Champions League Quarter-Final Draw The eight teams still dreaming of the European title will learn their fate during Fridays draw in Nyon With the Champions League round of 16 having come to an end on Wednesday, the focus of the football world will now turn towards Fridays draw for the quarter-finals, with coaches desperate to find out whom they will face as the competition is approaching the final stages. The highly-anticipated event will take place in Nyon, Switzerland and is scheduled to start at 12:00 CET, with Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino and director of competitions Giorgio Marchetti in charge of proceedings, assisted by the ambassador for the final in Lisbon, Luis Figo. WHEN ARE THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUARTER-FINALS? The quarter-final ties involving the eight winners from the Champions League round of 16 will be determined by an open draw. At this stage of the competition, no teams are seeded and clubs from the same national association may be drawn against each other. The quarter-finals are played on a home-and-away basis, with the first legs on Tuesday 1 and Wednesday 2 April and the return legs the following week, Tuesday 8 and Wednesday 9 April. WHICH TEAMS HAVE QUALIFIED? The three Spanish sides are joined by two German representatives, two English clubs and one team from France. Manchester United Real Madrid Paris Saint-Germain Bayern Munich Chelsea Borussia Dortmund Atletico Madrid Barcelona The fact that the quarter-final ties will be determined by an open draw means that last years finalists Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund could meet again, while a Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona is an option as well, just like a Madrid derby involving Atletico and Real. PLAYERS TO WATCH Although the Champions League was robbed of stars such as Mario Balotelli, Wesley Sneijder, Mesut Ozil, Julian Draxler, Sergio Aguero, Stefan Kiessling and Hulk in the round of 16, there will still be plenty of stellar names in the last 16. All three remaining players who made up the podium of the 2014 Fifa Ballon dOr - Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) and Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich) - will be present. Additionally, Real Madrid have stars such as Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema in their squad, Paris Saint-Germain have Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva to offer, while Chelsea have Eden Hazard and Oscar among others. Not convinced just yet? How about Arjen Robben and Mario Gotze (Bayern), Robert Lewandowski and Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund), Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid), Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie (Manchester United) and Neymar and Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)? The list goes on and on!
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 08:06:21 +0000
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