Champions League Best Bets - March 7

Real Madrid stormed to a big aggregate win over Manchester City in the Champions League Round of 16 as they eliminated their opponents in a 5-1 win. This triumph came on the back of a 3-1 aggregate win over Benfica, with the Spanish side proving tough to beat. 

However, their last league outing saw Real left stunned in a shocking 2-1 loss to Mallorca that has seen their hopes of winning the La Liga left in tatters. Now, their focus will almost entirely be on winning the Champions League. The main worry for Real will be that they have lost three of their last nine European games. While this may not sound like a huge issue, Real Madrid are not generally a side for losing so frequently in the competition. 

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich arrive having only lost one of their opening 10 European games, with this coming against Arsenal back in November. Wins over Chelsea, PSG and Atalanta have helped to make up their excellent run, and they will be hugely confident heading into this one. 

While Real have proved tough to beat at home, I am backing Bayern to storm to a crucial win over their hosts as they give themselves a foot up in their quarter-final clash. 

Sporting did the nearly unthinkable in their Round of 16 clash with Bodo/Glimt as they made it through to the quarter-finals despite losing the first-leg 3-0. Their 5-0 home win was a statement performance, but they will not find an opponent in Arsenal that will give them as many chances. 

Arsenal head into their clash with Sporting with nine wins in their 10 European games coming alongside a single draw with Bayer Leverkusen in Germany. Their 2-0 win over Leverkusen at the Emirates Stadium in the second-leg of their last clash was a masterclass in controlling a game and they were deserved winners in that second game. 

The big worry for the Gunners will be that they struggled to control the game in Germany. Could the same happen when Arsenal head to Portugal for the first-leg of their quarter-final? While the Gunners began their campaign with four consecutive clean sheets, they have conceded in three of their last four, and I back them to see over 2.5 goals in a back-and-forth game that the Gunners win.