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11th Mar 2015

Can Chelsea prevail against PSG and will Bayern make a breakthrough: JOE previews tonight’s Champions League

Another great night of European football

JOE

There will be no love lost at Stamford Bridge while the German giants will be looking to make a statement.

Europe’s elite club competition made a welcome return last night with 11 goals scored and Real Madrid and Porto advancing into the quarter-finals.

The reigning champions looked nothing like the team that were so dominant during the first half of the season. Ancelotti’s men suffered a huge scare in their 3-4 defeat to Schalke, going through 5-4 on aggregate.

There was no such worries for Porto, as the Portuguese giants crushed Basel 5-1 on aggregate.

What about tonight’s fixtures? Here’s our view…

Chelsea v PSG

Tonight 19:45

The first leg was a tense, tight and nervous affair as Branislav Ivanovic’s header was cancelled out by Edison Cavani.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwkajZYCRcc

Mourinho’s men were fortunate to come away from Paris with a draw. Chelsea only had one shot on target compared to PSG’s 7.

But they did get the better of the same opposition last year in a memorable 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge and this will be fresh in the players minds.

Laurent Blanc’s men are in decent form in Ligue 1, winning 3 and drawing 1 from their last 4, but Chelsea are one of only 3 unbeaten teams in the competition and they’ve never lost to French opposition on home soil in the Champions League.

We expect this record to remain intact.

Prediction: 1-0

Bayern Munich v Shakhtar Donetsk

Tonight, 19:45

Xabi Alonso’s relatively early red card in Ukraine changed the entire shape of the first-leg. The Bavarians were probably content to leave with a draw.

Shakthar face a daunting challenge if they’re to reach the last eight. Bayern have won all their home matches in the Champions League this season and they haven’t conceded a single goal.

An 11 point lead in the Bundesliga means that Guardiola’s charges can concentrate fully on regaining their Champions League crown and we expect them to have no difficulties in overcoming The Pitmen.

Prediction: 3-0

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