Manchester City, still in search of a first Champions League crown, will play against Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals, while the other big poster will pit defending champions Real Madrid against Chelsea, according to the draw made on Friday. March 17 in Nyon (Switzerland).
For the other two quarters, there will be an all-Italian clash between AC Milan and Napoli, while fellow Serie A representatives Inter Milan will challenge Portuguese side Benfica. The first legs will be played on April 11-12; the return matches, April 18-19.
The English of Manchester City with their offensive weapon Erling Haaland, author of a fivefold this week, and the Italians of Naples, current leader of Serie A, are the only two teams not to have won the competition.
For the first time since the 2005-2006 season, three Italian clubs are in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Last year, they had no representative in the top 8, just like France.
Like last year at the same stage of the competition, Real Madrid will find the Chelsea Blues. The only difference is that Real will receive the first leg and travel to Stamford Bridge for the second leg.
For the semi-finals, also drawn on Friday at UEFA headquarters, the winner of the AC Milan-Naples duel will face that of Benfica-Inter in a very Italian part of the table. The other semi-final will look great, with the winner of Real-Chelsea against that of City-Bayern.
