Champions League quarter-final preview

Messi and Pique will be confident of progress

The draw for the Champions League quarter-finals has been made, and there are some fascinating clashes on the cards.

Paris St-Germain v Barcelona

Paris Saint-Germain's reward for overcoming Chelsea in the round of 16 is a quarter-final date with the giants of Barcelona. These two teams are no stranger to each other in the recent Champions League history. They were paired together in Group F in this season's Group Stages, with PSG winning 3-2 at the Parc des Princes before Barcelona got their revenge with a 3-1 victory at the Camp Nou. The sides also met at the quarter-final stage two seasons ago and it was Barcelona who progressed on away goals after a 3-3 draw over the two legs.

Barcelona ended up topping Group F and they overcame Premier League champions Manchester City in the round of 16. The Catalans won 2-1 at the Etihad in the first leg and won 1-0 at the Camp Nou thanks to a first-half strike from Ivan Rakitic. In truth, Barcelona could have got many more goals as they were vastly superior to their English opponents. Their progress means they are in the Champions League quarter-finals for a record eighth successive season.

PSG performed heroically to also overcome English opposition in the shape of Jose Mourinho's Chelsea. The first leg in Paris finished 1-1 and the writing looked to be on the wall for Laurent Blanc's men in London once Zlatan Ibrahimovic was controversially sent off after just 30 minutes of the second leg. However, PSG showed a dogged resistance as they twice came back from behind to snatch a 2-2 draw and progress on away goals, despite playing with 10 men for 90 minutes.

The French side have historically done well against Spanish opposition, and the loss to Barca in the group stage was their one defeat in their last seven games against sides from Spain. Meanwhile, Barcelona have not won in their last four trips to France, drawing three and losing in Paris earlier in the competition. You have to go back to 2001 for the last time Barcelona won a match in France.

Atletico Madrid v Real Madrid

There is a repeat of last year's final in the quarter-finals as city rivals Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid will go face-to-face. In the final back in May it was Real who came out on top 4-1, however Atletico were moments away from winning the Champions League. A last-gasp equaliser from Sergio Ramos cancelled out a first-half strike from Diego Godin and shattered the dreams of Atletico fans, before extra time goals from Gareth Bale, Marcelo and Cristiano Ronaldo gave Real a tenth European title.

Real only just made it through the round of 16 and were almost on the end of a major Champions League surprise. After beating the Bundesliga side Schalke 2-0 in Germany, they were forced to hang on at the Bernabeu as they conceded four away goals as Schalke won the match 4-3. Just one more goal was needed for the visitors to cause an almighty shock, but Real hung on. The fans have turned on coach Carlo Ancelotti and the Italian is under real pressure. While it was a bad night for Real in the second leg, it was a good night for Cristiano Ronaldo as he scored two goals to become the Champions League's all-time record scorer.

Atletico were the surprise packages last season, winning La Liga and getting so close to lifting the Champions League. They haven't quite met the standards of 12 months ago after losing some of their top stars, but are still challenging both domestically and in Europe. They were thankful to substitute goalkeeper Jan Oblak as they overcame Bayer Leverkusen in a penalty shoot-out in the last 16. The Germans won the first leg 1-0 and Atletico won the return by a similar score-line thanks to a Mario Suarez strike.

Atletico should go into the game full of confidence as they have had the better of their city rivals in four of the six games the two have faced off in already this season, with the other two matches being drawn. The history books show that Real have won both the European Cup clashes between the two teams, in last year's final and way back in the semi-finals in 1958/59. It promises to be an even battle between two bitter rivals in what will be their seventh and eighth meetings of this season.

Porto v Bayern Munich

Porto are unbeaten in 10 games in this year's Champions League, but received a tough draw against Bayern Munich. It is a repeat of the 1987 final, which Porto won, but Munich have beaten the Portuguese side over two legs in their other two meetings in the competition - at the quarter-final stage of the 1990/91 and 1999/200 competitions.

Bayern have been formidable at home in the Champions League this season, winning all four of their games and scoring 13 goals without conceding one. More than half of those goals came in the one game, as they trounced Shakhtar 7-0 in Munich in the second leg of their last 16 clash. After a goalless first leg, the game was all but over when Olexandr Kucher was shown the quickest red card in the competition's history after three minutes and Thomas Muller scored from the resulting penalty. Bayern have set a new Champions League record, having reached the quarter-finals on 14 occasions.

Porto are in the quarter-finals for the first time in six years and are so far unbeaten in the competition this season. They made it through the last round with a 5-1 aggregate victory over the Swiss side Basel. The Portuguese side will be outsiders in this quarter-final, but you have to go all the way back to 1991 for their last loss to German opposition on home soil, which was coincidentally to Bayern.

Juventus v Monaco

The final quarter-final sees Juventus taking on Monaco. It is a first appearance at the last-eight stage since 2012/13 for a Juventus side who are flying domestically and sit a full 14 points clear at the top of Serie A. They are the only Italian side left in the competition and the Old Lady overcame Borussia Dortmund 5-1 on aggregate in the last 16, with two Carlos Tevez goals and one from Alvaro Morata in a 3-0 victory in Germany in the second leg.

Monaco caused a shock as they beat Arsenal on away goals, with a 3-1 victory at the Emirates essentially putting the tie to bed in the first leg. They survived a bit of a scare on home turf but deserved a first appearance in the quarter-finals for a decade.

These two teams met in the semi-finals back in 1997/98, where Juventus came out 6-4 winners on aggregate, but the history books show that Monaco have never lost to an Italian team in Monte Carlo. Indeed, their only reverse, a 3-1 loss to Inter Milan in 1963/64, actually came in Marseille. Juventus are likely to be the favourites for this quarter-final but the club's director, Pavel Neved, was accurate after the draw when he cited Monaco's beating of Arsenal as a sign they should not be taken for granted.