March 18 – Holders Chelsea will face 13-time winners Real Madrid in the glamour tie of the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Today’s draw saw a repeat of last season’s semi-final when Chelsea won to progress to the final.
It also sees the return of Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti returns to face one of his former clubs . He was Chelsea boss in 2009 winning the Premier League and FA Cup in his first season in English football , only to be sacked after his second.
Manchester City, last season’s beaten finalists and still trying to win the competition for the first time, take on the other Madrid team Atletico who knocked out Manchester United in midweek.
No sooner had the draw been made than Chelsea got lucky by having their tie reversed and will now play away in the first leg since both Madrid teams cannot play at home on the same night.
Elsewhere, Villarreal take on Bayern Munich while Liverpool got the luck of the draw after being paired with Portuguese side Benfica, currently under interim management.
In the semi-finals, the winner of the Chelsea v Real Madrid tie will face Atletico Madrid or Manchester City – potentially a mouth-watering repeat of last season’s all-English final — while Benfica or Liverpool take on Villarreal or Bayern.
The Stade de France in Paris will host the final on May 28 after it was moved from St Petersburg following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Quarter-final draw
Chelsea v Real Madrid
Manchester City v Atletico Madrid
Villarreal v Bayern Munich
Benfica v Liverpool
Semi-final draw
Manchester City or Atletico Madrid v Chelsea or Real Madrid
Benfica or Liverpool v Villarreal or Bayern Munich
Europa League: Barca draw Eintracht Frankfurt
In the pairing for the Europa League quarter finals, Barcelona, more used to seeing their name in the Champions League, will face the Bundesliga’s Eintracht Frankfurt who are currently 9th in their domestic league.
The pick of the draw though is the Bundesliga’s 4th place team RB Leipzig against Serie A’s sixth placed club Atalanta. In the covid impacted 2019-20 season Atalanta made it to the quarter finals of the Champions League while RB Leipzig made it to the semi-finals.
England’s West Ham and Scottish champions Rangers were drawn apart and theoretically could make it an all-British final in Sevilla’s Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium on May 18.
Europa League quarter-final draw
RB Leipzig v Atalanta
Eintracht Frankfurt v Barcelona
West Ham v Lyon
Braga v Rangers
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