The eight best teams in Europe this season are now aware which rival they will face in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League. From its headquarters located in Nyon (Switzerland), UEFA conducted the draw for the semifinals of the premier European football competition, leaving us with four exciting matchups to anticipate.
Quarter-finals confirmed ✅#UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/s7PpLFP0Bn
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) March 15, 2024
Real Madrid-Manchester City and Arsenal-Bayern Munich
Fate brought two of the main favorites to lift the trophy this year and two of the teams that the rest of the qualifiers wanted to avoid at all costs to meet. The clash between Manchester City - current champion of the competition - and Real Madrid will be the highlight of the quarterfinals. The Spanish team will have the opportunity to take revenge on its rival after being eliminated in the semifinals in last years competition. The first game will be played at the Santiago Bernabéu in the second week of April, while the second leg will take place a week later at the Etihad Stadium.
Be it Real Madrid or Manchester City, the winner of this contest will face the winner of the confrontation between Arsenal and Bayern Munich. Every season, the team from southern Germany always starts as one of the great contenders to be crowned champion of the UEFA Champions League, although this year there are more doubts. They practically have no chance of finishing first in the German league and a roster renewal is looming. For its part, Arsenal is in full catharsis, leaving behind the poor results obtained in recent seasons and returning to being the dominant team it was at the beginning of the 21st century. The first match will be played in England and the second leg will be played in Germany.
Atlético de Madrid-Borussia Dortmund and PSG-Barcelona
Madrid once again has two teams among the eight best in Europe in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League. Once we've talked about Real Madrid, it's time to comment on what happened to one of its biggest rivals, Atlético de Madrid. The red and white team - which advanced to the round after eliminating the current runners-up, Inter Milan, in a penalty shootout - will have to face what, a priori, is the weakest opponent, Borussia Dortmund. The Germans are not having a season worthy of being described as good. Atlético will act as home team in the first game.
Finally, the draw brought about a sporting contest between Paris Saint-Germain and FC Barcelona: a confrontation that brings back great memories for the Spanish team and quite the opposite for the French. In the 2016-2017 season, both teams met in the round of 16: PSG beat Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg, already taking the Parisians' qualification for granted. But, as if it were an epic, the Spanish managed to come back and advance to the next round with a 6-1 victory in the second leg, achieving the unthinkable. This year, Barcelona is having a bad season so far, so much so that it will make a coaching change in the summer. For its part, PSG continues to show its dominance in France, as ithas done in previous seasons. Paris will host the first leg.
