Whats the story?
The quarterfinal draw of the UEFA Champions League took place in Switzerland, with Real Madrid handed a tough trip to Bayern Munich, while Barcelona and Juventus face off in a repeat of the 2015 UEFA Champions League final. Leicester City were handed a tough draw, as they face off against Atletico Madrid in their first ever UEFA Champions League quarterfinal.
Previously...
La Liga had three representatives in the draw, with Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona all making it to the quarterfinals. Barcelona pulled off the greatest comeback of all time by defeating PSG 6-1 in the second leg, after losing 4-0 in the first to make it to the quarters, while Real defeated Napoli 6-2 on aggregate. Atletico Madrid got past Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 to make it three teams from Spain yet again.
Also Read : UEFA Champions League 2016/17: Barcelona 6-1 Paris Saint-Germain - 5 Talking Points
Juventus, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund were the other powerhouses in the draw, while Ligue 1 high-flyers AS Monaco shocked Manchester City to ensure that Leicester City were the only representative from the Premier League in the quarterfinals, having pulled off a 3-2 win over Sevilla in the Round-of-16.
The heart of the matter
As per tradition, the quarterfinal draw took place at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. At this stage of the competition, it was an open draw with no seeded teams while teams from the same national association could be drawn against each other. Juventus and Real Madrid were the only two unbeaten teams left in the competition, while Leicester City made their first ever appearance in the quarterfinals.
Ian Rush, Liverpool legend, picked out the draw, which was overseen by the ever-present Giorgio Marchetti.
Here is the draw in full:
Atletico de Madrid vs Leicester City
Borussia Dortmund vs AS Monaco
FC Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid
Juventus vs FC Barcelona
What next?
The first leg of the quarterfinals will take place on the 11th and 12th of April, with the second leg occuring on the 18th and 19th of April. The semifinals will take place on 2/3rd May and 9/10th May, before the season climaxes in Cardiff, with the UEFA Champions League final on the 3rd of June.
Here is the updated quarterfinal fixture schedule:
| Date | Time | Game |
|---|---|---|
| 11th April | 7:45 PM CET | Juventus vs FC Barcelona |
| 11th April | 7:45 PM CET | Borussia Dortmund vs AS Monaco |
| 12th April | 7:45 PM CET | Atletico de Madrid vs Leicester City |
| 12th April | 7:45 PM CET | FC Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid |
| 18th April | 7:45 PM CET | Leicester City vs Atletico de Madrid |
| 18th April | 7:45 PM CET | Real Madrid vs FC Bayern Munich |
| 19th April | 7:45 PM CET | AS Monaco vs Borussia Dortmund |
| 19th April | 7:45 PM CET | FC Barcelona vs Juventus |
Author’s Take
The road to Cardiff would never have been easy, but this draw takes the cake. Leicester will find it tough to overcome Diego Simeone’s Atletico, who have become Champions League specialists. Bayern Munich and Real Madrid will be a blockbuster fixture – it’ll be difficult to predict a winner. Barcelona will be confident facing off against Juventus, having comfortably beaten them two years ago.
