They will be joined tonight by the winners of the Bayern Munich – Real Madrid and Arsenal – Sporting duels.
The German giant welcomes the most trophy-winning European club to the "Allianz Arena", and the Bavarians celebrated in Madrid last Tuesday (2:1) and are one step closer to placing among the top four teams.
"Everything will depend on many things. It starts with individual qualities, then there is the collective intensity, as well as the willingness to go beyond the pain. Sometimes the referee can decide the outcome of the match, I hope not. But I want to say that every little detail is important. We are prepared both mentally and physically and we are excited for this match. We need those positive emotions," said Bayern coach Vincent Kompany.
The Belgian expert respects his rival and is aware of how dangerous Real actually is in "their" competition.
"One of the most important things, without a doubt, is that we have enormous respect for Real. We felt it before the game at the Bernabeu and it still is. We are preparing for the best version of Real, the one we saw against Manchester City. Their recent results do not reflect the talent they have. They are still one of the best teams in Europe. But what about the history of Barcelona, Atletico, Liverpool, Bayern, Arsenal? Everyone can tell a story about a moment when they did something incredible, and we can too. When we lost to Inter and went to Milan, we were 100 percent sure we could win. Real feel the same now. But we also know how to give them a blow. I firmly believe we can win. We can talk about everything else after that, but before that I don't give room for such thoughts," Kompany stressed.
On the other hand, the manager of the "royal" club, Alvaro Arbeloa, is confident of qualifying.
"We are Real Madrid. If there is one team that comes to this stadium believing that they can win and turn the tables, it is us. We never give up, we have 15 Champions Leagues and great players, and some of them will come back tomorrow. We don't know for sure what will happen, but I can guarantee that we will come back with our crest or on it," said Arbeloa.
The Spanish expert does not believe that his team needs a miracle in Munich.
"I don't think we need a miracle. It wasn't crazy to beat them last time. Their goalkeeper was the man of the match. It's clear we have to play a big game, but we are capable of it. No one who knows Real Madrid thinks that winning here would be a miracle."
Arbeloa also spoke with choice words about his opponent.
"They are also a big team that can look us in the eye – because of their history, mentality and personality. These are two clubs with a great history, who respect each other and have top players. We have to focus on ourselves," concluded the Madrid coach.
Arsenal will host Sporting at the Emirates, with Mikel Arteta's team holding a one-goal advantage from the first leg in Lisbon (1:0).
The Gunners were defeated by Bournemouth in the Premier League last weekend, further opening up the championship race.
British media reports that Arteta has a lot of problems ahead of today's match, and Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Jurgen Timbers, Martin Odegaard and Ricardo Calafiori missed the last training session due to injuries, so their performance is questionable.
"I don't want to go into details. We have to wait until tomorrow morning to make a real decision. Maybe one of them will be ready, we'll see. Rice has played a lot of games this season, that's part of the problem. He will try to do everything he can to play tomorrow. That's for sure," Arteta said.
RESULTS
Tuesday
Atletico Madrid – Barcelona 1:2, first leg 2:0, aggregate 3:2
Liverpool – Paris Saint-Germain 0:2, first leg 2:0, aggregate 0:4
Wednesday
9:00 p.m. Bayern Munich – Real Madrid (first leg 2:1)
9:00 p.m. Arsenal – Sporting (first leg 1:0)
