovan Bratislava and Polish side Wisla Krakow. 

The Cypriot's surprised everyone by finishing top of their group—losing only once—before defeating Lyon on penalties in the first knockout round. 

The tiny club will now face the mighty Real Madrid, a team who is the complete opposite of APOEL. While Madrid has spent countless millions to secure talent over the past few years, APOEL has spent a paltry $1.5 million. The club has proved success can come on a shoestring budget if everyone is working toward the same goal.

Former Sevilla and Atletico Madrid striker Esteban Scolari is the club's leading scorer with nine goals this season. He is sometimes paired with Brazilian striker Ailton, who plays just off the Argentine. Though they've combined for only 11 goals in the league this season, it was Ailton's four goals in the Champions League qualifying rounds that helped the club into the group stages.

This is a defensive-minded squad, however, who love to play on the counter attack, so don't expect glamorous attacking football from the Cypriots.

APOEL has only scored seven times in the competition proper; however, they tallied 11 goals in qualifying. This isn't a team that will outscore Madrid, and manager Ivan Jovanovic will most likely set his team up in their counterattacking 4-2-3-1 formation. To this point in the competition, they have been able to preserve one-goal leads, but against Madrid, they'll need to dig deep to make the semifinals. 

Marseille

Marseille has made the Champions League final twice, runners up in 1990-91 and winners in 1991-92. However, their early-90s success has been tainted by alleged match-fixing during former owner Bernard Tapie's rein.

In recent years, the French side has returned to winning ways under Didier Deschamps' management. The club won the 2009-10 Ligue 1 title and has secured the league cup the last two seasons. 

In the Champions League, Marseille finished one point behind Arsenal in their group and met Inter in the round of 16. After a stoppage time smash and grab in the first leg, Marseille proceeded to do the same in the second leg. Level on aggregate, Marseille scored a vital away goal thanks to a second minute of stoppage time goal by once-exiled striker Brandao. 

The one-time winners will now face another former European Cup champion, Bayern Munich. The German giants have been free scoring of late, and they sent seven past Basel in their second-leg Champions League match. Marseille better be prepared to score prior to the 90th minute or bunker down and defend.

Marseille's league form has been horrendous, and they are winless in their last seven. The club's last league win came on January 29 against Rennes, and the team has only scored four goals in that time span. 

The club's goal drought isn't their only problem going into the first leg of the quarterfinals. Marseille will be without their international goalkeeper, Steve Mandanda, after he picked up two yellow cards against Inter. Mandanda's superb goalkeeping kept the French side from going out at the hands of the Italians, and the club will now be without him as they face free-flowing Bayern. 

To make things worse, the club will also be without defender Souleymane Diawara, putting more pressure on the squad to keep things close in the first leg. 

Against Inter, the club won the battle of width, and in the first leg, put in 44 crosses, according to Zonalmarking. Unlike Inter, Bayern prefer to play with width; therefore, Marseille's defense will be stretched more than in the previous tie. Marseille's fullbacks will have their work cut out for them, as the Bavarians will get the ball wide and allow Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben to run at them all night long. 

Marseille's poor form should allow Bayern to have numerous chances over the two legs, and without two key players in the first match, it'll be difficult for the French side to hold off the in-form Champions League team.

Benfica

Five-time finalistw and two-time winners Benfica advanced to the quarterfinals with a 4-3 aggregate win over Zenit St. Petersburg. Despite losing the first leg in Russia, Benfica controlled most of the match and completely dominated the return match in Portugal. 

The Portuguese giants are one point behind Porto in their domestic competition, but have only won twice in their last five league games.

Benfica will meet Chelsea in what may prove to be the sleeper match of the quarterfinals. Both teams overturned deficits in the previous round and have squads loaded with talent. Keep in mind Chelsea's David Luiz and Ramires came from Benfica, and the money collected for the two Brazilians was reinvested into the current squad. 

Unlike their first match against Zenit, the Portuguese club was able to play a smooth passing game in the return leg. This was helped considerably by the western European country's weather. In the first leg, the two clubs played in freezing conditions, making football near impossible. However, the Russian club was figured out quite easily in friendlier weather, and Benfica was able to keep Zenit on the back foot throughout.

The club play a 4-1-3-2 formation with a playmaker in behind a central striker or a second striker just off the No.9. The fullbacks provide the width, and Javi Garcia is the muscle in the middle of the midfield. He may be the one tasked with stopping Juan Mata.

