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(Reuters) – Reigning champions Bayern Munich will face the team they beat in last year’s Champions League final in this season’s quarter-finals after being paired with Paris St Germain in the Friday drawing.
In the other standout tie of the past eight thirteen-time champions, Real Madrid face six-time champion Liverpool in a replay of the 2018 final won by the Spanish club.
Premier League leaders Manchester City, seeking their first Champions League title, will play Borussia Dortmund with the winners to face Bayern or PSG in the semi-finals.
There is also the prospect of an all-English semi-final after Chelsea took on Porto with the prize for the winners in a clash with Real Madrid or Liverpool.
The Qatari owners of PSG have invested fortunes trying to conquer the Champions League and came very close last season when they reached the final only for Bayern’s Kingsley Coman to break their hearts with the lone goal in Lisbon.
Coach Thomas Tuchel has since left and was replaced by Mauricio Pochettino, who led Tottenham Hotspur to the 2019 Champions League final, where they lost to Liverpool.
Pochettino now faces a daunting task if he wants to deliver the award that the Parisian club so desires.
Bundesliga leaders Bayern reached the quarter-finals for a record 19th time by beating Lazio 6-2 on aggregate and will constitute a formidable barrier.
Liverpool’s Premier League title defense collapsed a long time ago, but if anything can wake up the Anfield club it’s a clash with Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Juergen Klopp’s team languishes in sixth place in the Premier League, 25 points behind Manchester City, and with no guarantee of a top-four result, it could need to win a seventh European crown just to get back into competition.
Chelsea, undefeated in 13 games since Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard, may feel they have the easiest option in Porto, whom they have defeated in five of their previous eight meetings.
However, while Chelsea’s clinical loss to Atlético Madrid in the round of 16 was impressive, so was the way Porto eliminated Juventus in a thriller and the Portuguese team will take that belief in their clash with the London club.
If Chelsea and Liverpool progress, it would be the fourth time they have met in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
The Abu Dhabi owners of Manchester City have made winning the Champions League a priority in their master plan and will feel this could be their year.
After a poor start to the season, Pep Guardiola’s side have dominated the Premier League and with that title practically on the bag they will be able to focus on Europe.
They sealed a fourth consecutive place in the quarter-finals with a 4-0 aggregate victory over Borussia Moenchengladbach and have not conceded a goal in the competition for 11 hours and 35 minutes.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Toby Davis)
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