Your Champions League Quarterfinals Primer

Antoine Griezmann and Atletico will look to replicate their 14’ UCL triumph over Barcelona.

 By Justin Sherman (@JShermOfficial) and Alejandro Vargas (@callmejandro)

We have finally reached the meat and potatoes portion of the Champions League, where true contenders reveal themselves. This round sees familiar heavyweights crossing paths, while relative newcomers look to pull off titanic upsets. Without further ado let's take a look at the matchups. 

Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid / 1st leg April 5th 2:45 PM/ 2nd leg April 13th 2:45 PM

Overview

These sides' only previous European tie came at the same stage of the 2013/14 competition, when Atlético became the only team to prevent Barça from reaching the semi-finals in the past eight seasons, and one of only three clubs to have eliminated them in a Champions League quarterfinal, along with Paris Saint-Germain in 1994/95 and Juventus in 2002/03. Barcelona have absolutely dominated this matchup of late, with Atletico’s Diego Simeone now a putrid W1, D5, L9 against his club's Catalan rivals.

Players to watch

Your Champions League Round of 16 Primer

Can anyone unseat reigning champion Barcelona?

By Justin Sherman (@JShermOfficial) and Alejandro Vargas (@callmejandro)

Ed. Note- For this very special Champions League preview, our resident soccer guru Justin is enlisting the help of his buddy Jandro. The two of them will take you through each first round pairing of Europe's most prestigious club tournament, breaking down matchups, players to watch, and giving predictions.

Enjoy!

Paris St. Germain vs. Chelsea 

1st leg: 2/16 2:45 PM. 2nd leg: 3/9 2:45 PM

Overview

A season ago, this may have been the headliner for many in this stage of the competition, but Chelsea have had a disastrous league campaign that resulted in the sacking of Jose Mourinho.

Still, not all hope is lost. You may recall what happened the last time this was the case -- Chelsea won the Champions League, with an interim manager, nonetheless. The blues are coming off a 5-1 win over Newcastle with renewed confidence, and an unbeaten run of 12 games under interim boss Guus Hiddink. Diego Costa has regained his scoring boots and Pedro has come back to life with a brace over the weekend.

Cristiano Ronaldo's 10 Greatest Goals

By Justin Sherman (@JShermOfficial)

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a pair of goals in Wednesday's Champions League match against Malmö, reaching two historic milestones in the process.

With his first goal, Ronaldo joined the illustrious 500 goal club, becoming its 25th member all-time. With his second, he equaled Raúl’s club record of 323 goals for Los Blancos. Raúl’s tally was achieved in 741 appearances, while Ronaldo took a mere 308 to match him.

In honor of the prolific forward's historic milestones, we countdown the Top-10 goals of Cristiano Ronaldo’s career.

Your Champions League Primer: A European Football Frenzy!

The Champions League Draw. Click to enlarge.

By Justin Sherman (@JShermOfficial)

The Holy Grail of football tournaments returns today as 32 teams battle it out for a chance to hoist the 73.5cm tall trophy into the Milan sky.

This year's edition sees the return of English heavyweight Manchester United, along with five Spanish clubs, a tournament record for single country. Before previewing the groups, I have added a short explanation of how this particular tournament operates (It’s not rocket science people, though some make it out to be).