This shows how overrated Premier League is. For me, the quality of football is higher in La Liga while the level of competition is higher in Serie A when compared to PL.
I couldn't agree more, the PL has been more about the money and the level of exposure...That tends to be also evident when you see the likes of Everton, West Ham or their usually 6-9th rated team perform in the Europa League, they are always under-performing even against teams from lower tier leagues. However, I feel both Guardiola and Klopp have sure raised the standards over the past few years.
Now talking about Quarters,
First Game: I was sure about Atalanta's win till few days ago but now story looks different. The main reason of Atalanta's overwhelming performance was the Deadly Trio of Gomez, Zapata and Ilicic. But due to some undisclosed personal reasons, Ilicic left the Atalanta squad. Him leaving Atalanta's squad is more significant than Mbappe's unavailability for PSG in my opinion. Now I think PSG can win this one. My Prediction: 3-1 in favor of PSG.
Second Game: Atletico will be without their important player Correa due to Coronavirus. He has played all CL games for AM so far this season. However, Leipzig failed to impress post-lockdown, not to forget they are without Timo Werner. In nutshell, easy win for Atletico Madrid.
Third Game: Oh my god! What a game it would be. This is seriously a final material. They are meeting too soon in competition, that's unfair. FC Bayern are clear favorites. But it's Barcelona we are talking about, it's Lionel Messi we are talking about. This one could do some serious damage to bookies as I can see odds are as high are 3.8 on Barcelona. Although they played awful post-lockdown in league but last La Liga game plus pre-quarterfinal were good performances. Other than Messi, Semedo, Lenglet, Rakitic and Frenkie De Jong gave good performances too. Especially Semedo, who made some excellent sprints. It will be 1v1 clash between him and Davies, let see who wins the war of speed. I am routing for Barcelona (more of an emotional decision than the factual) but this can happen very much.
Fourth Game: It's easy, Manchester City. Lyon were lucky to get away from Juventus. Goal advantage at home, lucky away penalty goal and sheer will in defense made them go-past Juve. But Man City are not Juventus. They are City, they are KDB, Sterling, Jesus and who not. Even Man City bench looks more cheerful than Lyon's starting XI. I expect easy win for Man City, they can't lose focus this time.
I am going big with above picks on sportsbooks. Let see how fruitful it going to be.
It has been a lucrative betting session for me. Won 13 bets, lost only 3. I really hope this winning streak continues for me in Quarters too.
It's PSG with a 3-1 victory for me
Atletico with lone goal win
Barcelona to win (perhaps, in extra time)
City to win, but not convincingly (2-1)