NYON, Switzerland: Real Madrid’s path to another Champions League title will have to go through Chelsea in the quarterfinals for the second straight year.Friday’s draw takes Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti back to face his former club, which were eliminated by a goal from Karim Benzema in extra time a year ago.This time, the first leg between the past two Champions League winners will be in Madrid instead of London — on April 11 or 12.Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola also has a reunion with a former club.
The English champions were drawn to face Bayern Munich, which have won all eight of their games in the competition this season and will play the first leg away from home.Bayern twice kept Paris Saint-Germain forward Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé from scoring in the round of 16.
The team will now face the tournament’s leading scorer Erling Haaland, who had five goals on Tuesday in City’s 7-0 rout of Leipzig.The winner between City and Bayern will go on to play Madrid or Chelsea in the semifinals.
That half of the draw includes four of the top-five teams in the UEFA rankings by results in European competitions over the past five years.The other half of the draw is dominated by Italian clubs with the possibility of a Milan derby in the semifinals.AC Milan will first face Napoli, the runaway Serie A leader which are making their debut in the quarterfinals of the Champions League or the old European Cup.