The Champions League quarter-final draw was held in Nyon on Friday and it threw up some interesting fixtures. Real Madrid and Bayern Munich will count themselves lucky to avoid the heavyweights in the quarter-final with the pick of the draw being the all-Spanish affair between defending champions FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
Rules
The quarter-final stage sees an open draw with none of the teams seeded like the Round of 16. Teams from the same country’s league can also be drawn against each other which was not the case until the Round of 16. The team that is drawn first will play the first leg at home.
Champions League quarter-final Draw
VfL Wolfsburg were the first team out of the pot and they were drawn with 2013/14 winners Real Madrid. Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich, who just about scraped through to the quarter-final with an extra-time win over Juventus, also managed to get an easier opponent in Portuguese side SL Benfica.
The highlight of the quarter-finals will be the battle between the top two in La Liga this season – FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. The last time the two sides met in the Champions League was at the same stage in the 2013/14 season with Atletico going through with a win at home following a draw at the Camp Nou. Atletico eventually reached the final where they lost to derby rivals Real Madrid.
But the Catalan club have got the better of Diego Simeone’s men in the last six fixtures, winning all matches with Lionel Messi scoring in all but one game.
| First Leg at Home | First Leg Away | |
|---|---|---|
| VfL Wolfsburg | vs | Real Madrid |
| Bayern Munich | vs | SL Benfica |
| FC Barcelona | vs | Atletico Madrid |
| Paris Saint-Germain | vs | Manchester City |
The first leg will be held on the 5 and 6 April while the return leg will be held on 12 and 13 April.
