The Champions League may be criticised these days for the lack of competitiveness at times in the early part of the competition, but once it gets to this stage, it is so hard to keep your eyes off of it.

I think most people recognise that most of the best footballers in the world are involved at this stage, and the clubs who are there have earned their place on merit.

In most cases, of course, it is the richest clubs who are still standing, but that’s not always the case as the English clubs continue to punch below their financial weight.

They still have one remaining representative of course, and it is surprising one in Leicester City, even though they won the English Premier League last season. As much as they have surpassed expectations in this competition as well though, I feel that their meeting with Atletico Madrid will be a bridge too far for them.

I did think that Sevilla would have too much know-how for them in the last round, so I got that wrong, but I certainly believe that Atletico will have too much nous.

In a way, it is the worst possible draw for Leicester, because although Atletico may not have the glamour of Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern Munich, they are very able and they know how to get through a two-legged tie.

They don’t always do it with style, although they have stylish players like Antoine Griezmann in their ranks, but they have too much for Leicester in my opinion.

The problem for Leicester is that they will want to play on the break, and although that ploy worked out for them against Sevilla, and they managed to keep the score down to 2-1 away from home, I can’t see them getting the same joy against Atletico.

If they can get away from tonight’s game with a similar scoreline, then I’m sure they would bite your hand off. It would be a huge surprise if they were to progress over the two games though.

The real glamour tie though is the other one taking place tonight between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. Working in Germany and spending a lot of time here, you have to say that Bayern are going into tonight's fixture in stunning form.

They weren’t firing on all cylinders after the winter break, although they were still getting results, but they were absolutely irresistible against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday night.

I think that they must go in with a lot of confidence, but it is still such a hard one to call. I’ve covered many such ties over the years, and there is so much prestige and history involved.

It’s the nightmare draw really for both sides, because it is a tie that would certainly be fitting of the final itself.

Robert Lewandowski and Mats Hummels are injury doubts for Bayern, and whether they are involved or not may have a huge bearing on the outcome, as they are so important to Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

I think it will go right down to the wire over the two games, but if you held a gun to my head then I fancy Bayern just to edge it. Whatever happens, you have to say that there is a very good chance that whoever comes through this tie will be the favourites for the tournament.

It is the clash of Champions League royalty, and whoever triumphs over the two legs must have a great chance of being crowned Kings of Europe for the season.