Manchester City, still in search of a first crown in the Champions League, will play against Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals.
The other big poster will oppose Real Madrid, defending champion, to Chelsea, according to the draw made Friday in Nyon.
For the other two quarters, there will be an all-Italian clash between AC Milan and Napoli, while Serie A’s other representatives Inter Milan will challenge Portuguese side Benfica. The two winners will meet in the semi-finals.
The English of Manchester City with their offensive weapon Erling Haaland, author of a fivefold this week, and the Italians of Naples, current leader of Serie A, are the only two teams not to have won the competition.
For the first time since the 2005-2006 season, three Italian clubs are in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Last year, they had no representative in the top 8, just like France.
Like last year at the same stage of the competition, Real Madrid will find the Chelsea Blues. Only difference: Real will receive the first leg and will go to Stamford Bridge for the return leg.
The semi-final table
For the semi-finals, also drawn on Friday at UEFA headquarters, the winner of the AC Milan-Naples duel will face that of Benfica-Inter in a very Italian part of the table.
The other semi-final will look great with the winner of Real-Chelsea against that of City-Bayern.
The C1 quarter-finals are scheduled for April 11 and 12 for the first leg and April 18 and 19 for the return. The semi-finals will take place on May 9 and 10, then on May 16 and 17, before the final played on June 10 in Istanbul.
Champions League. Quarter-final draw: Real Madrid – Chelsea, Benfica Lisbon – Inter Milan, Manchester City – Bayern Munich, AC Milan – Napoli. Table of the semi-finals: winner AC Milan/Naples – winner Benfica Lisbon/Inter Milan, winner Real Madrid/Chelsea – winner Manchester City/Bayern Munich.
First legs on April 11-12, return matches on April 18/19.
This article has been published automatically. Sources: ats / afp
