The draw for the quarter-finals of the European Champions League football competition, which was drawn yesterday, resulted in a relatively easy test for the English champion Manchester City against the Danish FC Copenhagen, while the Spanish Barcelona awaits a difficult task against the Italian Napoli.
City’s chances, last season’s champion and runner-up in the 2021 edition, appear to be great against FC Copenhagen, the surprise group stage, when it finished runner-up to German Bayern Munich in the first group and contributed to the elimination of the other English team, Manchester United.
The team seeking to retain the title it won last season for the first time in its history topped its seventh group with a full score.
Its Spanish sports director, Txiki Begiristain, commented after the draw was drawn at the UEFA headquarters in the Swiss city of Nyon: “Copenhagen is a team we have faced before and know well, and it presented a great level and its stadium is wonderful, but things are different now after two years.”
City crushed Copenhagen 5-0 in the group stage in the last edition, and tied with them without goals in the second leg, on their way to winning the title.
The former Barcelona manager added, “The most important thing for us is that we saw them in the group stage. They were the best team in the first group. We must take the confrontation seriously and respect the team and what it has presented.” He continued, “It is true that we want to retain the title, but the task will not be easy, and we must be prepared to face all teams, the first of which is FC Copenhagen.”
On the other hand, Barcelona, which won the competition five times, most recently in 2015, will face a difficult confrontation against Napoli, the Italian champion, who finished runner-up in Group C to Spanish Real Madrid, the record holder for the number of titles in the competition (14).
The draw also resulted in a heavy-caliber confrontation between Italian Inter Milan, runner-up in the last edition and winner of the title three times, and Spanish Atletico Madrid, runner-up three times, under the supervision of former Inter midfielder Argentine Diego Simeone.
Like Manchester City, Bayern Munich, the six-time champion, has great chances to continue its journey in the competition, as it was drawn against Lazio, the third representative of Italy, and the same applies to Real Madrid, which will face German Leipzig. Royal Club director and former star Emilio Butragueño said: “The confrontations are always difficult in this competition, and there is no strong team and a weak team. We are talking about the Champions League, and we will have to face strong teams if we want to win the title.”
He added, “Leipzig is a very strong and competitive team, and we faced them last season, but in the group stage, now it will be different in the knockout stage.” We must play at our best if we want to advance to the next round.”
He continued, “We cannot predict our fate in this competition, because every detail is important and can change the course of the matches.” Now the focus will be on Leipzig and trying to pass to the next round, and then we will see.”
Real Madrid beat Leipzig 2-0 in Madrid, in the group stage last season, and lost 2-3 in Leipzig in the fifth and penultimate round.
The first matches will be held on February 13, 14, 20 and 21, and the return matches will be held on March 5, 6, 12 and 13.
The result of the draw for the round of 16 in the Champions League
Porto-Arsenal
Naples-Barcelona
Paris Saint-Germain-Real Sociedad
Inter Milan-Atletico Madrid
PSV Eindhoven – Borussia Dortmund
Lazio – Bayern Munich
Copenhagen – Manchester City
Leipzig-Real Madrid
2023-12-18 22:07:42
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