The
Champions League
final will be played two rounds earlier than planned.
It may seem like a contradiction, but the two teams, a priori, strongest among the eight that continue to compete in the most important club competition on the planet will meet in the quarterfinals:
Manchester City
, current champion, and
Real Madrid
, the most successful team in the history of the tournament.
Although sometimes a
black swan
manages to sneak into this instance,
the usual thing is to find eight powers
in the draw that traces the final segment of the route to the Champions League title, so there is not much room to aspire to a path of roses
This time, the hands of Nigerian
John Obi Mikel
, champion of this tournament in 2012 with Chelsea and in charge of extracting the balls in the draw that took place this Friday at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland, placed the teams face to face. two sets that the other six preferred to avoid.
Madrid, the comfortable leader of the Spanish League, reached this stage after
doing well
in its group (relegating Napoli, Sporting Braga and Unión Berlin) and laboriously leaving Leipzig on the way in the round of 16.
City, who are bidding head-to-head with Liverpool and Arsenal for the Premier League crown, also had a perfect run in an accessible area (with Leipzig, Young Boys and Red Star) and then easily eliminated Copenhagen.
This
will be the fifth time in the last nine editions (and the third consecutive)
that these two teams will meet in a direct elimination match from the Champions League.
In the 2015/16 semi-finals, after drawing 0-0 in Manchester and winning 1-0 at home with a goal against Brazilian Fernando, Merengue
advanced
to the final, in which they then beat Atlético de Madrid on penalties. Madrid in Milan.
And in the 2019/20 round of 16, City won 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabéu and repeated the result in the rematch at the Etihad Stadium (then they lost in the quarterfinals to Olympique Lyon).
Video
The Champions League has already defined who will play in the quarterfinals, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon.
The last two crossings left a strong mark.
In the 2021/22 semifinals, the English won 4-3 at home in the first leg, but in retaliation the Spanish won 3-1 in the rematch with a legendary comeback: the visitor won 1-0 until the 45th minute minute of the second period, but two goals from Brazilian Rodrygo sent the game into overtime.
In extra time, a goal by Frenchman Karim Benzema, from a penalty, gave
Merengue
the ticket to the final in Saint-Denis, in which they would beat Liverpool.
Real Madrid's Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti (L) congratulates Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola after the UEFA Champions League second leg semi-final football match between Manchester City and Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on May 17, 2023 Manchester City won the match 4-0.
(Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)
Revenge, sweet and implacable, did not wait more than a year.
In last season's semifinals, they tied 1-1 in the Spanish capital and then the team led by Josep Guardiola inflicted
a memorable dance and scored four goals on their opponent
(one of them, from Julián Álvarez) in revenge.
It was the prelude to the final that would allow the
Ciudadanos
to win this title for the first time after defeating Inter in Istanbul.
After two qualifying rounds won by each side, the
balance will be unbalanced with the clash that will take place in April
: the first leg will be played at the Bernabéu on the 9th or 10th, while revenge will be the following week at the Etihad.
The winner of this ultra-competitive key will then have another first-class opponent, which will emerge from the clash between
Arsenal
, leader of the
Premier League
, and
Bayern Munich
, which could not keep up with
Bayer Leverkusen
in the
Bundesliga
(it is 10 points behind the leader ) and puts all his bets on winning his seventh European crown.
After winning their groups without problems, both had to work hard to get through the round of 16:
the English had to reach the penalty shootout to eliminate Porto
;
The Germans had to come back at home after losing in the first leg against
Lazio
in Rome.
Now they will meet in a tie that has four antecedents and a clear trend: all four times (in 2005, 2013, 2014 and 2017) they met in the round of 16 and the Germans always emerged victorious.
This time, the departure will be in London and the return will be in Munich.
Boosted by Harry Kane's goals, Bayern Munich is seeking its seventh Champions League title.
Photo: Michaela Stache / Reuters.
Far from the lights of yesteryear and with a little noisy journey here,
Barcelona
and
Paris Saint-Germain
, the two European teams in which Lionel Messi played, will fight for a place in the semifinals (the first leg will be in the Parc des Princes ).
The Catalans, third in the Spanish League, eliminated Napoli in one of the most attractive matches of the round of 16;
The French, marching towards their third consecutive Ligue 1 title (and 10th in 12 years), easily beat Real Sociedad.
If it comes to background,
the Parisians can boast of having won the most recent clash
: in the round of 16 of the 2020/21 season, they beat 4-1 at the Camp Nou and then tied 1-1 at home - that day, Messi scored his last goal with the Barça shirt in an international tournament.
But the Catalans can boast of having emerged victorious in the other four ties against PSG.
Surely they will especially remember the round of 16 of the 2016/17 season, when they came back from 0-4 in the first leg with a 6-1 triumph in their stadium.
Diego Simeone's Atlético de Madrid will face Borussia Dortmund.
Photo: Juan Medina / Reuters.
The duel that will complete the poker of the quarterfinals, with a first episode in Spain and its revenge in Germany, will be played by
Atlético de Madrid
and
Borussia Dortmund
, the two teams, a priori, least powerful among the eight that reached this stage.
Both teams are far from the fight for the title in the local leagues and have already been eliminated in their countries' cups, so their last great stimulus of the campaign is in the Champions League.
The team led by
Diego Simeone
reached the quarterfinals after overcoming a very adverse series and dispatching Inter, runner-up of the competition and leader of the Italian Serie A, on penalties.
For the team led by
Edin Terzić,
the crossing with the Dutch
PSV
was easier .
Now they will meet face to face for the first time in a direct elimination event in the Champions League (they only played four times in the group stage, with two victories for each).
The four winners of these keys will continue their path in the semifinals, which will take place between April 30 and May 8.
The grand final will be played on Saturday, June 1 at Wembley.
The crossroads of the Europa League
Chance also established the duels of the Europa League
quarterfinals
, the competition in which Liverpool appears as a great candidate to win the crown.
The team led by Jürgen Klopp and in which Alexis Mac Allister shines will face Atalanta, one of the three Italian teams still in competition (the first leg will be at Anfield).
The other two representatives of the peninsula, Milan and Roma (runner-up of the last edition), will eliminate each other: the first leg will be at the Giuseppe Meazza, while the cast of Paulo Dybala and Leandro Paredes will be local in the revenge at the Olympic Stadium. From the capital.
In addition, Bayer Leverkusen, the sensation team of this European season (in which they are undefeated in all competitions), will clash with the English West Ham United.
And the Benfica of Ángel Di María, Nicolás Otamendi and Benjamín Rollheiser will face Leonardo Balerdi's Olympique de Marseille in the fourth round of the quarterfinals of a competition whose final will be played on May 22 in Dublin.
Conference League duels
The route to the final of the Conference League, which will be played on May 29 in Athens, was also outlined this Friday in Nyon.
The most attractive clash of the quarterfinals will feature Emiliano Martínez's Aston Villa and French Lille, who will open their series in Birmingham.
In addition, the Fiorentina of Nicolás González, Lucas Martínez Quarta, Lucas Beltrán and Gino Infantino will meet the Czech side Viktoria Plzeň.
The Olympiacos-Fenerbahçe and Bruges-PAOK duels will complete the picture.