Champions League: Quarterfinal First Leg Preview

After a thrilling Round of 16 in the Champions League following the annual winter break, the quarterfinals of Europe's premier club competition has returned with the first leg of all four quarterfinal match-ups on Tuesday March 30 and Wednesday March 31.

The match-ups on March 30 are as followed: Bayern Munich v Manchester United and Lyon v Bordeaux.

The match-ups on March 31 are as followed: Arsenal v FC Barcelona and Inter Milan v CSKA Moscow.

Now with all of these great match-ups, here is a preview of all four match-ups, what to watch for and who I expect to win in the first leg.

Tuesday, March 30

Bayern Munich v Manchester United

Preview: A match-up between two of the biggest clubs in Europe and a history that includes the famous 1999 Champions League final, Bayern Munich and Manchester United will square off with each other at the Allianz Arena in Munich for the first leg.

Earlier this year, the two sides met in the Allianz Arena in late July in the Audi Cup, which Bayern advanced on penalties by a 7-6 scoreline.

But besides that, this is a great match-up between two sides that are on top of their respective tables at the moment.

In the Round of 16, Bayern were able to squeak by thanks to some controversial refereeing by Tom Øverbø and with two away goals in Florence to beat Fiorentina on away goals.

Meanwhile for Manchester United, they were able to ruin David Beckham's return to Old Trafford with a 4-0 blowout at the Theatre of Dreams after a 3-2 win at the San Siro during the first leg.

What to watch for: For Bayern, how will they deal with the hottest player in English football, Wayne Rooney? Rooney scored four goals overall in the Round of 16 against Milan, and he has been nothing short of spectacular in the last month.

Also, will Bayern take full advantage of the first leg at home?

Bayern has two wins at the Allianz Arena in the Champions League this season, but one was against minnow side Maccabi Haifa, and the other one was the controversial match against Fiorentina in the Round of 16.

And now with the injury to Arjen Robben over the weekend in the loss to Stuttgart and the uncertainty of having Frank Ribery ready, who knows how Bayern will play without two of their major cogs.

And finally, with the match-up against Schalke coming up on the weekend, how will Bayern approach this match-up as they look to win the Bundesliga, especially considering Bayern's loss over the weekend to VfB Stuttgart.

For Manchester United, how will they approach this match? United have an extremely important match with Chelsea coming up on April 3 at Old Trafford, just five days after the first leg, and three days afterwards is the return leg at Old Trafford.

Also, what role will United's supporting cast around Wayne Rooney perform offensively? In the match-up against Milan, they were spectacular (especially in the second leg), and Dimitar Berbatov scored two goals over the last weekend in a 4-0 win at Bolton.

And with players such as Nani and Antonio Valencia performing great lately, and Ryan Giggs fully recovered after breaking his arm back in February, Rooney will have a strong supporting cast intact for this match.

Prediction: This will be an extremely close match-up between two really strong sides. With United having that big match-up coming up with Chelsea right after this first leg and Bayern having to travel to the Veltins Arena to take on a Schalke side that is in serious contention to win the Bundesliga for the first time since 1958, both of these sides have more than just the Champions League to worry about.

Anyway, I see this match-up ending up in a 1-1 draw being decided in the second leg at Old Trafford, as both of these sides will be extremely cautious with their major match-ups on the weekend.

Lyon v Bordeaux

Preview: The only match-up between two sides from the same country in the quarterfinals, Bordeaux travel to the Stade de Gerland here in the first leg as they look to get another win in Lyon (which they did on December 13 by a 1-0 score).

Throughout this year in Ligue 1, Lyon and Bordeaux both have taken different paths. Lyon will be trying to get a Champions' League spot while Bordeaux are currently in first place as they seem like they will be able to get to the Champions League again.

So far in the Champions League, Lyon have been able to win their matches with strong defending and timely late goals, while Bordeaux have been able to beat the likes of Bayern Munich, Juventus and now Olympiacos, as they still have not suffered a loss in the Champions League.

In the Round of 16, this philosophy was no different than before, as Lyon were able to advance with a late away goal by Miralem Pjanic to win 2-1 on aggregate after a 1-0 win at the Stade de Gerland in the first leg.

Meanwhile for Bordeaux, they were able to win the first leg at the Karaiskakis Stadium by a 1-0 score before winning the second leg at the Stade Chaban-Delmas by a 2-1 score.

What to watch for: For Lyon, it will be the defense. Even though it has not been the best in France this season, it has been spectacular so far in Europe, and it alone could lead Lyon to a win in this match-up.

Also, will Lyon get a crucial late goal? They have been great this year in the Champions Leauge in that specialty, and in the Champions League, a team could go extremely far with that skill.

For Bordeaux, how will they play after a major loss over the weekend to Marseille? Now their Ligue 1 title dreams have been hurt, and with that in mind, will they play better in Lyon.

Also, will that great winning streak by Bordeaux stay alive? Bordeaux could play anywhere in the Champions League and still manage a win, which really is also an extremely valuable asset this late in the Champions League season.

Prediction: Both of these sides have had their problems in Ligue 1 as of late, but this is a matchup that will be extremely intriguing to watch.

With that in mind, I see Lyon winning here 2-1 on a late goal, but Bordeaux will get that crucial away goal that will be huge in the second leg at the Stade Chaban-Delmas.

