Real face Chelsea in quarters
Pep meets his former club Bayern in UCL
Holders Real Madrid will play Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the second season running, while Manchester City were paired with Pep Guardiola’s former side Bayern Munich in yesterday’s draw.
Serie A leaders Napoli take on AC Milan in an all-Italian showdown and Inter Milan face Portuguese league leaders Benfica.
The winners of Real’s tie against Chelsea will go on to face either City or Bayern in the semi-finals, throwing open the possibility of an all-English last-four tie.
That also increases the chances of seeing an Italian team reach the final for the first time since Juventus in 2017, as Inter will play either Milan or Napoli in the last four should the Nerazzurri beat Benfica.
Real’s path to what would be a 15th European Cup is starting to look remarkably like last season, when they beat Chelsea and City before defeating Liverpool in the final.
Carlo Ancelotti’s team are fresh from beating Liverpool in the last 16, and will now hope for a repeat of a year ago when they eliminated Chelsea 5-4 on aggregate in the quarter-finals.
The teams also met in the semifinals in 2021, when the Stamford Bridge side won on their way to lifting the trophy for the second time.
City’s ongoing bid to win the Champions League for the first time faces a major obstacle in a Bayern side who knocked out Paris Saint-Germain in the last round.
It will be the first encounter between the clubs since the 2014/15 group stage, when Guardiola was in charge of the German giants.
Guardiola left Bayern to join City in 2016, but is still chasing after a first Champions League title as a coach since winning it with Barcelona for the second time in 2011.
The draw appears somewhat lopsided, with the four richest clubs left in the competition all on the same side, while Italian clubs find themselves in the other half.
Napoli are the only other club left in the competition other than City who have never won the trophy.
MAN U DRAW SEVILLA IN UEL
Manchester United face record six-time winners Sevilla in the quarter-finals of the Europa League while Juventus will play Arsenal’s conquerors Sporting for a place in the last four.
Roma take on Feyenoord in a repeat of last season’s Europa Conference League final won by the Italians.
United, who won the competition in 2017 and lost the final two years, could potentially take on Juventus — and former midfielder Paul Pogba — in the semi-finals.
United beat Sevilla’s city rivals Real Betis 5-1 on aggregate in the last 16.
Sevilla defeated United 2-1 in a single-leg semi-final in the 2019-20 competition en route to their most recent Europa League title. AFP
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Quarter-final draw
Real Madrid (ESP) v Chelsea (ENG); Benfica (POR) v Inter Milan (ITA); Manchester City (ENG) v Bayern Munich (GER); AC Milan (ITA) v Napoli (ITA)
Note: Ties will take place April 11-12 and 18-19.
Semi-final draw
AC Milan or Napoli v Benfica or Inter Milan; Real Madrid or Chelsea v Manchester City or Bayern Munich Note: Ties will be played May 9-10 and 16-17. (Final to be played June 10 in Istanbul)
EUROPA LEAGUE RESULTS
Last 16 second legs Fenerbahce (TUR) 1 (Valencia 41-pen) Sevilla (ESP) 0 Sevilla win 2-1 on aggregate; Feyenoord (NED) 7 (Gimenez 9, Kokcu 24, 38-pen Idrissi 49, 60, Jahanbakhsh 64, Danilo Pereira 67) Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) 1 (Kelsy 87) Feyenoord win 8-2 on aggregate; Freiburg (GER) 0 Juventus (ITA) 2 (Vlahovic 45-pen, Chiesa 90+5) Juventus win 3-0 on aggregate; Real Betis (ESP) 0 Manchester United (ENG) 1 (Rashford 56); Manchester United win 5-1 on aggregate; Ferencvaros (HUN) 0 Bayer Leverkusen (GER) 2 (Diaby 3, Adli 81); Leverkusen win 4-0 on aggregate; Real Sociedad (ESP) 0 Roma (ITA) 0 Roma win 2-0 on aggregate; Union Saint-Gilloise 3 (BEL) (Teuma 18, Amani 63, Lapoussin 90+4) Union Berlin (GER) 0 Union SaintGilloise win 6-3 on aggregate; Arsenal (ENG) 1 (Xhaka 19) Sporting Lisbon (POR) 1 (Pedro Goncalves 62) 3-3 on aggregate, Sporting win 5-3 on penalties
Quarter-final draw
Man United (ENG) v Sevilla (ESP); Juventus (ITA) v Sporting (POR); Leverkusen (GER) v Union SaintGilloise (BEL); Feyenoord (NED) v Roma (ITA)
Note: First legs to be played April 13, second legs on April 20
Semi-final draw Juventus or Sporting v Man United or Sevilla; Feyenoord or Roma v Leverkusen or Union Saint-Gilloise Note: First legs to be played May 11, second legs on May 18
(Final to be played May 31 in Budapest)