Champions League Draw: Barcelona face Manchester United, City, Spurs face off
The quarter-final draw for the Champions League was held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday.
With so many teams pulling off stirring comebacks in the Round of 16, there was going to be no shortage of matches with a potentially high drama quotient and the drawing of lots certainly didn’t disappoint.
A plethora of mouth-watering ties were thrown up with FC Barcelona versus Manchester United being the pick of the bunch.
Also Read: Minute-by-minute updates of the UEFA Champions League Draw
In an all English Premier League tie, Tottenham Hotspur lock horns with Manchester City with the former playing the first leg at home. The English champions hold a considerable advantage over their London rivals having won their previous encounter at Wembley.
The current season’s surprise packages, Ajax were handed a tough quarter-final match-up against Juventus. The Italians go toe to toe with the effervescent Dutch side after enrolling themselves for the last eight courtesies their exploits against Atletico Madrid.
On the other hand, last season’s runners up, Liverpool were paired against Portuguese champions, Porto as Jurgen Klopp looks to lift his first trophy at Liverpool and put to rest the ghost of the 2017-18 final.
The first legs of the quarter-finals would be played on the 9th and 10th of April whereas the second legs would take place a week later.
In addition, the semi-final fixtures were also sewn up. The 1st semi-final sees winner of the game between Tottenham and Manchester City battling it out with the victorious team from the encounter comprising Ajax and Juventus. In the said tie, the winner of the latter fixture would play its first leg on the road.
The other last-four match-up pitted the prospective winners of Porto’s game against Liverpool and Manchester United’s match against Barcelona with the former having the advantage of playing the second leg at home.
Moreover, UEFA also chalked out which team would play as the ‘home’ team in the final. The team to emerge victorious from the 1st semi-final would be accorded that privilege.
The number of engaging sub-plots to the quarter-final ties definitely makes this edition of the Champions League as enthralling as any.
Thus, it is time to get one’s calendars out and mark the above dates. With such riveting action in store, one needs to be glued to their TV screens for even a blink of an eye could result in one missing a chunk of the excitement.
After all, the Champions League has proved time and again that it never ceases to amaze.
Final Draw
Quarterfinals
AFC Ajax v Juventus
Liverpool v Porto
Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City
Manchester United v FC Barcelona
Semifinals
Tottenham Hotspur/Manchester City v Juventus/AFC Ajax
Manchester United/Barcelona v Liverpool/Porto