Uefa Champions League: Europe's Biggest Competition Returns With A Repeat Of Two Recent Finals

  Uefa Champions League: Europe's Biggest Competition Returns With A Repeat Of Two Recent Finals By Admin A repeat of two recent finals, three ties with English teams and a close-up scouting mission the Champions League quarter-finals could prove to be some of the best yet. The first leg ties take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the second legs next week. When Liverpool's name was drawn with Real Madrid's, there was one thing on most people's minds. While winning the Champions League the following year and the Premier League the year after will have helped, there is still a lot of resentment in Reds circles about how the 2018 final went. At the end of an unbelievable first season at the club, Mohamed Salah lasted only 30 minutes when he suffered a shoulder injury after a tussle with Sergio Ramos. Real went on to win 3-1 thanks to two howlers from goalkeeper Loris Karius, two goals from Gareth Bale and one from Karim Benzema. Liverpool and Real's teams have been fairly consistent in recent years, meaning nine of each starting line-up are still at the club. But three of the main protagonists will not be playing on Tuesday. Ramos will not be there to injure Salah, Bale will not be there to score a bicycle kick this time and Karius will not be there to throw the ball straight at Benzema for a goal. Ramos is injured, and the latter two are out on loan. There is no doubt that Bayern Munich have been the outstanding club side for the past year or more. They won last season's treble of Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League - and followed that up with three more trophies this season (Club World Cup and Uefa and German Super Cups). Wednesday's quarter-final tie with Paris St-Germain is a repeat of last year's final, which Bayern won 1-0 for their 21st victory in a row in all competitions. Bayern's biggest star of all that success has been 32-year-old Robert Lewandowski, who is in the form of his life. Between last season and this campaign, the Poland striker has scored 101 goals for Bayern in 83 games. But they will have to do it without him against PSG after he was ruled out for a month with a knee injury. So this is a chance for Bayern Munich to show how good they are even without Lewandowski's 1.2 goals per game - especially against a team including Kylian Mbappe and Neymar. The evidence says they will be fine. Their previous 18 games without Lewandowski have ended without defeat - 15 wins and three draws. The last time they lost without him was four years ago in the first leg of a Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid.