What to look out for in Wednesday's Champions League quarter-finals

Haven't we met before? The last-eight draw pitched together clubs, players and coaches with plenty of shared history, and all the remaining teams can provide evidence to back up their optimism of reaching the semi-finals.

Here are some key talking points ahead of the first legs of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.

This week's fixtures

9 April

Arsenal vs Bayern
Real Madrid vs Manchester City

10 April

Atlético de Madrid vs Dortmund
Paris vs Barcelona

All kick-offs 21:00 CET

Simeone on verge of exclusive club

Diego Simeone made it to 100 Champions League games as coach of Atlético in the first instalment of their round of 16 tie and he will be hoping the first leg of their quarter-final with Dortmund provides him with another landmark to add to his growing collection. The 53-year-old sits on 49 victories in the competition – only eight coaches have ever reached 50 – thanks to Atleti's 2-1 success, and subsequent penalty shoot-out triumph, against Inter. Another here could go some way towards sending them to a first semi-final in Europe's premier club competition since 2017.

Dortmund cannot be taken lightly though, despite them riding their luck at times when dispatching PSV in the last round. The German outfit are now unbeaten in their last seven Champions League matches (W4 D3), five of those coming in a group widely regarded as the toughest to call this season. Given BVB have lost only two of their last 20 games in their own stadium (W11) in this competition, the first leg at Estadio Metropolitano could be pivotal to Atlético's ambitions.

Drama guaranteed when Paris face Barcelona

You can sure of raised eyebrows or stand-out storylines when Paris and Barcelona get together in the Champions League. This will be their fourth tie in the knockout stages since 2012/13 and the Catalan club hold the edge overall, having won the first three of those. The most dramatic was undoubtedly in 2017 though, when the Spanish side overturned a 4-0 first-leg defeat to complete La Remontada.

The last tie had a very different outcome, however, thanks mainly to Kylian Mbappé. The French striker became the first visiting player to score a hat-trick in the Camp Nou in this competition since Andriy Shevchenko for Dynamo Kyiv in 1997 as Paris stormed to a stunning 4-1 success, and Mbappé would also find the net in the return to banish La Remontada to the history books. Will he write another chapter this time around?

Further ahead

• Barcelona and Dortmund will host the returns of their ties on Tuesday 16 April, while Man City and Bayern are the home sides in their second legs a day later
• The semi-final draw has already been made with the match schedule to be communicated on Thursday 18 April.

Where is the Champions League final being played?

UEFA via Getty Images

The 2023/24 Champions League final will take place at Wembley Stadium in London on 1 June 2024.