Atletico and Sevilla look to put one foot in Champions League quarter-finals

Atletico Madrid and Sevilla FC are all set to return to action in a tournament that brought them plenty of joy in the opening months of the season. Both clubs go into their Champions League last-16 first-leg matches this week in fine fettle and hoping to take a firm step towards the next round.

Los Rojiblancos relaunch their bid for European glory on Tuesday evening. Diego Simeone's men are gunning to reach the quarter-finals for the fourth straight season and face Germans Bayer 04 Leverkusen away in the first leg of their tie. The clubs locked horns at the same stage two years ago, with the Madrilenians prevailing in a nerve-wracking penalty shoot-out after the teams had cancelled each other out over the two legs, which finished with an aggregate scoreline of 1-1.

Simeone's troops will be favourites given their pedigree and their excellent showing in the group stage, in which they outperformed another Bundesliga heavyweight, FC Bayern Munich. Nevertheless, Leverkusen are not to be underestimated and are unbeaten in 10 home games in European competitions, so defeating them in their own backyard promises to be no easy task. The German outfit's coach Roger Schmidt is without one of his key figures, Hakan Calhanoglu, who is serving a ban, but will be able to call on in-form striker Javier Hernandez, who knows all about scoring against Atletico in the Champions League.

PRESSROOM @Simeone: “@bayer04_en is one of the most intense rivals we have played”
https://t.co/A3Ku540b2Q #B04Atleti #AúpaAtleti pic.twitter.com/9yhr9QesPZ

— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) February 20, 2017

Sevilla, meanwhile, enter the fray on Wednesday. The Andalusians have a golden opportunity to advance to the quarter-finals of Europe's premier club tournament for the first time since 1958. Standing in their way are Premier League champions Leicester City FC, who are enduring a torrid time domestically this season and currently find themselves locked in a relegation dogfight following an alarming slump. The Foxes have only won one of their last five matches in all competitions, and that was in the FA Cup.

Jorge Sampaoli's charges have been extremely strong at home this term, notching up 12 wins, two draws and just two defeats in their 16 games on their own patch. Though he has to contend with the absences of the injured Michael Krohn-Dehli and Benoit Tremoulinas and the suspended Gabriel Mercado, the Argentinian tactician will have a packed-out Sanchez-Pizjuan to spur on his buoyant side.

 UCL | With 48 hours to go until #SevillaFC's @ChampionsLeague tie with @LCFC, the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán has had a European makeover. pic.twitter.com/pKedGg69cJ

— Sevilla FC (@SevillaFC_ENG) February 20, 2017