The road to Wembley: A guide to the Champions League last eight
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Eight teams remain in this season’s UEFA Champions League and the Wembley final is now little over two months away.
No English sides progressed to the quarter-finals of the most prestigious competition in club football – the first time this has happened since 1996 – but there are no shortage of interesting sub-plots.
Here’s the draw for the last eight:
Bayern Munich v Juventus
Malaga v Borussia Dortmund
Paris St-Germain v Barcelona
Real Madrid v Galatasaray
Dortmund and Juve remain the only undefeated left in the Champions League this term then there’s the return of David Beckham to the business end of the tournament nd unfancied Malaga raising a few eyebrows.
Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho and Galatasaray striker Didier Drogba with face each other having formed a close bond together at Chelsea, while Barca will be out to silence the doubters who expected them to exit in the last round.
Ahead of next month’s quarter-final ties, we take a look at the eight sides:
Barcelona
It needed a record-breaking result against AC Milan for Barca to reach the last eight as goals from Jordi Alba, Lionel Messi and David Villa sealed a 4-0 win on Tuesday night that marked the first time that a side overhauled a two-goal first-leg deficit without needing an away goal.
Barca are now undefeated in 20 games at the Nou Camp in the Champions League and proved against Milan that only a fool would ever write them off given the calibre of players that make up Tito Vilanova’s squad.
Odds: 13/8
CL record this season: W5 D1 L2
CL roll of honour: Winners 1991–92, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11
Danger man: Who do you think? The main man Messi is simply unplayable.
Bayern Munich
The runaway German Bundesliga champions can consider themselves a little fortunate to still be in the competition having been pushed all the way by Arsenal in the last 16 and needing away goals to progress.
Bayern, though, have impressed so far with their attacking gusto and it’ll be interesting to see how they find a way to crack a mean Juventus defence.
Odds: 5/1
CL record this season: W5 D1 L2
CL roll of honour: 1973-74, 1974-75, 1975-76, 2000-01
Danger man: Thomas Müller has been an ever-present feature so far and scored four goals in eight games.
Borussia Dortmund
Dortmund’s disappointment at seeing their Bundesliga title defence fizzle out – leaders Bayern are currently 20 points clear of second-place BvB – has been offset by their European exploits.
Jürgen Klopp’s men are unbeaten in the Champions League this season, have won all their games at the Westfalenstadion and defeated the likes of Real Madrid and Manchester City to reach the last eight and prove the German side can hold their own against the big boys.
Odds: 7/1
CL record this season: W5 D3 L0
CL roll of honour: Winners 1996-97
Danger man: Robert Lewandowski with a five-goal return in this competition this term.
Galatasaray
Few could have predicted that Galatasaray would progress to the quarter-finals after losing their opening two groups games against Manchester United and Braga.
Fatih Terim’s side, though, have turned out to be the darkhorses of this year’s Champions League and possess game-changing stars like Didier Drogba and Wesley Sneijder who could well propel them even further in the competition.
Odds: 50/1
CL record this season: W4 D2 L2
CL roll of honour: N/A
Danger man: The January arrival of Drogba, a scorer in last season’s Champions League final, is a big coup for Galatasaray.
Juventus
The undoubted form team of the Champions League with five successive victories and, more impressively, five clean sheets in a row during this winning streak.
The Old Lady were ruthlessly clinical against Celtic in the previous round and have all-but sealed back-to-back Serie A titles, leaving manager Antonio Conte to concentrate on Europe. Conte was part of the Juve team that won in 1995-96 and was a beaten finalist on three occasions.
Odds: 12/1
CL record this season: W5 D3 L0
CL roll of honour: Winners 1984-85, 1995-96
Danger man: Giorgio Chiellini has marshalled the Juve defence magnificently in recent weeks.
Malaga
Three Spanish teams make up the last eight for the first time in a decade, with Malaga exceeding all expectations in the club’s first season in the Champions League.
Under the guidance of former Real Madrid manager Manuel Pellegrini, Los Boquerones topped a group that included AC Milan and took four points off the Rossoneri.
Odds: 33/1
CL record this season: W5 D4 L1
CL roll of honour: N/A
Danger man: Spanish youngster Isco has caught the eye and is rumoured to be a target for Arsenal.
Paris Saint-Germain
Things are going well for Carlo Ancelotti in his first full season at the Parc des Princes.
The former Chelsea boss has spent over €150million since joining just over a year ago and has built a team in the hunt for three trophies and buoyed by the January arrival of Beckham, a Champions League winner with Manchester United in 1999.
Odds: 25/1
CL record this season: W6 D1 L1
CL roll of honour: N/A
Danger man: Zlatan Ibrahimović always seems to be the big player for the big occasion.
Real Madrid
Mourinho is attempting to rewrite the record books and become the first manager to win the Champions League with three different teams.
To do that, though, Real must raise their game after unconvincing displays against United in the last 16. Nevertheless, the Spanish giants possess a frightening array of attacking talent and will be well backed to walk out at the Wembley final on May 25.
Odds: 9/4
CL record this season: W4 D3 L1
CL roll of honour: Winners 1955–56, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1965–66, 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2001–02
Danger man: It has to be Cristiano Ronaldo, who has reached the 40-goal barrier for the third season running and is the Champions League top scorer with eight.
