NYON, Switzerland — Defending champion Real Madrid will play Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals, a pairing that pits Bayern coach Carlo Ancelotti against the team he won the trophy with three years ago.
[caption id="attachment_127199" align="alignright" width="300"]
Europa League draw[/caption]
Madrid and Bayern, which first play in Munich, have combined to win 16 European titles. One club, however, will end its recent streak of reaching the semifinals for at least five straight years.
Also in Friday’s Draw, Barcelona will meet Juventus in a rematch of the 2015 final, Champions League newcomer Leicester will face Atletico Madrid, and Borussia Dortmund will take on Monaco.
The first legs will be played on April 11-12, with the return matches on April 18-19.
Ancelotti is aiming to be the first coach to lead three different clubs to the European title. Besides Madrid, he also coached AC Milan to two Champions League titles.
Leicester, which is making its debut in the tournament, is the only team in the draw which has never played in a Champions League final. But Leicester and Atletico have played before. The Spanish club eliminated Leicester in the first round of the UEFA Cup in 1997.
Monaco has become a feared team after starting among the lowest-ranked clubs in the group-stage Draw in August.
Neither Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim nor Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel has ever led a team to the Champions League semifinals. The final is scheduled for June 3 in Cardiff, Wales.
United draws Anderlecht
Manchester United will face Belgian club Anderlecht in the Europa League quarterfinals after Friday’s draw in Nyon, which saw France’s Lyon land Turkish champions Besiktas.
Jose Mourinho’s side is the only English club left in the competition after labouring to a 2-1 aggregate win over Russian side FC Rostov in the last 16.
United is favorite to win the competition for the first time in Solna, Sweden on May 24 which could earn it a passage into next season’s Champions League.
Its record European victory was against Anderlecht, a 10-0 rout at Old Trafford in the European Cup preliminary round in 1956.
Spanish sides have won seven of the last eleven second-tier European titles and hopes of further domination rest on Celta Vigo’s shoulders as it takes on Belgian club Genk.
Two former winners were pitched together as Dutch giants and 1992 champions Ajax face Germany’s Schalke 04, who won in 1999, in home and away ties to be played on April 13 and 20.
Quarterfinals will be played on April 13 and 20; semifinals on May 4 and 11 and the final on May 24. — Agencies
