The defending champion, Bayern Munich, will face the team that defeated them in the Champions League final last season in the quarterfinals. The draw on Friday in Nyon, Switzerland meant that in the quarter-finals of this season's Champions League, Bayern will play against the current runner-up of Europe, Paris Saint-Germain. In August of last year, Bayern defeated PSG 1:0, in the match played in Lisbon behind closed doors, to win the sixth trophy in Europe. In fact, Bayern this season also remains the main favorite since in the Champions League it has a series of 18 victories and only one draw in the 19 games of this competition, which it started from the beginning of the last season. The first match will be played at the "Allianz Arena" stadium on April 6/7, while the return match will be played a week later in Paris. At Bayern, they admit that the duel with the French is a repeat of the last final, but they insist that PSG is playing much better this season and is led by coach Mauricio Pochettino, who three years ago reached the final of this competition with Tottenham. .
"PSG are a very good team and this is a higher level challenge for us. So we are looking forward to the games. Compared to last year's final, they have a new coach who is making a good job. Normally, home advantage is very important, but for the moment we will have to see how and where the matches can be played", said Bayern's sports director, Hasan Salihamidxic.
Meanwhile, the coach of PSG, Pochettino, has admitted that his team will be fully ready for the duels with Bayern. He has said that he is optimistic about going to the semi-finals after PSG managed to eliminate Barcelona in the 1/8 finals.
"We are happy to be among the eight best teams in Europe. The Champions League is very difficult to win, and in front of us we have the reigning champion of this competition. Ultimately, it's a very difficult draw but surprises do exist. Even though we are facing the best team on the continent, I am optimistic since we eliminated Barcelona earlier. Now we will focus on Bayern as our objective is to qualify for the semi-finals", said Pochettino.
Another strong match in the quarter-final stage will be the one between Real Madrid and Liverpool. The Madrilenians have won this trophy 13 times against Liverpool who have triumphed only six times in this competition. In fact, this will be a repeat of another Champions League final in 2018, in which Real Madrid won. The coach of Liverpool, Juergen Klopp, has said that it is a difficult draw, but he is happy that the Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo and the Welshman Gareth Bale, who were part of the Madrid team in the 2018 final, will not be at Real. the final played in Kiev, Ukraine, Real triumphed with the result 3:1.
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"They will be exciting matches, but without a doubt it is a very difficult draw. I think we will be ready to face Real Madrid, the team that defeated us in the final of 2018. Now we have the chance to prove ourselves against them once again and that is good", said Klopp, who was in charge of Borussia Dortmund has faced Real Madrid no less than six times. "I think it is the first time that Real will be without Ronaldo and Bale, but they still have players like: Sergio Ramos, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema in their ranks. They will be difficult confrontations, eventually".
The current leader of the Premier Leagues, Manchester City, who are looking for the first trophy in the Champions League, will face Borussia Dortmund. And the winner of this duel in the semi-final will play against the winner of the quarter-final between Bayern and PSG.
"It is a privilege that we are in the quarterfinals, although in the last three years we have been eliminated at this stage. Dortmund is a fantastic team with players like Erling Haaland, who is impressing with his statistics. We have to show good performances in both games and try to advance further," added City's coach, Pep Guardiola.
Meanwhile, the last semi-final pair is the one between Porto and Chelsea. Porto in the preliminary round eliminated Juventus while Chelsea was better than Atletico Madrid. The winner of this duel will play in the semi-finals against the winner of the matches between Real and Liverpool. Chelsea has been shining since the end of January, when the German Thomas Tuchel, who was earlier dismissed by PSG, took over the leadership of the team. Under Tuchel, the London side are unbeaten in their last 13 games in all competitions. The final of the Champions League will be played in Istanbul on May 29.
"I am happy that in this round we missed the match against a team from England. There are no weak teams at this stage, so we have to be careful with Porto after they managed to eliminate Juventus. Maybe everyone thinks we are favorites, but that doesn't help us at all. However, we will enter these matches with great confidence as the only focus will be the qualification to the semi-finals", said the Chelsea coach, Tuchel.
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On Friday, the draw was also drawn for the quarter-final pairs of the Europa League and highlights of the duel between Ajax and Roma. The other duels are: Granada - Manchester United, Arsenal - Slavia Prague and Dinamo Zagreb - Villarreal. The first quarter-final matches will be played on April 8, until the return matches in a week. The Europa League final will take place in Poland on May 26.
Quarterfinal pairs
Bayern M. – PSG
Real Madrid - Liverpool
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Man. City – Borussia D.
Porto - Chelsea
