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This morning the official quarterfinal and semi-final draw of the Champions League took place in Nyon, Switzerland. This was the first time that six different nations were apart of the final 8 of the Champions League trophy.
The world’s most prestigious club competition in the world of football sealed the fate of the remaining 8 teams to play in this year’s tournament.
The first match up squares two french teams against each other as Olympique Lyon will take on Bordeaux both of Ligue 1. This will ensure a french club into the Final Four of the tournament. Lyon, so far, has pulled the most shocking upset of the tournament knocking out Real Madrid and Christiano Ronaldo, but Bordeaux and their young striker Marouane Chamakh will be ready for the french team as they both know each other well from the French Ligue 1.
Next is a rematch of the famous 1999 Final as Manchester United will take on Bayern Munich of the German Bundesliga. In 1999 United famoulsy won the Treble against Bayern, but this tie seems to be a lot trickier for the Red Devils with the likes of in-form winger Arjen Robben and Franc Ribery to contend with while the German Giants have the unthinkable task of stopping the hottest striker in the world as of this moment, none other than Wayne Rooney.
The next match up has the defending European Champions Barcelona and reigning world player of the year Lionel Messi against 22-year-old Cesc Fabregas and the Gunners from North London. The last time these two teams played against each other was in the 2006 Final where Arsene Wenger and the Gunners were 13 minutes from Champions League glory before Samuel Eto’o and Chelsea player Juliano Belleti struck gold for the Catalians as they went on to beat Arsenal 2-1.
The final match-up sees current Serie A leaders Inter Milan take on an upstart CSKA Moscow team from Russia. In the round of 16 Inter defeated Chelsea by an aggregate score of 3-1 while Moscow dispatched of spainish side Sevilla 3-2 on aggregate.Wesley Sneidjer and Samuel Eto’o for Inter will be a stern test for the Moscow defense, but Milan will have to deal with Russian sensation Milos Krasic of CSKA. ( Just ask Man. United about Krasic’s play-making ability)
Now that the draw is set it should be an exciting end to the Champions League as the Bayern Munich and Mancherster United and Barcelona and Arsenal match ups are sure to create some great football matches and moments in Champions League history.
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The Final of the Champion League will take place on Saturday May 22nd at the famous Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain.
