Of the eight participants in the quarter-finals of the competition, the two nominally weakest are Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund. Well, one of those two clubs will advance to the semi-finals. As far as the domestic championships are concerned, both clubs are going through a season to forget. Atlético are fourth and by the end of the season they will be fighting for the Champions League (unless they win this competition), and Borussia Dortmund sit fifth and – by the end of the season they will be fighting for the Champions League (unless they win this competition).Atlético Madrid lack consistency. In the round of 16, they somewhat surprisingly knocked out the dominant Inter Milan after an interesting penalty shootout, which was followed by a 0-3 defeat against Barcelona in the championship. However, Diego Simeone’s team returned to the winning track at the most important moment. In the last round, the Rojiblancos defeated Villarreal at La Ceramica and filled themselves with confidence before these extremely important games.Who would have thought that PSG and Barca would be Champions League’s ‘dark horses’?Cholo Simeone, a specialist in cup format competitions, was left without the hero of the round of 16, Memphis Depay, who suffered an injury, also Thomas Lemar and Mario Hermoso will not be in the squad. However, Antoine Griezmann has fully recovered from his injury, and Edin Terzić’s team will be threatened by a powerful French-Spanish attack: Griezmann-Alvaro Morata.While Atletico Madrid ended a fluctuating run of form with a 2-1 win over Villarreal, Borussia Dortmund snapped a five-game winning streak with a 0-1 home defeat to Stuttgart in the last round. Before that, the players from Dortmund took several important scalps, among others they defeated PSV in the Champions League and Union Berlin, Werder and Bayern away in the Bundesliga.Projected lineups for today’s Champions League quarterfinal 1st leg game between Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund. (📸 | GdS) pic.twitter.com/5zWOJZMUUU— Raffaele (@ItalianoCalcio) April 10, 2024 Terzić has no problem with absences, Ramy Bensabaini will certainly not be on the pitch while Donyell Malen is questionable.This will be the fifth meeting between these two teams. In the first doubleheader, played in the group stage of the competition in 1996/97, when Borussia Dortmund won the Champions League, the visitors recorded a victory each, and in the group stage of the 2018/19 season – statement wins from the hosts – Atletico won 2-0 in Madrid, Borussia won 4-0 in Dortmund.UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – QUARTER-FINALSFirst legTuesdayArsenal – Bayern 2-2 (1-2)/Saka 12, Trossard 76 – Gnabry 18, Kane 32(p)Real Madrid – Man.City 3-3 (2-1)/Dias (og) 12, Rodrygo 14, Valverde 79 – Silva 2, Foden 66, Gvardiol 71/Wednesday22:00: (1.85) Atl.Madrid (3.60) Dortmund (4.80)22:00: (2.05) PSG (3.60) Barcelona (3.80)***odds are subject to change***
