Real Madrid to play Bayern in quarterfinals
Published on: Saturday, March 18, 2017
NYON (Switzerland): Defending champions Real Madrid will play Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals, sending Bayern coach Carlo Ancelotti to face the team he won the trophy with three years ago.Madrid and Bayern, which first play in Munich, have combined to win 16 European titles. One club, however, will end its recent streak of reaching the semifinals for at least five straight years.
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Also in Friday's draw, Barcelona will meet Juventus in a rematch of the 2015 final, Champions League newcomer sLeicester will face Atletico Madrid, and Borussia Dortmund will take on Monaco.The first legs will be played on April 11-12, with the return matches on April 18-19.Ancelotti is aiming to be the first coach to lead three different clubs to the European title. Besides Madrid, he also coached AC Milan to two Champions League titles.
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"It could be a final but it's a quarterfinal, unfortunately," said Madrid director Emilio Butragueno, noting that his club's players know Ancelotti's style.Barcelona won their fifth European title two years, beating Juventus 3-1 in Berlin.
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That loss meant the Italian champions set a competition record of losing six finals.Leicester, who are making their debut in the tournament, are the only team in the draw who have never played in a Champions League final. But Leicester and Atletico have played before. The Spanish club eliminated Leicester in the first round of the Uefa Cup in 1997."We know very well the problem Sevilla had with Leicester," Atletico director Clemente Villaverde said.Monaco have become a feared team, and the highest scoring team in any top European league this season, after starting among the lowest-ranked clubs in the group-stage draw in August.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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