Wednesday, March 31

Arsenal v FC Barcelona

Preview: A rematch of the 2006 Champions' League final in which Barcelona got two late goals to win 2-1, Barcelona will travel to the Emirates Stadium in London to take on Arsenal.

So far in this campaign, Barcelona and Arsenal both have had their ups and downs, but both are within shouting distance of winning their respective leagues.

Without question, going into this match-up offense will reign supreme with two extremely entertaining sides to watch, so this match-up will come down to which Spanish goalkeeper will be the best, should it be Manuel Almunia or Victor Valdés.

In the Round of 16, Arsenal were able to rebound from a 2-1 loss in Porto in the first leg with a 5-0 shellacking of Porto at the Emirates in the second, largely due to a hat trick by Danish striker Nicklas Bendtner.

Meanwhile for Barcelona, that Catalan side were able to be held to a 1-1 draw at the Mercedes Benz Arena in the first leg before beating VfB Stuttgart 4-0 in the second leg, in large part due to a brace by Lionel Messi.

What to watch for: For Arsenal, it will have to be how will Manuel Almunia play after his costly mistake against Birmingham City last weekend which resulted in a 1-1 draw for Arsenal at St. Andrews Park and is a major blow to the Gunner's title hopes.

Also, how will Cesc Fàbregas do (if he is fit) against his old side in Barcelona? There of course has been that rumor for the last several years that Fàbregas will leave the Emirates for the Camp Nou, but who knows what will happen.

For Barcelona, it will be how will Barca play without the services of Xavi and now Andrés Iniesta for this match. Both were extremely important cogs in the Barcelona machine last year that were unstoppable in all competitions.

And also, will Lionel Messi keep up his incredible form as of late? Messi just went through a three match streak in which he scored eight goals, but despite the fact that he has not scored in his last two La Liga matches, Barcelona keeps on winning.

Prediction: Probably the most hyped of all of the match-ups, this is a match-up that will be intriguing from the first second of the match all the way to the final whistle.

Despite Almunia's error at St. Andrews Park over the weekend, I see Arsenal scraping out a memorable 3-2 comeback victory here in the first leg with the final goal coming from Samir Nasri, as the second leg at the Camp Nou will also be unforgettable.

Inter Milan v CSKA Moscow

Preview: The final matchup of the Champions League quarterfinals, Inter Milan and CSKA Moscow will be a very entertaining matchup between two sides that will be looking to get some real European glory.

Back in 2007, these two sides met each other in the Champions League, in which Inter were able to beat their Russian counter puts by a 2-1 score in Matchday Three in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium, and by a 4-2 score at the San Siro in Milan.

But since then, CSKA Moscow and the rest of Russian football has really started to emerge into a stronger force in Europe again and this year, CSKA Moscow and Rubin Kazan both really showed this with strong showings against sides such as Manchester United, Barcelona and Inter.

Now even though Rubin got eliminated from the Champions League on Matchday Six and eliminated from the Europa League Round of 16 by VfL Wolfsburg, CSKA Moscow were able to advance from Group C and beat Sevilla 3-2 on aggregate to make their first ever Champions League quarterfinal.

Meanwhile in Inter's Round of 16 match-up, they were able to beat Chelsea 2-1 at the San Siro, and 1-0 on a goal from Samuel Eto'o to eliminate Chelsea, who were in the last three Champions League semifinals before this season.

What to watch for: For Inter, it will be can they continue to perform well in European competition with the stress of Serie A starting to catch up to them, as Inter currently find themselves just one point ahead of AS Roma and three points over their inter-city rival AC Milan.

Also, it will be interesting to see how Inter will deal with a fresh CSKA Moscow side that have showed no ill effects of their winter break by beating Sevilla even though the Russian Premier League season is only a couple of weeks old.

And, Inter will be without Center back Lucio and midfielder Thiago Motta for this match due to suspension.

Meanwhile for CSKA Moscow, it will certainly be will they continue to play well and earn results in opposing European venues.

So far this season in the Champions League, CSKA Moscow have earned a draw at Old Trafford (where they were winning 3-1 for a large portion of the match), and also have wins at Beşiktaş's BJK İnönü Stadium and Sevilla's Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, which are two of the tougher stadiums to play in for European competition for away sides.

And also, will CSKA Moscow be able to keep up their great play so far? After "concealing our strengths on purpose" during the last weekend's 2-1 win against Anzhi Makhachkala according to defender Vasili Berezutski with Jose Mourinho present, it will be interesting to see how CSKA Moscow will do, even though I personally believe that they will be completely ready.

Prediction: This is one extremely interesting matchup to watch with a collapsing side in Inter facing a CSKA Moscow side that is completely fresh.

Due to Inter's recent weaknesses in Serie A and with the fact that CSKA Moscow could win anywhere, I am predicting a 1-1 draw as CSKA Moscow will return to Russia ahead on away goals.

Now with all of these great match-ups coming up, one must wonder who will be able to advance onto the semifinals as this is one of the greatest Champions League quarterfinal match-ups of all time.

But this is for sure; these are four great match-ups that we have this week in the Champions League, as we move even closer to finding out who the champion of Europe will be.