Man United face uphill task in CL

On Wednesday, Manchester United must beat Bayern Munich or earn a high-scoring draw following their 1-1 result at Old Trafford, and Chelsea must overcome a 3-1 deficit from the first leg to reach the semifinals at the expense of Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.

If Man United and Chelsea fail to advance, it will be the second year in a row with no English representation in the last four of Europe’s top club competition, which is currently dominated by Spanish and German clubs.

In this week’s other matchups, Real Madrid travels to 2013 finalist Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday with a 3-0 first leg advantage that all but secured the Spanish powerhouse’s fourth consecutive semifinal.

In the all-Spanish meeting between Atletico and Barcelona, a goalless home draw on Wednesday will be enough for the Madrid side to oust the Catalans and reach its first semifinal since 1974 following their 1-1 draw at Camp Nou last week.

With only four combined goals in four meetings this season, something has to give as Atletico tries to make good on its slight away-goal advantage when hosting Barcelona with their quarterfinal poised at 1-1.

Atletico leads the Spanish league by one point over Barcelona and both sides showed signs of having weary legs when they eked out wins in the domestic competition on Saturday, so fitness could be a decisive factor.

Although PSG star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is out with a thigh injury, Chelsea needs to defend better and be more aggressive at Stamford Bridge, where Paris Saint-Germain is defending a two-goal advantage from its 3-1 win at home.

Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Augsburg brought the side’s 53-game league record unbeaten run to an end, while Bayern had drawn the previous two, against Hoffenheim and more importantly United.

The German champion is wary of United after failing to win any of its last four fixtures against English sides in Munich.

It was the second Bundesliga game in a row that Juergen Klopp’s side had overturned a deficit to emerge victorious, giving a timely boost ahead of Tuesday’s game.