Defensively, the club stood up to Manchester United's attack in the group stage, picking up two draws. Though United was far from their best, Benfica was able to top the group and go undefeated until their trip to St. Petersburg. They have only given up seven goals in eight Champions League matches this season—11 goals in 12 matches if you count the qualifying rounds—and have played well against English sides in recent history.

The club defeated both United and Liverpool in 2006, and it's likely they could put Chelsea out this season.

Benfica is the darkhorse of competition, so don't be surprised if they get past the west Londoners. 

Chelsea

The Champions League quarterfinals have had at least one English Premier League team in it for the past 16 years. That record was in doubt until Chelsea overturned a 3-1 Napoli lead in the previous round to win the tie, 5-4. Their reward is a trip to Portugal to play Benfica with the return leg at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea was the beaten finalist in 2007-08 and was within reach of the final a year later if Tom Henning Ovrebo had been more generous on the evening. 

This season has been anything but smooth sailing for Chelsea. However, new manager Roberto Di Matteo has steadied the ship after he re-installed the old guard. Since taking charge, Di Matteo has led the Blues to four straight wins and rejuvenated Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and John Terry. Di Matteo's approach has been less hands-on, and he has allowed his most experienced players to get on with the job. Thus far, it has worked. 

In the second leg versus Napoli, Di Matteo had Lampard sit deep in the midfield. This allowed him to do less running over the course of the 90 minutes. It also gave him the ability to see more of the pitch in front of him. He was able to send passes to his attackers while Michael Essien and Ramires did most of the running to win the ball back. 

One of the biggest factors in Chelsea's win over Napoli was the Italian sides fatigue. As the match went on, the Blues' fitness proved vital. However, Benfica will be quite different than Napoli. The Italians were content with sitting back and playing on the counter attack. They also played with a three-man back line, which led to Napoli's increased tiredness as the game went into extra time. Unlike Napoli, Benfica will take the game to Chelsea's back four and will have the fitness to run with the Premier League club.

In the round of 16 first leg, Napoli was able to get behind the Chelsea fullbacks, especially on the right side. The Blues did an excellent job of stopping Napoli from doing this in the second leg, but Chelsea's defenders have routinely pushed too high this season. Going down a goal to Benfica will be harder to overcome than it was against Napoli. Benfica has only given up 21 league goals this season, and center backs Ezequiel Garay and Luisao have formed a formidable partnership.

Chelsea has two big-league fixtures, Manchester City and Tottenham, prior to their trip to Benfica. They could either be hitting top form at kickoff in the Estadio da Luz, or they could be drifting into another "crisis."

AC Milan

Between last season's Serie A triumph and winning the 2007 Champions League, Milan had several years of mediocrity. Those years included the signing of Ronaldinho from Barcelona and David Beckham's arrival on loan. Arguably, Silvio Berlusconi made those signings to increase the club's marketability during trophy-less years. Now, the club can return to their rightful place if they can knock off last season's champions Barcelona. 

Though they aren't the Champions League juggernaut they were five years ago, Milan is near their best. The club is in the driver's seat to win their second straight Scudetto and is the best club team in one of the most competitive leagues in the world. 

The Italians will take on Barcelona in the glamour tie of the round. The two giants met in the group stage, where the clubs drew the first encounter with both teams coming from behind. In the return leg, Barcelona needed a penalty and an own goal to stay level with Milan before they were able to get the winner through Xavi. 

Despite what many have written, Milan stood toe-to-toe with Barcelona and came up just short. Milan has done just as well against Barcelona as Real Madrid has this season, and many people wax lyrically about Jose Mourinho's side. 

Most importantly for Milan is they must have their star players healthy for the remainder of the tournament. Too often, the club's match-winners have been not been on the pitch or in the dugout for big games. The club must get these players back to full fitness and off their long list of injured players.

Milan hasn't lost in their last seven matches and not only has momentum, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic is in fine form. The big Swede has scored five goals in his last three matches, and he will have a score to settle when he returns to Camp Nou.

Domestically, Ibrahimovic has won an incredible eight domestic league titles in a row with five different teams in three different countries. Yes, he hasn't succeeded on the European stage, but so many players have failed as well. Unfortunately, Milan can depend too much on the big man, attempting to play everything through him.

Milan's defense allowed Barcelona to score five goals in the group stage; however, Milan struck back for four of their own. Don't expect the Italians to turn in a performance like they did at the Emirates, and don't be surprised if Milan take down the club that is considered unbeatable. 

Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich is the hottest team in European football at the moment. In their last three matches, the club has scored 20 goals and given up a miserly one. They have hit form at exactly the right moment. 

Though Bayern dismantled Basel in the last round, they entered the second leg down a goal on aggregate and avoided embarrassment by putting seven past the Swiss outfit. 

