Barca vs Atletico in all-Spanish Champions tie
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DEFENDING champion Barcelona will play Atletico Madrid in an all-Spanish quarterfinal in the Champions League.
Barcelona aims to be the first team to retain the title since the format was created 24 years ago, and Atletico would be the third straight different winner from Spain.
Real Madrid, which won its 10th European title in 2014, was drawn against Wolfsburg, which has never before played in the quarterfinals.
Bayern Munich will face Benfica, and Paris Saint-Germain will play Manchester City. The first legs of the quarterfinals will be on April 5-6, with the second legs a week later on April 12-13.
Atletico ousted Barcelona in the 2014 quarterfinals when it made a surprise run to the final. Real Madrid trails its two big national rivals in the league this season, but got a favorable draw yesterday.
“Real is, of course, favorite in both legs but I think we will have two interesting matches,” Wolfsburg director Klaus Allofs said yesterday.
Bayern, a five-time winner, will face Benfica, which won the last of its two titles more than 50 years ago.
“We can be happy with the draw, but we should not make the mistake of underestimating a team that’s in the quarterfinal,” Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said.
PSG was paired with Manchester City in a contest of two big-spending clubs striving to join the European elite.
Neither has reached a European Cup or Champions League final.
The final is scheduled for May 28 in Milan.
In Europa League, Juergen Klopp’s nightmare came true when his Liverpool side was drawn to meet his former club Borussia Dortmund in next month’s quarterfinals.
Sevilla, bidding to win the trophy for the third successive season, will tackle La Liga rival Athletic Bilbao while Villarreal takes on Sparta Prague and Braga faces Shakhtar Donetsk.
After Liverpool knocked out bitter rival Manchester United on Thursday, Klopp told reporters: “I hope we don’t get Dortmund”.
The charismatic German spent seven seasons at Dortmund, leading it to two Bundesliga titles, German Cup glory and the 2013 Champions League final where it lost to Bayern Munich.
“He comes back!”, said Dortmund playmaker Ilkay Guendogan on Twitter after hearing news of the draw.
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