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UEFA Champions League 2016/17 Quarterfinal Draw: Real Madrid face Bayern, Barcelona travel to Juventus

Real Madrid attempt to defend their UEFA Champions League title with a trip to

Whats the story?

The quarterfinal draw of the UEFA Champions League took place in Switzerland, with Real Madrid handed a tough trip to Bayern Munich, while Barcelona and Juventus face off in a repeat of the 2015 UEFA Champions League final. Leicester City were handed a tough draw, as they face off against Atletico Madrid in their first ever UEFA Champions League quarterfinal.

Previously...

La Liga had three representatives in the draw, with Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona all making it to the quarterfinals. Barcelona pulled off the greatest comeback of all time by defeating PSG 6-1 in the second leg, after losing 4-0 in the first to make it to the quarters, while Real defeated Napoli 6-2 on aggregate. Atletico Madrid got past Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 to make it three teams from Spain yet again.

Also Read : UEFA Champions League 2016/17: Barcelona 6-1 Paris Saint-Germain - 5 Talking Points

Juventus, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund were the other powerhouses in the draw, while Ligue 1 high-flyers AS Monaco shocked Manchester City to ensure that Leicester City were the only representative from the Premier League in the quarterfinals, having pulled off a 3-2 win over Sevilla in the Round-of-16.

The heart of the matter

As per tradition, the quarterfinal draw took place at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. At this stage of the competition, it was an open draw with no seeded teams while teams from the same national association could be drawn against each other. Juventus and Real Madrid were the only two unbeaten teams left in the competition, while Leicester City made their first ever appearance in the quarterfinals.

Ian Rush, Liverpool legend, picked out the draw, which was overseen by the ever-present Giorgio Marchetti.

Here is the draw in full:

Atletico de Madrid vs Leicester City

Borussia Dortmund vs AS Monaco

FC Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid

Juventus vs FC Barcelona

What next?

The first leg of the quarterfinals will take place on the 11th and 12th of April, with the second leg occuring on the 18th and 19th of April. The semifinals will take place on 2/3rd May and 9/10th May, before the season climaxes in Cardiff, with the UEFA Champions League final on the 3rd of June.

Here is the updated quarterfinal fixture schedule:

DateTimeGame
11th April7:45 PM CETJuventus vs FC Barcelona
11th April7:45 PM CETBorussia Dortmund vs AS Monaco
12th April7:45 PM CETAtletico de Madrid vs Leicester City
12th April7:45 PM CETFC Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid
18th April7:45 PM CETLeicester City vs Atletico de Madrid
18th April7:45 PM CETReal Madrid vs FC Bayern Munich
19th April7:45 PM CETAS Monaco vs Borussia Dortmund
19th April7:45 PM CETFC Barcelona vs Juventus

Author’s Take

The road to Cardiff would never have been easy, but this draw takes the cake. Leicester will find it tough to overcome Diego Simeone’s Atletico, who have become Champions League specialists. Bayern Munich and Real Madrid will be a blockbuster fixture – it’ll be difficult to predict a winner. Barcelona will be confident facing off against Juventus, having comfortably beaten them two years ago.

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