UEFA: Thoughts on the Champions League Quarterfinal Draw

The draw for the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal took place yesterday, resulting in the following matchups:

Real Madrid vs Galatasaray
Bayern Munich vs Juventus
Malaga CF vs Borussia Dortmund
Barcelona vs Paris St. Germain

The first legs will be played on April 2nd and 3rd, with the second legs taking place one week later.

My hope was that Real Madrid and Barcelona would not be drawn to play one another this early (hopefully they don’t face each other until he finals) and I got my wish. It was also odd not seeing an Premier League club at this stage of the competition (for the first time since the 1995-96 season). However I believe that this is just a blip on the radar and nothing for the fans of English soccer to be overly concerned about.

At first place there seems to be a lack of “sexy” pairings  like we had in the previous round with Manchester United vs Real Madrid, Barcelona vs AC Milan, and Bayern Munich vs Arsenal. But there are some intriguing matchups nonetheless.

Bayern Munich vs Juventus seems like the top billing of all the matchups, one I am sure that neither team is happy with. Bayern, who lost in last year’s final to English side Chelsea, are looking to finish the job this time around while Juventus (the lone Serie A representative) are back in the quarterfinals of this tournament after a seven-year hiatus. Both these teams currently enjoy comfortable leads in their respective domestic leagues, and are very capable of going all the way. It would be particularly crushing for whichever team loses at this upcoming stage.

It seems like Real Madrid finally caught a break in this year’s competition when they got paired with Turkish club Galatasaray. Madrid not only had to battle to get past Manchester United in the round of 16, but they also had to advance in what was the toughest group (Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund and Ajax) of the group stage. Jose Mourinho continues his quest to become the first manager to win this tournament with three different clubs, but Galatasaray should not be underestimated.

The UEFA Champions League trophy made an appearance during the
quarterfinal draw on Friday

Borussia Dortmund also enjoyed similar luck when they drew Malaga as their opponents. If there was a Spanish side that you would want to face, it would have to be Malaga over both Madrid and Barcelona right?

And finally, a matchup that I believe will be quite entertaining – Barcelona vs Paris St. Germain. Earlier this week Barcelona became the first club in Champions League history to overcome a 2-0 first leg deficit to advance when they defeated AC Milan at home. Now the same people writing their obituary a few days ago are establishing them as tournament favorites once again. They will find themselves a worthy opponent in Ligue 1 leaders PSG. The Qatari-backed club are filled with as much quality players (although the loss of striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic for the first leg due to suspension will hurt) as Barcelona. So get ready for Lionel Messi in one corner going up against David Beckham in the other!

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