Friday, March 17, 2017

Champions League draw: Bayern to play Real Madrid, Dortmund meet Monaco


Watch the full UEFA Champions League quarter-finals draw

Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich are to meet Real Madrid in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions league. friday"s draw in the swiss city of Nyonalso saw Borussia Dortmund drawn against Monaco of France"s Ligue 1.

This means that the two Bundesliga teams will starttheir quarterfinal ties at home, with the first legs to be played on April 11 and 12and the return matches to be held on April 18 and 19. It also means that Bayern head coach Carlo Ancelotti will be facing his former team, who he led to the 2014 Champions League title.

On their way to that trophy, Real beat Bayern1-0 at home in the first leg of their semifinal tiebeforehammering4-0 away in the second leg- the Bavarian side"s heaviest European home defeat. The two teams have already met 22 times in European competition-

"Of course it will be a special game," Ancelotti told reporters at a press conference in Munich shortly after the draw was made. "It will be exciting for me to return to Madrid, but it is a football match and we want to be the better team against Real Madrid."

Mats Hummels" Bayern easily swept past Arsenal

Bayern will head into the quarterfinal full of confidence after havingeasily swept away Premier League side Arsenal in the round of 16.

A new opponent for Dortmund

In Monaco, Dortmund were arguably luckier in the draw than Bayern, but the principalityside are top of Ligue 1. Dortmund"s CEO, Hans-Joachim Watzke, said BVB were not unhappy to be drawn against Monaco, a side that they have never faced in Europe before.

"We wanted to avoid Bayern Munich, so to this extent it is good," Watzke said.

Dortmund reached the quarterfinals by overcoming Portuguese side Benfica.

The otherquarterfinals willsee Atletico Madrid meet English Premier League champions Leicester City and Juventus faceBarcelona, a match in which the Italian side will be looking to avenge theirdefeat against the Catalans in the 2015 final.

The semifinals of the Champions League are to be played in the first and second weeks of May, with the final to be held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on June 3.

Schalke draw Ajax in Europa League

Just hours after overcoming Bundesliga rivals Borussia Mnchengladbach in the round of 16, Schalke on Friday drew four-time European champions Ajax in the quarterfinals of the Europa League. The Gelsenkirchen side, who havehad a disappointing Bundesliga campaign and are out of the German Cup, are hoping to seize their last chance for success in 2017 by duplicating the feat of the Schalke side who were dubbed the "Eurofighters" on their way to winning the 1997 UEFA Cup.

Manchester United will have to overcome Belgian side Anderlecht if they are to reach the last four.Lyon, who eliminated Roma in the previous round, face Turkish side Besiktas, while Spain"s Celta Vigo meetGenk of Belgium. The quarterfinals are tobe played on April 13 and 20.

The final is to be played in Stockholmon May 24.

Source: http://www.dw.com/en/champions-league-draw-bayern-to-play-real-madrid-dortmund-meet-monaco/a-37987462

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