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The draw for the quarter-finals of the 2021-2022 Champions League was held on Friday 18 March at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. The big poster will be against defending champions Chelsea and 13-time champions Real Madrid. A double duel between Guardiola’s Manchester City and Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid will also be a big hit.
The eight clubs that have won from the Champions League knockout stages are fixed. The quarter-finals of the 2021-2022 season will be played in the first leg on April 5-6, with a rematch on April 12-13. They will have strong English (three Premier League teams) and Spanish (three La Liga teams) accents.
2006 French team former defender vice world champion, 2008 UEFA Champions League champion Mikal Sylvester wore a Manchester United jersey to advance to the draw.
For the second year in a row, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will not be part of the two-man meeting after Manchester United eliminated Villarreal and Paris Saint-Germain eliminated Real Madrid. But even without the Portuguese and Argentines, the show should come in the spring.
A very attractive Chelsea-Real Madrid
The first poster fixed during the draw is gorgeous. Chelsea, the reigning champions and the only club to win twice against Lille last round, will face the greatest specialist in C1: Real Madrid, crowned 13 times. Former Blues executives Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard joined ex-Merengue Mateo Kovacic in a new reunion format. It will also be an opportunity for the Spanish club to take revenge on Chelsea who knocked them out in the semi-finals last season.
Manchester City, who were unlucky to reach the final last May, will face Atletico Madrid. The expected opposition between two recognised managers, Pep Guardiola on the Cityzen side and Diego Simeone on the Colchonero side.
Spanish club Villarreal, who beat Juventus this week, saw an ogre stance: Bayern Munich, six-time European champions, beat Sarawak 7-1 in the round of 16 on March 8 Erzburg.
Finally, the quarter-finals will pit the Portuguese from Benfica against the English from Liverpool.
In addition, the draw for the semi-finals has also taken place: the winner of Chelsea-Real Madrid will face Manchester City-Atletico Madrid, and the winner of Benfica-Liverpool will face the winner of Villarreal-Bayern.
Quarterfinals schedule:
- Chelsea (England) – Real Madrid (Spain)
- Manchester City (England) – Atlético de Madrid (Spain)
- Villarreal (Spain) – Bayern Munich (Germany)
- Benfica (Portugal) – Liverpool (England)