Atletico have become one of the Champions League’s biggest teams over the past few seasons, however, this season has taken a poor direction after a poor start to the season saw the leave the Champions League in the group stages after they could only manage to come 3rd behind AS Roma and Chelsea. There is 9 points gap separating them and Barcelona in the La Liga and they have been eliminated from the Copa Del Rey, Diego Simeone’s men know this is their only hope of finishing the season with a trophy. Atleti won Deportivo 1-0 at the weekend, a win that was their 12th from their last 14 games, this run included Europa League wins over Lokomotiv Moscow and Copenhagen.  They have 14 wins from their last 16 games at the Wanda Metropolitana, keeping 13 clean sheets, which makes it almost mission impossible for Sporting Lisbon to get a good result here. Sporting Lisbon haven’t been on their very best most recently as they have lost 3 of their last 6 competitive games including to Braga at the weekend and to Viktoria Plzen in their Europa League last round. As a matter of fact, they have lost 5 of their last 8 games on the road and they have not netted a goal in 3 of those games.

Arsenal have struggled for much of this season, but this competition offers them an opportunity to make it a good ending if they can win and qualifying for the Champions League like Manchester United did last season. The North Londoners have enjoyed some good form recently and they were in total control in their Premier League game against Stoke City at the weekend where they emerged 3-0 victors. The return to Alexandre Lacazette is also a major boost for them ahead of this game especially after he marked his return with a goal for the Gunners. That win over the Potters makes it 4 wins from the same number of games including their impressive two-legged win over Milan in the Europa League last round, even more impressively they have netted 11 times in those matches, conceding just once. That defensive solidity could help them win this competition. CSKA Moscow are not one of the biggest teams still in the competition but they are not to be underrated as they showed in the last round against Lyon. They trailed the French side from the first leg 0-1, but they produced a very inspiring performance to win 3-2 at Lyon in the return leg. They are in good form at the moment as they have won 6 of their last 7 games in all competitions.

When the Champions League quarterfinal draw was made, Barcelona would have felt very fortunate to have drawn AS Roma as they look to win the La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League treble. Their last game offered them a major scare as they had to fight very hard to earn a late 2-2 draw against Sevilla having been 2-0 down until the 88th minute. They are now unbeaten in 17 matches in all competitions and they have won 11 of those games. Their defence has also been impressive this season, with the likes of Samuel Umtiti helping them to  11 clean sheets in their last 13 games. Roma have fallen out of the race for the Scudetto title, but they are still 3rd and look good to qualify for the Champions League again next season. Their weekend draw against Bologna ended their run of 4 successive victories and extends their unbeaten run to five games. They don’t have the best away records in competitions as they have won only 4 of their last 12 away games in all competitions. AS Roma have won one, lost two and drawn two of their last five meetings with Barca.

Bayern were expected to win the Bundesliga in the last round of matches, but some poor defending saw them lost to RB Leipzig and delay their title celebration. However, they do have a chance to win the title with maximum points here if Freiburg avoids a defeat at Schalke. If they win here it would also mean they have beaten BVB three times in a single season for the very first time. One star man for this game in Robert Lewandoski. The Pole left BVB in the summer of 2014 and he has developed into one of the world’s deadliest strikers. He has netted 7 times against his former employer and has 23 Bundesliga goals already this season. Bayern Munich are the form favourites ahead of this game, however, Peter Stoeger is yet to lose a league game as BVB manager and he could mastermind a win here. Bayern have 4 wins in their last 5 meetings with BVB including the last two times they have met this season, would this be a third time lucky for them or can Michy Batshuayi fire BVB to a win a delay Bayern’s title triumph again? Bayern have won 11 of their 13 league games at home this season and over 2.5 goals were netted in 77% of those games.

With Champions League commitments on their mind, Vincenzo Montella and Ernesto Valverde could spring some surprise changes in this game, but both of these teams would need the maximum points. Sevilla have earned a lot of plaudits for their exploits in the Champions League, but the Seville based side have been struggling in the league since they named Vincenzo Montella as their new manager. They are risking a third straight defeat if they fail to win here, and they have 8 losses from their last 15 games. They have just two wins from their last 7 home games, with three losses from their last six home games under Montella. Barcelona would be delighted that Argentina decided against using Lionel Messi in the last international break and Ernesto Valverde may also feel he does not really have to make changes as they don’t play in the Champions League until Wednesday. Messi has netted in his last 6 games for Barca and should score here, while the Catalans have won 4 of their last 6 visits to Sevilla and all of their last 5 meetings together. Sevilla have also conceded at least once in their last 14 home league games ahead of this match.

This game is the biggest fixture of the weekend in the Championship as two teams with Premier League ambitions meet each other. Wolves should have been under pressure to deliver here, but with over 10 points separating them from 3rd placed Fulham, they would feel they can lose here and be forgiven. Middlesbrough are the team under pressure as they are 6th on the league table but have just 1 point more than Bristol City and two teams could leapfrog them by Monday if they fail to get the maximum points here. Boro have taken 14 points from their last 6 games and they are gradually becoming a team that can get promotion back to the Premier League even if it is through the playoffs. They are strong at home and come into this game with 4 wins from their last 4 games. Wolves have been struggling away from home recently and their 4-1 hammering at Aston Villa just before the break shows they are a side that can be caught with Fulham also earning a deserved home win against them recently. They have won just 3 of their last 9 away games and they would be looking to get a win here also.