UEFA Champions League 2016/17: Spanish clubs get tough draw, Dortmund v Monaco promises goals
After the madness of the round of 16, it appeared that it might be a little difficult for the Champions League to continue to impress, but the quarter-final draw suggests that the thrills and spills are far from over.
Holders Real Madrid have been tasked with an unenviable visit to the Allianz Arena, while Thomas Tuchel’s Dortmund will have to fight fire with fire when it comes to fluidity, goals and attacking verve when they come up against the competition’s dark horse, AS Monaco.
Also read: Twitter reacts to the Champions League quarter-final draw
Barcelona’s famous trident comes up against the immovable object of Juventus, while Leicester City’s European fairytale continues against a side who usually consider themselves the underdogs at this stage of this tournament.
Time to take a look at what these juicy quarter-finals have to offer.
Borussia Dortmund vs AS Monaco
Neither of these teams are strangers to finding the back of the net this season, with Leonardo Jardim’s Monaco averaging over three Ligue 1 goals per home game domestically. The French club scored six times against Manchester City to progress from the last 16 stage, and have racked up four or five goals in numerous games this campaign.
The likes of Kylian Mbappe and Bernardo Silva are set to take the headlines and the brunt of the spotlight, but talents such as Thomas Lemar, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Radamel Falcao, Fabinho and Benjamin Mendy cannot be ignored. This could be a Monaco team that goes down in the history books for all the right reasons.
Dortmund progressed into this stage of the competition by trouncing Benfica 4-0 at Signal Iduna Park, and played out an energetic 2-2 draw with Real Madrid at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu during the group stages.
Legia Warsaw conceded a stunning eight on their travels to Germany against Die Schwarzgelben, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Christian Pulisic and Ousmane Dembele will be hungry for more – as will key man, Marco Reus, when he returns from injury.