Spanish clubs aims to avert Euro crisis

The Champions League last eight has a very Spanish slant this year at the expense of the Premier League, which has no representative in the quarterfinals for the first time since 1996.

One of the combatants in action on Tuesday night, runaway Ligue 1 leader Paris Saint-Germain, is in rather unfamiliar territory — the French side has not reached this stage of the competition in 18 years. Its opponent in the 1995 second knockout round was none other than Barcelona, which stands in the way of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Beckham, Lucas Moura et al and a place in the last four. History favors PSG; it beat Barça that year 3-2 on aggregate with goals from George Weah, Raí and Vincent Guérin, while Pep Guardiola was in the opposing side and Sergio Busquets' old man Carlos was between the sticks.

Logic, of course, dictates that Barcelona will go through. Its greater experience, more solid defense and the presence of the world's best player should be enough to see off a PSG side that is potent in attack but vulnerable at the back. Thiago Silva, former AC Milan defender now at PSG, admitted it will be difficult to beat Barcelona over two legs but claimed his side knew "where Barça's weakness is and how to exploit it. We're going to focus on the first leg, try and get a great result at home and then try and clinch qualification in the Camp Nou." Milan has certainly tried its best before; 0-0 in the first leg in 2011-12, 3-1 at Camp Nou; 2-0 in the San Siro this year, 0-4 in Barcelona. Over 180 minutes, Barcelona takes some beating.

Málaga has nothing to lose; the sun will still rise on the Costa del Sol win or lose against Borussia

So too does Málaga, which upset the odds against Porto in the last round, and took four points from Milan in the group stage, which it negotiated unbeaten. However, the prospect of Borussia Dortmund, a dark horse for the title despite lagging behind Bayern in the Bundesliga, is a reality check for the Champions League debutant. "A good result to go to Germany with peace of mind would be 6-0," said resident jester Joaquín ahead of the first leg at La Rosaleda. "If we are here it's because we've shown that we are a great team and people believe we can do it. We are going to try to keep the dream alive."

To do so, Málaga will have to blunt an attacking edge that contains Robert Lewandowski, Mario Goetze and Marco Reus - all the subject of covetous eyes across the continent - and marshaled at the back by Mats Hummels and Neven Subotic. Still, Málaga has nothing to lose, is under no pressure and the sun will still rise on the Costa del Sol even if Dortmund delivers a thorough hiding.

What would Real Madrid pay for such innocence? The entire season rests on the chase for the fabled décima (10th title), and if Florentino Pérez's face during a dour draw against Zaragoza at the weekend was any indicator, a clear-out beckons at the Bernabéu this summer regardless of results between now and then. Given the strength of the sides in the last eight, José Mourinho probably smiled when the Turkish side was pulled out of the hat, but it is certainly going to be no walk in the park, even for a man half the opposing side call a "second father."

Galatasaray are Turkey's PSG — nouveau riche and intent on a quick return on investments. Any side containing Didier Drogba, Wesley Sneijder and joint top scorer in the competition Burak Yilmaz should not be taken lightly, while many of Real's players will be nervously rubbing their shins ahead of a reunion with former Atlético hardman Tomas Ujfalusi. Talk of one-man teams is always slightly disingenuous; even Messi needs someone to pass him the ball. However, Cristiano Ronaldo — who shares the eight-goal mark with Yilmaz — remains key to all of Real's hopes in the absence of any semblance of form between Gonzalo Higuaín and Karim Benzema.