European football is back: Can Manchester City out-think Real Madrid again and are Man Utd home and dry?

European football returns on Wednesday night for the first time since March. Both the Europa League and Champions League have last-16 ties to complete before the quarter-final stage can begin.

Given the first leg of many of these ties were played back in February or March, it is worth a reminder of where the two competitions are at.

In Europe's second-tier competition, three British clubs remain - Manchester United, Wolves and Rangers. United can be inked into the quarter-finals, having beaten LASK 5-0 in the first leg. For Wolves, the tie hangs in the balance after they rescued a draw against Olympiakos. Rangers face an uphill battle, having lost 3-1 to Bayer Leverkusen.

In the Champions League, English hopes rest on Manchester City and, to a lesser extent, Chelsea. City face Real Madrid on Friday night, having beaten the newly crowned La Liga champions 2-1 in the first leg. Frank Lampard's side, on the other hand, are in a dire position in their tie, having being humbled 3-0 by the Bundesliga's finest back in February.

One of the oddities of this Champions league campaign is that the quarter-final and semi-final match-ups have already been confirmed. For instance, Pep Guardiola's side know that they will face either Lyon or Juventus should they hold onto their lead against Real Madrid.

Stranger still, from the quarter-finals onwards, all Champions League ties will be single-leg affairs. The matches will be played across two venues in Lisbon.

Benfica's Estadio da Luz and Sporting Lisbon's Estadio Jose Alvalade will host two quarter-finals each between August 12 and 15, with each venue hosting one semi-final on August 18-19. The final will be hosted by Benfica's Estadio da Luz, on Sunday August 23.

The other element that stands out is how tightly packed the fixtures are. Given the wider circumstances, it is no surprise - but for the teams who still have to play their round-of-16 ties, the schedule is particularly unforgiving.

Europa League: Manchester United vs LASK

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side need not worry too much about this clash, with a five-goal advantage carried over from March.

Luke Shaw is expected to the miss the remainder of the campaign, with Brandon Williams likely to start in his place. Throughout the Europa League, Sergio Romero has been the preferred starter. Whether the heavily-scrutinised David de Gea will be recalled for the competition's later stages is one of the main decisions facing Solskjaer, otherwise it should be a straightforward cruise into the quarter-finals for United.

It must be said, securing Champions League football on the final day of the season has reduced the importance of the Europa League to the football club as a whole.

Assuming United progress, Istanbul Basaksehir or Copenhagen await in the quarter-finals.

Europa League: Wolves vs Olympiakos

Wolves' last match was on the final day of the Premier League season, a 2-0 defeat to Chelsea. Nuno Espirito Santo's side will have had a chance to recuperate from the hectic Project Restart.

Olympiakos last played on July 19, having already wrapped up the league title. They won three of their last four games and will feel confident about causing an upset. In the first leg, Olympiakos led for much of the match before Pedro Neto’s deflected goal in the 67th minute.

A campaign that began over a year ago for Wolves, on July 25 against Northern Irish side Crusaders, resumes on Thursday night.

If Wolves progress, an exciting clash with either Sevilla or Roma awaits.

Champions League: Juventus vs Lyon

Juventus topped their group - which included Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen and Lokomotiv Moscow - but lost the first leg of their tie against Lyon 1-0. Maurizio Sauri's side has claimed the Serie A title since football resumed, and will be full of confidence that they can overturn their deficit.

Lyon had their first match since the Ligue 1 season was curtailed last week against PSG in the Coupe de la Ligue final. They lost on penalties but will be better off for the run out. Whether they will be at a disadvantage against Juve, with rustiness a potential issue, or whether they will benefit from an extended period of rest, remains to be seen.

The Italian giants expect domestic league glory, but the Champions League campaign remarkably still has the ability to make or break their season. Pablo Dybala has been their leading scorer in the competition so far, netting three times. But at this stage of the tournament, a certain Cristiano Ronaldo usually comes to the fore.

Champions League: Manchester City vs Real Madrid

City out-thought Real Madrid in the first leg. Pep Guardiola pulled off a masterclass, omitting Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling and Fernandinho from the starting line-up. Gabriel Jesus was star of the show, playing from the left while Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva, in turns, were the furthest players forward.

A superb game plan, however it only yielded a one-goal advantage. Real Madrid, fresh off reclaiming the La Liga title from Barcelona, will be gunning for City. Zinedine Zidane's side won nine games on the bounce after the restart, before drawing their final game of the campaign.

Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos were in red hot form, but Madrid will be without Ramos who was red carded in the second half of the first leg.

If City can get past Madrid, they will feel this could well be their year in Europe.

Champions League: Barcelona vs Napoli

Barcelona topped the 'group of death', containing Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund and Slavia Prague. However, they then stuttered in the first leg against Napoli, going behind in Naples before an equaliser from Antoine Griezmann - which could prove to be a valuable away goal.

For Napoli, they had a disappointing domestic season, finishing in seventh. For that reason, this tie is even more important. A win against Barcelona would salvage the year, and they are right in the contest at the half-way point.

Napoli have already tasted cup glory this season, winning the Coppa Italia - beating Inter Milan and Juventus on the way. It is worth noting that Napoli started their Champions League campaign with Carlo Ancelotti at the helm and are now lead by Gennaro Gattuso. Dries Mertens has been superb in Europe especially, scoring six goals in the competition already.

Barcelona will not be lacking in motivation either, having seen rivals Real Madrid pinch the La Liga trophy from them.

Champions League: Bayern Munich vs Chelsea

Describing the task facing Chelsea as an uphill battle would be an understatement. Bayern Munich were quite simply superb in the Bundesliga, following its restart. Add into the equation the three-goal lead Munich possess and Chelsea progressing to the next round seems near-impossible.

Robert Lewandowski has somehow managed to score 11 goals in the Champions League already - and 51 in 43 appearances across all competitions.

A small chink of light for Chelsea could come from the fact that Munich's last competitive match was over a month ago, a 4-2 win in the German DFB Cup final over Bayer Leverkusen. To mitigate any potential ring rust, Bayern played a friendly against Marseille on July 31, winning by one goal.

It will be an incredibly difficult task for Chelsea to bounce back from FA Cup final defeat and register a strong performance, let alone overcome a three-goal deficit against arguably the tournament favourites.