Real Madrid to face Man City in Champions League quarterfinals, PSG gets Barcelona
Liverpool, Leverkusen kept on track to meet in Europa League final after quarterfinal draw
One day, Real Madrid and Man‐ chester City might actually get to meet in a stellar Champions League final. Just not yet.
The winners of the last two Champions Leagues will meet in the quarterfinals next month after Friday's draw set up an‐ other heavyweight clash be‐ tween the only teams who are still unbeaten.
They played each other in the semifinals the previous two years when the path to the European title went through each other. Madrid won in 2022 with a stun‐ ning late comeback in the second leg while City beat the record 14‐ time champion last year before lifting its first European Cup tro‐ phy.
In their latest meeting, Madrid will host the first leg on April 9 and defending champion Man City stages the return eight days later.
Kylian Mbappé's path to a first Champions League title with Paris Saint‐Germain in his farewell season there will next go through Barcelona.
PSG hosts the first leg on April 10. Coach Luis Enrique will face his former club, which he led to the 2015 title with a Barcelona team that included Lionel Messi and Neymar, who were later re‐ united in Paris for two seasons.
Arsenal was drawn to play the first leg at home on April 9 against Bayern Munich, whose star striker Harry Kane will go back to north London after leav‐ ing the Gunners' archrival Tot‐ tenham this offseason.
Atletico Madrid was paired with Borussia Dortmund in the other game, with the German club hav‐ ing the advantage of hosting the second leg on April 16. Atletico under coach Diego Simeone showed again they are a fear‐ some force at Metropolitano Sta‐ dium by ousting Inter Milan on Wednesday.
Dortmund coach Edin Terzic called Atletico "a strong oppo‐ nent which is especially a little monster in knockout games."
The Real Madrid‐Man City games will be the top attraction even despite their many recent meetings. City also beat Madrid in the round of 16 in 2020.
UEFA also made the draw for the semifinals, which ensured Mbappé and PSG cannot meet Real Madrid — the team he is ex‐ pected to join in the summer — until the final.
That draw arguably put the four strongest teams in the same half. When the new Champions League format takes effect next season, the two strongest teams in the expanded eight‐game first phase will be seeded in a tennis‐ style knockout bracket and could not meet until the final.
This time, the winner between Real Madrid and Man City — the only teams to win all six games in the group stage — will be away in the first leg against Arsenal or Bayern.
Bayern fans will be banned from the first leg against Arsenal in London because of a UEFA punishment for supporters set‐ ting off fireworks and throwing them toward the pitch at two previous games this season.
A potential Arsenal‐Man City meeting in the semifinals would make it three games between them in less than six weeks. They play in the Premier League in Manchester on March 31 in a game that could have a major im‐ pact on a tight Premier League title race also involving Liver‐ pool.
Arsenal reached the quarterfi‐ nals for the first time since 2010 by beating Porto on penalties and leads the Premier League on goal difference ahead of Liverpool.
Atletico or Dortmund will host the first leg of its semifinals against PSG or Barcelona.
There was a familiar and pow‐ erful look to the draw. It featured five European champions — who have combined to win 27 of the previous 68 titles — and three beaten finalists: Arsenal, Atletico and PSG.
The final is on June 1 at Wemb‐ ley Stadium in London.
The last Champions League final at Wembley was a German derby in 2013 that Bayern won against Dortmund 2‐1. A repeat is still possible after Friday's draws.
Liverpool and Leverkusen kept on track to meet in Europa League final after quarterfinal draw
Liverpool and Bayer Lev‐ erkusen were kept apart in the quarterfinals draw for the Eu‐ ropa League on Friday and can meet only if they reach a final that would be heavy with story‐ lines for their standout coaches.
Liverpool was paired with Ata‐ lanta in the quarterfinals with the first leg at Anfield on April 11. The return is one week later in Bergamo, where Liverpool won 5‐0 in a Champions League game three seasons ago.
Bundesliga leader Leverkusen — coached by former Liverpool star Xabi Alonso and still un‐ beaten in all competitions in his stunning, first full season — has to travel to England as it was drawn against West Ham with the first leg in London.
A meeting between Liverpool and Leverkusen would take on added meaning after coach Jür‐ gen Klopp announced in January that he will leave at the end of the season the club he has revived since 2015.
Alonso is widely seen as a lead‐ ing candidate to replace Klopp and return to Liverpool where, as a creative midfielder, he helped win the "Miracle of Istanbul" final of the Champions League in 2005.
Also on Friday, AC Milan — the team Liverpool and Alonso beat in Istanbul — was paired with Roma in an all‐Italian clash, and Benfica was drawn to face Mar‐ seille in a meeting of former Eu‐ ropean champions.
In the semifinals, Benfica or Marseille will host the first leg against Liverpool or Atlanta.
Milan or Roma will be at home first against Leverkusen or West Ham.
Leverkusen extended its re‐ markable unbeaten run to 37 games on Thursday to eliminate Qarabag of Azerbaijan in the round of 16. Two stoppage‐time goals by Patrick Schick over‐ turned the 10‐man visitors' 2‐1 lead on the night, and 4‐3 on ag‐ gregate score, to a 3‐2 win and 5‐ 4 advantage.
At the same time, Liverpool was routing Sparta Prague 6‐1 for an aggregate score of 11‐2. Liver‐ pool's 11 goals tied a record for the Europa League — matching Lyon's tally over two legs against AZ Alkmaar in 2017 — since the competition was rebranded 15 years ago.