Three LaLiga teams vying for a place in the Champions League semi-finals

Three LaLiga teams will launch their respective bids for a place in the Champions League semi-finals this week as they play the first legs of their quarter-final ties.

The first teams to take to the pitch will be FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in a hotly anticipated clash between the two sides on Tuesday at the Camp Nou. The two most recent Liga BBVA champions will face each other once again in the continental competition, with their Champions League quarter-finals tie of two seasons ago still fresh in their memories. On that occasion, Atletico made it through to the semi-finals with a 1-0 victory in the second leg in Madrid after the first leg at the Camp Nou had ended in a 1-1 draw.

The top five Barça moments against Atlético Madrid at Camp Nou: https://t.co/VsdOkZdvRH pic.twitter.com/twEfEQLmne

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 4, 2016

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique, who will be without the injured defenders Jeremy Mathieu and Aleix Vidal, is well aware of just how tough the tie against Atletico will be and showered his rivals with praise. "We've played Atletico several times in recent years, but we need to study them and be open-minded, because they might play differently this time. They are a top-class team with a clear philosophy. They're dangerous on the break and they play a high press," said the coach.

Then on Wednesday, Real Madrid visit VfL Wolfsburg for the first leg of their quarter-final tie. This will be the fifth season in a row that the Spanish side have travelled to Germany in the Champions League knockout rounds – a country where they have only won four and drawn six of their 28 matches in the past. However, that poor run of results has improved significantly in recent years, with Los Blancos having won on three of their last four visits to Germany – two of them in the season in which they won their tenth European crown.

@Cristiano, are you looking forward to the match against Wolfsburg? #RMUCL #RMCity #HalaMadrid https://t.co/LH3SrFOyR1

— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) April 4, 2016

Zinedine Zidane's men enter the tie as clear favourites, particularly in the aftermath of their 2-1 win over Barcelona in the Liga BBVA. However, they cannot afford to be complacent against a team who have already knocked out the likes of Manchester United and who have nothing to lose. "We know that we don't have much of a chance, but you have to go out onto the pitch with conviction, and that's what we have to do against Madrid. We've got nothing to lose," assured the Wolfsburg defender Marcel Shafer.

Tuesday's game between Bayern Munich and Benfica and Wednesday's clash between Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City complete the first-leg fixtures of the Champions League quarter-finals.