March 15 – Holders Manchester City have yet again been drawn against Real Madrid in the heavyweight clash of the Champions League quarterfinals, a tie that sees the most recent winners of Europe’s premier club competition take on its most successful side.
Kylian Mbappe and his Paris St Germain team take on Barcelona in what is expected to be his final season with the French club, who are vying to win the trophy for the first time.
Elsewhere, Harry Kane will bid to rescue Bayern Munich’s faltering season by their own high standards when he faces a familiar foe in Arsenal. Bayern knocked the Gunners out in 2013, 2014 and 2017 and Kane, who moved to Germany from Arsenal’s arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur, will be out to do the same.
Kane has scored 30 times in 25 league appearances this season but Arsenal have a crucial first-leg advantage before a ball is even kicked, with Bayern’s away fans banned by UEFA.In the other tie between arguably the two weakest sides left, Atletico Madrid meet Borussia Dortmund.
In the semi-finals, the winner of Atlético against Dortmund will play Barça or PSG, meaning two of Arsenal, Bayern, Real and City will compete for a spot in the final.
Barça’s contest against PSG will evoke memories of several recent ties, with the two teams having met in the knockout stages three times since the 2014-15 season.
Most famously, the Catalan club overcame a 4-0 first-leg deficit in the 2016-17 round of 16 with a 6-1 win at the Camp Nou in a fixture christened by Spanish media as La Remontada – the comeback of all comebacks.
Real and City also have very recent history in the Champions League having met in the semi-finals of the past two seasons. Madrid will host the first leg on April 9 or 10 and the return will be the week after in Manchester.
Real director Emilio Butragueño commented: “They are the champions, we know each other perfectly, I don’t have to explain all the virtues that City has.
“There are going to be two magnificent games for the public. There are top-level players and two tremendous games await us. We are excited that the team will be up to the task, we have to get a good result at the Bernabeu to defend it there.
“All the teams that have arrived to this point are strong. In the end it’s two games. The games have been levelled and any details can decide the tie. The eight teams remaining can be champions, let’s see what happens. They have a very powerful team and we also have a very good team too.”
This year’s Champions League final is being held at Wembley in London on June 1
Meanwhile Liverpool will play Atalanta in the quarter-finals of the Europa League with German league leaders Bayer Leverkusen set to face West Ham.
The Reds still have the potential to pick up four trophies in Jurgen Klopp’s final season in charge.
Italian rivals AC Milan and Roma clash for a place in the semi-finals, while Benfica take on Marseille.
If Liverpool come through their tie, they will face either Benfica or Marseille in the semi-finals, with the winners of Leverkusen-West Ham meeting AC Milan or Roma.
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