Reigning champions Real Madrid were drawn against 2021 winners Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, while Manchester City are set to play Bayern Munich in their last eight tie.
The two English sides left in the competition face tough tests if they are to make the last four, where they could come up against one another.
The winner of Real Madrid’s clash with Chelsea will play host to that meeting with either City or Bayern.
In the other half of the draw, Inter Milan were pitted against Portuguese side Benfica, who breezed past Club Brugge in the Last-16, while city rivals AC Milan come up against Napoli in a Serie A derby with the Italian top-flight leaders.
As a result, the second semi-final could see viewers treated to a Milan derby clash, should Inter and AC both see off their opponents in the quarter-finals.
The Champions League draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals took place on Friday
Under-pressure Graham Potter must see off the reigning champions to progress in the Champions League
Real Madrid will host the first leg of the quarter-final and beat Chelsea last season on their way to Paris
Chelsea have only come up against the Spanish giants four times in the competition, and actually lead their head-to-head record.
The Blues have two victories to their name, while Los Blancos’ first and only victory came in the first leg of last year’s quarter-finals.
This season sees the pair face-off for the third consecutive tournament, with Chelsea besting Real to reach the 2021 final – which they won against Man City – courtesy of a win and a draw against the Spanish giants.
Real Madrid have looked to Vinicius Jr for goals in the competition until now, with the Brazilian finding the back of the net six times, with Karim Benzema struggling for fitness in the lead up to the World Cup last year.
Chelsea meanwhile are without a player that has scored or assisted three times or more, despite their record winter transfer spend.
For City, it is an equally mouth-watering clash to set up that potential all-English battle, as they take on the record German champions Bayern.
Bayern Munich visit Manchester City as Julian Nagelsmann’s side look to reach a Champions League final
Pep Guardiola faces a trip to his former side Bayern where he won seven trophies in three years
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW AND ODDS
QF 1 – Real Madrid vs Chelsea
QF 2 – Benfica vs Inter
QF 3 – Man City vs Bayern Munich
QF 4 – AC Milan vs Napoli
ODDS:
Man City – 9-4
Napoli – 7-1
Bayern – 7-2
Real Madrid – 7-1
Benfica – 12-1
Inter – 14-1
Chelsea – 16-1
AC Milan – 20-1
It has been a far from straight-forward season for Julian Nagelsmann’s side, who are in a title race of their own with Union Berlin, Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig, and the two sides share a very even history.
Three wins apiece, with City winning the most recent meeting, back in 2014-15, to draw level in the match-up as both sides have three victories to their name.
It also represents a reunion for Pep Guardiola at the club where he famously failed to win the competition, but had widespread success in all other competitions in his three-year stay in Bavaria.
City will now face two German sides in successive rounds of the competition, after defeating RB Leipzig in the previous round.
Erling Haaland’s five-goal heroics, as well as strikes from Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne , saw off the Roten Bullen in a 8-1 aggregate mauling of the Bundesliga challengers.
As a result the Norwegian has leapt to the top of the tournament’s goal scoring charts with 10 goals to his name.
Serie A leaders – and favourites for many to go all the way in the Champions League – Napoli are faced with an Italian derby against reigning top-flight champions AC Milan.
Luciano Spalletti’s side have taken Europe by storm this season, with Kvicha Kvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen among the Partenopei’s leading stars in a stunning 2022-23 campaign.
Benfica breezed past Club Burgge to set up the Last eight clash with Italian giants Inter Milan
Inter face Benfica after seeing off Porto on aggregate following a 0-0 draw in Portugal
AC Milan saw off Tottenham to set up their all-Italian quarter-final with Napoli and could face fierce rivals Inter in the semis
Napoli have already won their single league meeting this season at the San Siro, while the quarter-final draw will see the two sides face off three times in 16 days.
Fellow Italian giants Inter travel to Lisbon to take on Benfica, who have made the last eight for two successive seasons, with the winners taking on the victor of the all-Italian clash between AC Milan and Napoli.
As a result of the draw, there will be no final played between two sides from the same country at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Turkey on June 10.
The first leg of each clash will be played on either April 11 or 12, with the second meetings coming the following week on April 18 or 19.
source: dailymail.co.uk
