Champions League quarter-finals begin tonight

The Champions League quarter-final stage begins today with two scheduled matches. In Madrid, Real Madrid faces Bayern Munich at 22:00. Real Madrid enters the match following a league defeat to Mallorca and trailing Barcelona by seven points, despite their recent victory over Manchester City. Bayern Munich arrives with momentum after a late comeback win against Freiburg and leads the German Bundesliga. In Lisbon, Sporting CP hosts Arsenal. Sporting CP qualified for this round after overcoming a heavy first-leg deficit against Bodo/Glimt, though they currently trail Porto by five points in the domestic league. Arsenal, the current Premier League leaders, progressed to this stage by defeating Bayer Leverkusen but recently exited the domestic cup following a loss to Southampton.