The Bavarians face a Marseille side that has had difficulty scoring of late and a club that will be without their goalkeeper in the first leg. Bayern has recently seen the return of midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger to solidify their team. 

Though Schweinsteiger is a boost for the club, they've produced their current rampage thanks to Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery and Mario Gomez. The three attackers have been given the freedom to focus entirely on going forward. Robben's weekend hat-trick put him in double digits for the season in goals, a statistic that was highly in doubt only a few weeks ago.

Robben was reportedly unhappy with his role at Bayern, but has responded in a way manager Jupp Heynckes could have only dreamt of. 

Despite the club's fantastic attack, goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has made mistakes this season resulting in goals. Many of Bayern's supporters are still uncertain about the former Schalke man, and despite being Germany's No. 1, many supporters are not fans. 

Unlike their attack, Bayern's defense doesn't strike fear into the hearts of the opposition. Philipp Lahm is still a constant at the back and one of the best fullbacks in the world. However, the rest of the defense is rather inexperienced in big matches—except Daniel Van Buyten—and Heynckes has elected to play Jerome Boateng and Holger Badstuber together in defense. 

If Bayern make it to the final, they will have the pleasure of playing it in their own arena. Before that, they have to get by Marseille and Madrid or APOEL, which is not an easy task. Unless they put seven goals past these clubs, too.

Real Madrid

The current La Liga leaders will take on Cinderella story APOEL in a David versus Goliath showdown. Madrid will obviously play the part of Goliath, and on paper, should move on to face Bayern Munich in the semifinal.

Despite dropping points to Malaga over the weekend, Los Blancos still hold an eight-point lead over Barcelona. Not an insurmountable lead, but a healthy one nonetheless. 

In the Champions League, the Spaniards have been efficient, winning all but one match. Their only match not resulting in a win came in the previous round against CSKA Moscow. More so than CSKA's play, Madrid was hampered by the chilly Russian weather—much like Benfica in St. Petersburg—and was never able to get into high gear. 

Domestically and on the European stage, Madrid has scored at will. The club has netted 89 times already in the league. Outside the top two, the next closest club is Valencia with 43 goals. Thus far in the Champions League, Madrid has tallied 24 goals and won by more than two goals in three-quarters of their matches. 

The defense has been solid as well, conceding a paltry 24 times in La Liga, and four times in Europe's premier club competition; keeping five clean sheets. Their La Liga total, however, is second best to rival Barcelona who has only allowed 17 goals this season. 

Madrid look unstoppable, yet the club is still winless against Barcelona in five attempts this season. Other Spanish clubs, such as Malaga, have also figured out Los Blancos this term. Like Barcelona, they're not unbeatable. Just extremely difficult to beat. 

F.C. Barcelona

What can be said about Barcelona? They have the best player in the world in Lionel Messi. The best midfielders in the world in Xavi and Andres Iniesta. The manager, Pep Guardiola, is considered by many to be the best in the world. They seem to be the best team of the modern age, and just as their motto says, "Més que un club," more than a club.

This season, Barcelona has already won the Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup and Club World Cup, and they still have the chance to win three more trophies. 

However, time and fatigue may be catching up with the cup holders. Guardiola has said the club runs in cycles, and after three Champions League trophies in six years, perhaps this great team's cycle is winding down. 

Barcelona is already eight points behind a strong Madrid squad, and Guardiola has already conceded the title to his rivals. Yet the club is undefeated in their last five matches, and is playing with an ease not seen in several months. 

There's no doubt the club has the toughest tie in the quarterfinals when they take on Milan. The two giants played twice in the group stages. Milan pushed the Spaniards hard in both matches, but Barcelona was able to hold on in both picking up a draw and a win. 

Barcelona's attack will give Milan a difficult time; however, it's Barcelona's defense that my let them down over two legs. Gerard Pique is have an indifferent season—Shakira's fault perhaps—meanwhile, captain Carlos Puyol isn't getting any younger. There are question marks around his fitness and ability to play a full 90 minutes.

Most important possibly is the recent loss of Eric Abidal. The Frenchman is out indefinitely, as he is to undergo liver transplant surgery. 

The defense is very thin in a squad that isn't very deep. This past weekend, Guardiola played Pique, Javier Mascherano, Dani Alves and Adriano at the back. It was a defense more equipped at attacking than defending, yet they kept a clean sheet against Sevilla. 

Barcelona's defense will be put to the test by Milan just as they were in the group stage. Just like in the earlier round, the Spanish side might need to outscore the Italians to move into the semifinals.