CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUARTER-FINALS TIPS: FOUR FIRST LEGS, FOUR BIG CALLS
Madrid, Lisbon, Barcelona, Paris… the stage is set for the Champions League quarter-final first legs and we’ve got tips for all four games over the two days.
That’s Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich, Sporting CP vs Arsenal, Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid and PSG vs Liverpool all covered.
Because like these eight sides, we know how to put on a show.
Tip 1 – Over 3.5 goals in Real Madrid vs Bayern @ 6/5
History is certainly on Real Madrid’s side going into this one.
The Merengues are unbeaten in their last nine matches against Bayern in this competition – winning seven – and their last eight at the Bernabeu.
Granted, this Bayern side is not the Bayern side of old which should give Los Blancos a lot of trouble – especially going forward with the breadth of attacking talent Vincent Kompany has at his disposal.
The same attacking talent that is just two goals away from breaking a 50+ year club record of 101 goals scored in a single league campaign… and with six games still to go.
It’s a scoring trend that has followed them across Europe, with 32 so far in the competition for an average of 3.2 a game.
Real, on the other hand, have converted 29 times (an average of 2.4 a game) with the majority arriving in more recent games – notably, the five netted against Manchester City over both legs.
Is this pound-for-pound the biggest game of the week? We think so, yes.
And will there be plenty of goals as expected? Also yes.
Over 3.5 goals in the match has landed in four of the last six Champions League meetings between these two. It’s hard to ignore at over Evens.
Tip 2 – Viktor Gyokeres to score anytime vs Sporting CP @ 5/4
A hero’s welcome to the Portuguese capital will soon turn to villainy when our next Champions League quarter-final tip comes to pass.
Only Harry Kane, with 18, has scored more goals for club and country since the turn of 2026 than Viktor Gyokeres’s 14.
The Gerd Muller award-winning striker has found the back of the net in four consecutive games for Sweden and Arsenal respectively – including a stunning hat-trick against Ukraine.
Gyokeres scored six goals in eight Champions League games for Sporting as part of the 97 he netted in 102 competitive games.
This is a big game for Arsenal having lost the EFL Cup final and dropping out of the FA Cup this past weekend; two games, two potential trophies gone with only the Premier League and Europe’s top prize still to play for.
It was Sporting that knocked Arsenal out of the Europa League in 2022/23 on penalties so confidence will be running high they can add to the north Londoners’ misery.
But if there’s one man who knows what it takes to tear apart Primeira Liga defences, it’s Gyokeres.
Tip 3 – Atletico Madrid to score first vs Barcelona @ 9/5
All previous European meetings between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have been in the Champions League quarter-finals – with the latter winning both ties on aggregate in 2013/14 and 2015/16.
Fast-forward a decade or so and the animosity between them is still just as potent in any competition they meet.
This is, of course, the second of three times the Blaugrana will play Atleti in the space of 10 days, with Hansi Flick winning the first test 2-1 at the Metropolitano courtesy of a late Robert Lewandowski strike.
None of Atleti’s last 34 matches in Europe has finished goalless and this promises to be more of the same considering they’re up against another one of the highest-scoring sides in the competition and a rival at that.
But we’re backing Diego Simeone’s side to draw blood first in the rematch.
They’ve opened the scoring in both league games against Barca already this season despite going on to lose those games and will be out for revenge given how it ended on Saturday night.
Could Julian Alvarez be the one to do it? The Argentine has 14 goals in his last 17 appearances and five goal contributions in seven games against Barca specifically.
He’s 5/1 to open the scoring if you’re after better odds.
Tip 4 – PSG to win (2UP) vs Liverpool @ 4/6
Talk about deja vu.
Many will remember that it was PSG who knocked Liverpool out of Europe in the round of 16 last year despite the Reds finishing top of the league phase table off the back of some standout results.
Arne Slot’s men actually won the first leg 1-0 at the Parc des Princes, which would usually signal a side has the potential to run it back one more time…
If only this were the same Liverpool side of last season.
The current Premier League champions have looked far from convincing in recent weeks, picking up only one win in their last five and suffering two losses on the bounce.
One of those was to Brighton in the league and the other 4-0 to Man City in the FA Cup quarter-final – a game that was well and truly wrapped up within the first 60 minutes.
Simply put, they’re in horrific form and we don’t see how they make it out of Paris with anything more than a loss.
We’re so confident Luis Enrique’s side will get the job done that we see them taking a two-goal advantage at some point, which with this 4/6 2UP prediction would see you paid out early when that happens.
Odds correct at time of publication but subject to change.
