By Chris Wright
“Who have we got? I just can’t look!”
‘Der Afro’ Paul Breitner has just done the business in Nyon and the draw for the Champions League quarter-finals looks a little like this – in fact, it looks exactly like this…
APOEL vs Real Madrid
Marseille vs Bayern Munich
Benfica vs Chelsea (fun fact: Chelsea got Real Madrid in rehearsals)
AC Milan vs Barcelona
The first legs will be played on 27th and 28th March, and the second legs will be played on 3rd and 4th April 2012.
The semi-final draw was also conducted, with the last four shaping us thusly…
Semi-final 1: Marseille/Bayern Munich vs APOEL/Real Madrid
Semi-final 2: Chelsea/Benfica vs AC Milan/Barcelona
The semi-final first legs will be played on 17th and 18th April, with the second legs following on 24th and 25th April 2012.
The winners of ‘semi-final 1’ have also been drawn as the home team in the final, meaning that Bayern Munich will play as the home side in the Allianz Arena should they manage to reach the final hurdle come 19th May.
Initial reaction: Chelsea have landed a perfectly winnable quarter-final, though that’s not to say a victory over Benfica is anything other than ‘possible.’ A re-staging of the nerve-jangling Chelsea-Barca semi of 2009 is also on the cards if they manage to oust their Portuguese opponents.
Elsewhere, APOEL will be delighted to be welcoming Real Madrid to town, but there must be real fears of their incredible Champions League foray ending with a heavy trouncing – with a Real Madrid/Barcelona final being a very real possibility thanks to them being miraculously kept apart. What a turn up for the books.
Any thoughts folks?