Champions League quarter-finals: Live scores, team news and updates as PSG host Barcelona in mouthwatering clash and Borussia Dortmund travel to Atletico Madrid

They couldn’t, could they?

Barcelona were not having the best time of it when Xavi announced he would be leaving the club at the end of the season, but a lot has changed.

Barca have been in blistering form ever since and are on an 11-match unbeaten run following the news.

Suddenly, there are now question marks over whether Xavi really will leave. Will Barcelona give him a second chance if they win tonight?

Read what Pete Jensen, Mail Sport, had to say about it all:

Robert Lewandowksi loves a goal in the Champions League.

The Polish striker has netted a total of 94 times in the competition, putting him third behind Lionel Messi, and the top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo. Not bad names to be alongside.

I’m sure Lewandowski would love to get to the 100 mark eventually, can he get closer to achieving that tonight?

I wouldn’t be surprised to see his name on the scoresheet, that’s for sure.

Diego Simeone, Atletico Madrid boss, speaking to the press:

They [Borussia Dortmund] have a lot of good qualities. They are the hardest opponent. They’ve not lost away from home in four months, and they are great on the counter-attack. They are very strong in both boxes, and they are the most intense team in the last eight of the competition.

Barcelona are on the move.

Kick-off is still over 90 minutes away, but Barcelona are already on their way to the Parc des Princes.

We will find out their team news in less than 40 minutes, which 11 will Xavi field today?

Where I am in London, it’s grey, grim and windy. The same cannot be said about Paris.

The glorious sunshine is beating down on the Parc des Princes, but soon night will fall and the football will begin.

Let’s hope the football displayed tonight is as beautiful as these photos!

This game was iconic.

There are few moments in your life that you can visualise where you were on the day a major event happened, and this is one of the few in mine.

It was a day neither Barcelona nor PSG fans will ever forget – for different reasons – the comeback of all comebacks. Euphoria for the Catalonians, despair for the Parisians.

In 2016-17, Barcelona, managed by the current PSG boss Luis Enrique, needed to overturn a 4-0 deficit from the first leg in Paris.

What unfolded in the second leg at the Nou Camp is perhaps the greatest comeback in the history of the sport (please, don’t have a go at me Liverpool fans).

The five-time winners went three goals to the good after 50 minutes, and the unthinkable was in reach, however, Edinson Cavani seemingly ended those hopes by making it 3-1 with just under half an hour to go.

Then, chaos ensued. With hope all but gone, Barcelona netted three goals after the 88th minute, including a 95th-minute winner from Sergi Roberto to complete the unimaginable.

If we get anything close to a tie like that this year, we are in for one hell of a ride.

Security will be increased tonight at both the Parc des Princes and Wanda Metropolitano, such as they were at the Emirates and the Bernabeu last night after an ISIS media outlet shared a post on social media with a threat towards all stadiums hosting Champions League quarter-final first legs.

Spanish and French ministers have also revealed security will be stepped up with both games going ahead as planned.

According to L’Equipe, the elite counter-terrorism force the BRI (Research and Intervention Brigade) will have police officers in the ‘immediate vicinity’ of the Parc des Princes for PSG v Barcelona.

In Spain, the Head of The Ministry of the Interior, Fernando Grand-Marlaska, said on Tuesday morning: ‘In terms of preventing the terrorist threat, the State Security Forces and Bodies have activated all their early warning and protection systems, as well as all their response mechanisms ready and willing.’

You know what they say, always the bridesmaid, never the bride (thank you to my colleague Tum Balogun for this one).

Well, I guess it’s not strictly true with Borussia Dortmund who won the European Cup in 1997, but they have felt the pain of second place a lot.

Over the last decade and slightly more, both sides have come up short in a Champions League final a combined three times.

Both sides disrupted the apple cart in their domestic leagues in the early 2010s.

Dortmund put a stop to Bayern Munich’s stranglehold on the Bundesliga winning two consecutive titles under the stewardship of Jurgen Klopp in 2010 and 2011. Meanwhile, Diego Simeone drove his Atletico side to become the first club other than Barcelona or Real Madrid to conquer La Liga in a decade.

Now the two nearly men (teams) of the Champions League era will battle it out in a quarter-final. Atletico haven’t reached a semi-final since 2016-17, while Dortmund haven’t since 2012-13.

Well, one of them will this season, and that journey continues tonight.

PSG v Barcelona has given us some games to remember in years gone by. I’ll be going into more detail in regard to one later, so don’t worry.

Tonight will be the sixth time these two sides have met in 12 years with the French Champions coming out on top in their last two meetings three years ago in the round of 16.

Tonight, the two sides will add another chapter to their story as they face off at the Parc des Princes, but it will be very different from those of the past.

Luis Enrique is in the opposite dugout, Ousmane Dembele has swapped sides, and there will be no Lionel Messi or Neymar involved.

When these two meet, there are normally fireworks!

I knew you’d all be back tonight!

Well, we have a great night in store for you because one thing is for certain, the Champions League is stacked with top teams this season.

Today’s four teams have a tough act to follow, as last night’s Champions League action was simply thrilling. We want more of that tonight.

PSG and Barcelona renew their European rivalry this evening, with the added spice of the French champions’ boss Luis Enrique reuniting with his former employers.

Meanwhile, Madrid is the host of more action tonight as Atletico face off against Borussia Dortmund. Will Spain’s capital city provide another exceptional game such as last night’s – I hope so.

This stage of Europe’s premier football competition never disappoints, so sit back, grab a drink, and enjoy watching some of the world’s best teams battle it out.

Fun, fun, fun… here we come (a play on words for all the Beatles lovers out there)!