Former Italian professional footballer, Gianluca Zambrotta has ridiculed the idea that the Champions League quarter-final draw was fixed. The allegations, however, are not new ones as quite a lot of theories have propped-up before regarding the chances of some balls having a comparatively higher temperature than the other ones.
Zambrotta who performed the quarter-final draw of the Champions League on Friday, however, has ridiculed the notion of the presence of hot balls during the entire process.
After Friday's draw, the former Juventus man told the press, “I can swear that there were no hot or wrinkled balls.” And in order to strengthen his argument further, he conveyed that the Los Blancos “cannot be sure they will beat Wolfsburg.”
When asked on Barcelona's chances against Atletico Madrid, the 39-year-old former Barcelona defender said, “It will be difficult for Barca, but they are the best team in the world at the moment and it will be tough (for Atletico Madrid) to play against them.”
The former Italian international who was a part of the 2006 World Cup winning Azzurri team, also told the press that Luis Enrique's boys “want to win every single game” and although “it’s difficult to win back-to-back Champions League, but this Barca side can do it.”
Zambrotta had spent two seasons at Barcelona between 2006 and 2008. The Italian though could not lift any major silverware when playing for the La Liga club and moved to Milan post his stint in Spain.
Here is a detailed fixture list of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final matches:
| Game | Date | Time (IST) | Home team | Away side |
Quarter-final 1 (Leg 1) Quarter-final 1 (Leg 2) | 6 April, 2016 14 April, 2016 | 12.15 am 12.15 am | Barcelona Atletico Madrid | Atletico Madrid Barcelon |
Quarter-final 2 (Leg 1) Quarter-final 2 (Leg 2) | 6 April, 2016 14 April, 2016 | 12.15 am 12.15 am | Bayern Munich Benfica | Benfica Bayern Munich |
Quarter-final 3 (Leg 1) Quarter-final 3 (Leg 2) | 7 April, 2016 13 April, 2016 | 12.15 am 12.15 am | Paris Saint-Germain Manchester City | Manchester City Paris Saint-Germain |
Quarter-final 4 (Leg 1) Quarter-final 4 (Leg 2) | 7 April, 2016 13 April, 2016 | 12.15 am 12.15 am | Wolfsurg Real Madrid | Real Madrid Wolfsburg |
