welcome to the live blog for Friday’s Champions League quarter and semi final draw.
We will be covering the most important information leading up to the draw, which starts at 12:00 CET, as well as updates throughout the procedure.
All the live updates will come below, with the most recent entry towards the top.
12:35 CET: Semi-final dates:
First leg: April 27/28
Second leg: May 4/5
12:30 CET: Real Madrid vs Liverpool in between El Clasico
First leg: Real Madrid vs Liverpool – April 6 or 7
El Clasico: Barcelona vs Real Madrid – April 10 or 11
Second leg: Liverpool vs Real Madrid – April 13 or 14
SEMI FINAL DRAW:
Winner of Bayern vs PSG vs Winner of Manchester City vs Dortmund
Winner of Real Madrid vs Liverpool vs Winner of Porto vs Chelsea
QUARTER FINAL DRAW:
Manchester City vs Borussia Dortmund
Porto vs Chelsea
Bayern vs PSG
Real Madrid vs Liverpool
The matches will be played on April 6 and 7, while the return matches will be played on April 13 and 14. The final will be held on May 29 in Istanbul.
11:40 CET: Is this Manchester City’s year?
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are Europe’s in-form team and many fancy them to finally clinch Europe’s top prize.
With most bookmakers, they are favourites at 9/4 over closest challengers Bayern Munich on 3/1, and here we take a look at the reasons why this could be the year when City win Europe’s top club competition for the first time.
11:10 CET: England overtake Spain
The disappointing showing from Spain’s European representatives this campaign, with Real Madrid the only remaining competitor in the Champions League and Granada in the Europa League, has seen England overtake them in UEFA’s coefficient ranking.
England’s rise to the top of the pile is down to their strong representation in the latter stages of European competition, with Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City still in the Champions League. And in the Europa League, Arsenal and Manchester United are still involved.
11:00 CET: The biggest potential storylines
Will Mohamed Salah get the chance for revenge on Sergio Ramos? Will Thomas Tuchel face his former employers PSG? Will Erling Haaland show Real Madrid what he can do?
PSG eye Champions League vengeance against Bayern in quarter-finals
Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich will play a repeat of last season’s Champions League final in the last eight following Friday’s draw
Revenge for last season’s final defeat will be on the minds of Paris Saint-Germain after being drawn against Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Bayern lifted the trophy in August last year when they defeated PSG 1-0 thanks to a goal by Kingsley Coman, a youth product of the Parisian side.
It was PSG’s first ever appearance in the Champions League final and therefore closest they have come to European glory since the 2011 takeover by Qatari Sports Investments (QSI), who pledged to build a club capable of winning the competition when they secured ownership.
After a run of three successive eliminations at the last-16 stage, this is the second year in a row that PSG have reached the quarter-finals, having eliminated Barcelona in comfortable fashion this month.
But to get any further they will have to avenge their final defeat of last year, after Bayern dealt with Lazio in similarly resounding fashion.
Sergio Ramos will face Mohamed Salah in the last eight.AP
The draw for the last eight of the Champions League, as well as the semi finals, has been made.
Real Madrid will meet fellow European heavyweights Liverpool in what will be an enthralling tie. The pair have won 19 European Cups between them.
Quarter finals:
Manchester City vs Borussia Dortmund
Porto vs Chelsea
Bayern vs PSG
Real Madrid vs Liverpool
The matches will be played on April 6 and 7, while the return matches will be played on April 13 and 14. The final will be held on May 29 in Istanbul.
Erling HaalandEFE
With the conclusion of ties involving Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Lazio, the Champions League line-up for the quarter-final stage is now confirmed, and there are several possible draws which would throw up interesting storylines.
Friday will see UEFA don their best suits, and put on the unnecessary pageantry that goes with a mere cup draw, but there will be particular interest to the last eight of the Champions League, given the quality of teams left, and some notable absentees.
Barcelona will not be part of the quarter-final draw for the first time since 2007, whilst there isn’t a single Italian representative in the last eight for the first time since the 2015/16 season.
With Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain and FC Porto making up the teams left in the tournament, there are a number of potential matchups which will get people talking:
Erling Haaland to showcase his talent to Madrid or Manchester
After Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland is the most sought-after footballer around today, with his quite incredible goalscoring exploits having caught the attention since he made the move from Red Bull Salzburg to Borussia Dortmund.
Whilst the German side might lack a lot of quality defensively, they can always rely on Haaland to score, with the Norwegian firing four past Sevilla over the two-legs of their first knockout round tie.
Both Real Madrid and Manchester City have been heavily linked with the former Molde starlet of late, and if Dortmund were to be drawn against either of those teams, Haaland would be given a golden chance to showcase his talent to either club ahead of the summer transfer window.
With Mbappe having already passed Florentino Perez’s long-held Barcelona acid-test, Haaland may hope for the chance to pass the test of showing he can score in the Spanish capital.
Leeds (United Kingdom), 13/03/2021.- Chelsea manager Thomas lt;HIT gt;Tuchel lt;/HIT gt; gestures during the English Premier League soccer match between Leeds United and Chelsea FC in Leeds, Britain, 13 March 2021. (Reino Unido) EFE/EPA/Lee Smith / POOL EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or ‘live’ services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publicationsEFE
Thomas Tuchel could get the sweetest revenge on Paris Saint-Germain
Being dismissed from a job is never pleasant, it’s even more difficult to take when it comes on Christmas eve, never mind the fact that you were the first person to take your employer to their overall goal than anyone else ever has been.
This was exactly what happened to Thomas Tuchel when he was sacked by PSG on Christmas eve 2020, just months after he took PSG to their first ever Champions League final.
He has since found new employment with Chelsea and the German coach has a team that was underperforming under Frank Lampard, playing some quite fantastic football, getting good results in the process.
Now, what sweet revenge it would be for the former Mainz coach if Chelsea were drawn against PSG and he was able to knock his former team out of the competition they are so desperate to win, and thought they would have a better chance to do so without him at the helm.
SalahEFE
Mohamed Salah and Sergio Ramos could resume hostilities
Everyone remembers the final of the 2017/18 Champions League final, where Loris Karius‘ goalkeeping errors handed a third successive continental success to Real Madrid.
However, there was a degree of controversy in the first-half, with a physical tussle between Sergio Ramos and Mohamed Salah ending in the Egyptian suffering a shoulder injury which forced him out of the final, and put his 2018 World Cup preparations in difficulty.
Liverpool supporters have since held a grudge against the Los Blancos captain, and it would be an interesting subplot for the two teams to be drawn against each other on Friday, although the lack of crowd in attendance at Anfield ensures that the Spanish defender would get an easier evening that he could have expected, had fans been present.
