Guardiola’s men face tough route to European glory
MANCHESTER City will face Lyon or Juventus in the Champions League quarter-finals if they overcome Real Madrid as Pep Guardiola’s men were given a tough-looking path to the final.
Play has been suspended since March due to the coronavirus pandemic, but continental action will return next month with the remaining last-16 ties and a final eight mini-tournament in Portugal.
The route to the Estadio da Luz final on August 23 was set out at an empty auditorium in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday, with City given a difficult road to the Lisbon showpiece.
If Guardiola’s men can progress past Real Madrid in their last-16 second leg at the Etihad Stadium, having won 2-1 at the Bernabeu in February, they will face French side Lyon or perennial Serie A champions Juventus in a one-off quarterfinal.
Guardiola was glad his side can play Real in Manchester, saying: “Why should we play in another place? We played the first leg in Madrid, the second leg should be at home.
“It is not about an advantage.
“When there are two knockout games, one is at home, one away.”
The semi-final draw was also made and City could face Chelsea, although the chances of an all-English encounter seems extremely unlikely as Frank Lampard’s Blues head to Bayern Munich for their last-16 second leg trailing 3-0.
Guardiola’s former clubs Bayern and Barcelona are more likely potential semi-final opponents, with Napoli the other possibility.
The other side of the draw will provide the home team for the final in Lisbon, with RB Leipzig or Atletico Madrid facing Atalanta or Paris St Germain in the other semi-final.
All matches will take place behind closed doors in Lisbon, with Benfica’s Estadio da Luz and Sporting’s Estadio Jose Alvalade providing the venue for the behind-closed-doors ties.
The remaining round-of-16 fixtures will be decided on August 7 and 8, with the mini-tournament in Portugal kicking off on August 12.
■ Manchester United and Wolves could potentially meet in an all-English Europa League semifinal.
With continental football resuming in August after the coronavirus suspension, the draw for next month’s eight-team mini-tournament in Germany was made on Friday.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side are all but through having won 5-0 at LASK in the first leg of their last16 tie and United would face Copenhagen or Istanbul Basaksehir in the single-leg quarterfinals to be held in Germany.
Wolves would play Roma or Sevilla in the quarter-finals if they overcome Olympiakos, who they drew 1-1 with in the first leg in Greece.
Should both Premier League sides progress to the semi-finals, the pair would do battle in a mouth-watering clash to decide who makes the August 21 final.