March15, 2024: In the upcoming Champions League quarter-finals, reigning champions Manchester City are set to face 14-time winners Real Madrid. This marks the third consecutive season the teams will meet in the competition. In other matches, Arsenal will take on Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain will meet Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid will face Borussia Dortmund.
Manchester City, led by Pep Guardiola, will travel to Madrid for the first leg on April 6 or 7, with the return match in Manchester a week later. Last season, City defeated Madrid in the semi-finals on their way to their first Champions League victory, following a 1-1 draw in Madrid and a stunning 4-0 victory at home in the second leg.
Real Madrid had previously triumphed over City in the semi-finals a year earlier, before going on to defeat Liverpool in the final. The Spanish giants also won a semi-final clash against City in 2016, while City emerged victorious in the last 16 in 2020.
The draw has resulted in some exciting ties. Arsenal, after beating Porto on penalties, have been rewarded with a match against German champions Bayern Munich, marking their first time in the quarter-finals since 2010. The first leg will be hosted by Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, marking the return of former Tottenham Hotspur star Harry Kane to London.
There is the possibility of an all-English semi-final, with the winners of the Arsenal-Bayern tie facing either City or Real Madrid in the last four.
Paris Saint-Germain’s match against Barcelona will be the latest chapter in their ongoing rivalry. The French club aims to win the Champions League for the first time before Kylian Mbappe’s contract expires in June.
Barcelona knocked PSG out in the quarter-finals in 2013 and 2015, and achieved a spectacular victory in the last 16 in 2017, recovering from a 4-0 away loss in the first leg with a 6-1 win in the return match at Camp Nou. PSG avenged that defeat in the last 16 in 2021, when Mbappe scored a hat-trick in the away leg to help his side triumph 5-2 on aggregate.
Atletico Madrid will host Dortmund in the first leg of their quarter-final, with the winners facing either PSG or Barcelona in the last four.
This season’s Champions League final will take place at Wembley in London on June 1.
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