As Real Madrid are drawn to face holders Man City in UCL quarter-finals, Spanish club’s director Butragueno says his team are well aware of the virtues of this English team
Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham (right) and Aurelien Tchouameni during a training session at the Valdebebas training ground in Madrid, Spain, on Thursday. Pics/Getty Images
Holders Manchester City will come up against record 14-time winners Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals after being paired together in Friday’s draw, meaning the sides will meet in a third consecutive season in the competition.
Arsenal face Bayern Munich
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Arsenal will face Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich, while Paris Saint-Germain meet Barcelona and Atletico Madrid will take on Borussia Dortmund in the other ties. Pep Guardiola’s City will travel to the Spanish capital for the first leg on April 9 or 10, with the return in Manchester a week later.
City beat Madrid in the semi-finals last season on the way to winning the Champions League for the first time, following a 1-1 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu with a stunning 4-0 victory at home in the second leg. Real came out on top when the teams met in the last four a year earlier, before going on to defeat Liverpool in the final.
Also Read: Injured De Bruyne will miss Man City’s quarter-final v Newcastle
Real’s Emilio Butragueno
‘They are the champions’
The Spanish giants also won a semi-final clash between the teams in 2016, while City emerged victorious in the last 16 in 2020. “They are the champions and we know each other perfectly, so I don’t need to explain the virtues of City,” Emilio Butragueno, the former Real player, who is now the club’s director of institutional relations, told Spanish broadcaster Movistar+. “Two tremendous games await us.” The draw threw up a set of mouthwatering ties with Arsenal being rewarded with a clash against German champions Bayern after beating Porto on penalties to qualify for the quarter-finals for the first time since 2010.
The Gunners will host the first leg at the Emirates Stadium, which will see former Tottenham Hotspur talisman Kane—who has so far scored 36 goals in his first season at Bayern—return to London.
All-English semi-final?
There is the prospect of an all-English semi-final, with the winners of the tie between Arsenal and Bayern facing either City or Real in the last four. PSG’s meeting with Barcelona will be the latest instalment in the rivalry between those sides, as the French club aim to win the Champions League for the first time in their final season before Kylian Mbappe departs when his contract expires in June.
UCL quarters draw
. Arsenal v Bayern Munich
. Atletico Madrid v Borussia Dortmund
. Real Madrid v Man City . Paris Saint-Germain v Barcelona
. First legs to be played on April 9-10, second legs on April 16-17
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