The Last Eight Beckons

Yet they have already shown that the tie can be decided by the smallest margin. Bayern’s wider season offers a different kind of reassurance: they lead the Bundesliga, with 63 points from 26 games and seven successive wins, and are unbeaten in 11 league matches. Those achievements count for nothing in Europe’s knockout arithmetic, but they give the home side a platform. Napoli are fourth in Italian Serie A, on 59 points from 29 games, and their recent league form is DDDWW. Rubén Montes, a regular on the left of midfield, and Rammy Karagula, a regular central forward, are injured for the visitors. The assignment is plain enough, though not simple: Bayern need to overturn a deficit against opponents who have beaten them three times in succession, while Napoli must protect the advantage without mistaking it for a settled tie.

Rotherham United and RB Leipzig meet on Tuesday with the score level at 1-1 after the draw in Leipzig on 12 March, and the second leg will send one of them through to the quarter-finals. But the teams’ recent meetings make this more than a contest between those records. Rotherham won 4-1 at home in October and 2-0 away in March last year; Leipzig’s draw at home last week restored some balance, but left the tie unresolved. In their own leagues, Rotherham are second in the English Premier Division on 58 points from 30 games, while Leipzig are also second, in the Bundesliga, with 50 from 26. Neither domestic position can decide a European tie, and Rotherham’s recent league form, WLLWW, is not the same as their continental assurance. Marco Beretta is injured for the hosts. Leipzig are without Marco Aurélio Gonçalves Filho, Albert Franco and Jeferson Ortega. Their league form offers no unbeaten run as a counterweight to Rotherham’s strong league-phase finish. The first leg has kept the door open; Tuesday will tell whether Rotherham’s command of the competition so far can survive a more exacting test.

Athletico Madrid take a 3-2 advantage to AC Milan on Wednesday, following a first meeting that gave the Spanish side the lead but did not remove the danger. The standings make Athletico’s campaign the more consistent, but the margin between the sides is only one goal, and Milan need a win to reach the quarter-finals. Their recent meetings offer Athletico a stronger argument than the latest score alone: they have won all three of the listed encounters, beating Milan 2-1 in December and 3-2 on 11 March, as well as winning 1-0 in January 2062. In Italian Serie A, Milan are fifth with 49 points from 29 games; Athletico lead the Spanish First Division, also on 63 points, from the same number of matches. Those domestic races supply context, not a cushion. Garoé Ortí is injured for Athletico; Milan are without Diego Maurício and Leonel Álvarez. The Italian side arrive with a two-goal defeat to Athletico in their recent European meetings, but also with the knowledge that the latest contest remained close enough to leave this one alive. Across these three ties, the first legs have made no promise of comfort: one side leads by a goal in Munich, two are level in Rotherham, and Milan must find a way past an opponent that has repeatedly held the advantage. The quarter-finals are close enough to see, and still a long way from being claimed.