The quarterfinals of the Champions League kept the three prohibitive favorites (Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid) apart, which leaves three cinderella stories (United, Dortmund, Atlet) and one toss-up in Paris Saint-German and Chelsea.

Bayern over Manchester United

Let's get this one out of the way first and fast. This is clearly the most uneven tie of the quarterfinals with United barely getting past Olympiacos in the previous round, which has incidentally been the best part of David Moyes' first season at Old Trafford.

Bayern is loaded and have had no difficulty in continuing their dominance under Pep Guardiola.

This will be a bloodbath. 

Real Madrid over Borussia Dortmund

Since losing Jesé for the season, Real Madrid fell to Barcelona and Sevilla before getting back on track over the weekend against Rayo Vallecano.

This is a rematch of last season's semifinals in which Dortmund advanced to Wembley, but Jurgen Klopp is sending out a much weaker side. Robert Lewandowski will be suspended for the first leg and Dortmund has had too many injuries to match Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Angel di Maria goal for goal. With La Liga slipping away, Carlo Ancelotti can't afford not to advance, particularly against the second weakest club of this stage.

Barcelona over Atlético Madrid

I was prepared to lean toward Atleti in this tie, particularly with Victor Valdes out for the season, but the uncertain health of Diego Costa is far more important. Atleti will need Costa to score multiple goals in order to advance past Barça into the semifinals.

These two clubs are also going up against each other for La Liga title and it is somewhat disappointing that Atleti didn't get a side from outside of Spain in this special part of the Champions League.

Barça is peaking at the right time with Lionel Messi fully back from injury and there's just too much depth of quality in the middle and front third for Atleti unless Costa can be superhuman.

Paris Saint-Germain over Chelsea

Betting against José Mourinho is something you do at your own peril, especially since PSG hasn't quite reached the level of the big-3 despite the excellence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and one of the world's most expensive rosters. 

It is difficult to find a reason to believe in a club that is coming off a loss to Crystal Palace and won't have Nemanja Matić since he is cup tied to Benfica. 

PSG has too much quality around the pitch compared to Chelsea at this point and don't see them even giving up a single goal across either leg. This is may be viewed as a toss-up by many, but PSG should advance with relative ease unless Mourinho and Eden Hazard have a miracle in them.