Madrid faces Munich in Champions semifinal
NYON, SWITZERLAND A Champions League semifinal draw steeped in the competition’s rich history paired Real Madrid and Bayern Munich on Friday, matching Liverpool with Roma.
Two-time defending champion Madrid will play Bayern in Munich on April 25 in a clash of powerhouse clubs with a combined 17 European titles.
“It’s clear who are favourites. We’re up against the Champions League winners,” Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said.
Madrid and Bayern have never met in the final — despite a combined 25 appearances in the 63-year-old competition’s title game — but this will be their seventh semifinal meeting.
In contrast, Liverpool and Roma played in the 1984 final, the only other season in which the Italian club advanced as far as the semifinals. Liverpool won that match in the Italian club’s Olympic Stadium home.
Anfield will stage the first leg on April 24, when Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah will reunite with the Roma teammates he left last June in a 42-million-euro transfer.
“Everybody knows how big Mo’s impact on our season has been,” Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said in comments published on the club’s website. “Where would they (Roma) be if Mo was still there?”
The pairing of American-owned clubs pits a Liverpool team tied to the Boston Red Sox against Roma president James Pallotta, who has a stake in the Boston Celtics.
Both return games will be played the following week. The final is scheduled for May 26 at the Olympic Stadium in Kyiv. The Ukrainian city’s mayor, former world heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, was at UEFA headquarters Friday for the draw.
Madrid, seeking a record-extending 13th European title, is in the semifinals for the eighth straight year. That run has included three titles and four losses at the semifinal stage, including to Bayern in 2012 on penalties in Madrid.
Bayern, a five-time champion, also eliminated Madrid in the semifinals in 1976, 1987 and 2001.
Madrid beat a Bayern team coached by Pep Guardiola home and away in the 2014 semifinals, and also won their 2000 semifinal matchup.
A Champions League final for Bayern would be a fitting end to coach Jupp Heynckes’ career with the German champions, who announced Friday it had hired Niko Kovac to take over next season.
Heynckes came out of retirement in October after Bayern’s faltering start to the season led to Carlo Ancelotti leaving as coach.
Liverpool won the first of its five European titles in Rome in 1977, and got its fourth seven years later by beating Roma in a penalty shootout. This will be its first Champions League semifinal since 2008, when it lost to Chelsea.
Also Friday, Arsenal was drawn to face Atletico Madrid and Marseille was chosen to play Salzburg in the Europa League semifinals.
The first legs will be played on April 26, with the return games on May 3. The final will be played on May 16 in Lyon, France.