Gerard Pique is expected to play through the pain barrier having recently sustained a hip problem as holders Barcelona travel to Atletico Madrid on
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Gerard Pique is expected to play through the pain barrier having recently sustained a hip problem as holders Barcelona travel to Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night for their decisive quarter-final second leg.
Barca won the first leg 2-1 but that is their only victory in their last four matches as they stutter towards the end of the season.
Atletico’s away goal from the first leg could prove crucial on the night.
And they will look to take full advantage of their La Liga rival’s slump in form to dump Barca out of the competition as they did at this stage in 2014.
Fernando Torres is suspended for the match while centre-backs Jose Gimenez and Stefan Savic are expected to miss out again through injury.
Benfica are hoping to pull off a major upset when they take on five-times champions Bayern Munich at the Estadio da Luz with the Germans enjoying a slender one nil lead from the first leg.
Coach Rui Vitoria will be without the club’s top scorer Jonas through suspension while Nicolas Gaitan faces a late fitness test as he’s struggling with a thigh injury.
Pep Guardiola has his own injury concerns with Holger Badstuber and Jerome Boateng both ruled out through injury.
Mehdi Benatia remains doubtful as do Kingsley Coman and Arjen Robben.
Bayern remain favourites to progress having won their last six games in all competitions and lost just one of their last 20 fixtures.