THE Champions League quarter-final draw takes place TODAY as the business end of the tournament really starts to hot up.
Chelsea and Man City are both on tenterhooks waiting to find out who they will be playing in the quarter-final, and possibly the semi-final of Europe’s elite competition.
- Start time: 11am GMT
- Stream/TV: BT Sport YouTube/BT Sport 1
- Teams: Chelsea, Real Madrid, Napoli, Man City, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Benfica, Bayern Munich
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Europa League
Follow our Europa League draw, where Manchester United await their quarter-final opponents.
That’s all from us here.
Full draw
Couple familiar ties there. But what a chance for one of Napoli, AC, Inter or Benfica to reach the final.
- Real Madrid vs Chelsea
- Benfica vs Inter Milan
- Man City vs Bayern Munich
- AC Milan vs Napoli
Semi-final two
Real Madrid/Chelsea vs Man City/Bayern Munich
Semi-final one
AC Milan/Napoli vs Inter Milan vs Benfica
Semi-final draw NEXT
AC Milan vs Napoli
All-Italian affair for our final quarter-final tie.
Man City vs Bayern Munich
What a corker!
Inter Milan vs Benfica
We have our second tie.
Real Madrid vs Chelsea
We have our first tie!
For the third year in a row. Here we go again.
Draw is UNDERWAY!
Here we go…
Legends on stage
Hamit Altintop and Patrick Kluivert are now addressing those in the room.
Altintop sends a heartfelt message to the people of Turkey following the devastating earthquakes last month.
Credit: AFP or licensors More talking…
That man who looks a bit like Claudio Ranieri is now giving a spiel on stage…
We’re nearly underway!
Just those boring formalities to go through in Nyon before the actual draw starts.
Highlights being shown, tense club officials in the crowd, random European football legends on stage.
Europa League draw
After the Champions League draw we’ll have all the drama from the Europa draw as well.
Manchester United, Juventus and Sevilla are the big boys left in that one.
Arsenal were knocked out by Sporting Lisbon last night on penalties.
Mini CL ball alert!
We’re just minutes away from the start of the draw in Nyon.
Credit: Getty Credit: Reuters
When is the semi-final draw?
The draw for the semis will also be done today.
The eight teams in the pot will each be drawn a tie, before being drawn directly against another tie, with he winners facing off in the final four.
Fans will therefore get to fantasise over their potential route to the final in Istanbul.
Oh to dream.
Who can play who?
Unlike rounds prior, the quarter-final draws do not have clubs split into separate pots.
Therefore, clubs from the same nation can play each other.
Chelsea vs Man City is a plausible tie and would be a rematch from their clash in the final in the 2020/21 season.
We could also get a Milan derby in the Champions League.
How to watch
The Champions League quarter-final draw will be shown live on BT Sport.
It can be streamed live through the BT sport app or website.
The UEFA website and youtube channel will also stream it live for FREE.
Napoli to win it all?
Gary Lineker has revealed that he put a bet on Napoli to win the Champions League months ago.
The Italian side cruised through to the quarter-finals with a 5-0 aggregate victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.
Lineker made an early prediction that Napoli would win the European competition this season when they were backed by few.
Before the tournament began, Napoli were 66-1 to win the final in Istanbul on June 10.
Now the Italian side are third-favoured to win by the bookies.
Credit: Getty Potter in full flow
Graham Potter sent Chelsea fans wild last night with his X-rated message to fans…
“Well firstly it’s thank you because they’ve been incredibly fair, incredibly fair with us,” he said.
“They’ve stuck with the team, the support we’ve had has been amazing.
“And we’ll need them on Saturday. We’ll try and beat Everton, then we’ll take the draw, and then we’ll try and win the f***ing Champions League.”
Credit: Alamy Draw in full
- Chelsea (knocked out Dortmund)
- Napoli (knocked out Frankfurt)
- Real Madrid (knocked out Liverpool)
- AC Milan (knocked out Tottenham)
- Inter Milan (knocked out Porto)
- Bayern Munich (knocked out PSG)
- Man City (knocked out Leipzig)
- Benfica (knocked out Brugges)
Naturally, some of the bigger sides will be looking at landing Benfica or Inter Milan.
But teams will want to avoid Napoli this year, as they’re looking like one of the most formidable teams in Europe at this moment.
Welcome to the Champions League draw!
Hello and welcome to SunSport’s live coverage of today’s Champions League quarter-final and semi-final draw!
We’re at the business end of the competition now as some of the biggest teams in Europe await their fate.
Champions Real Madrid are in the pot, as usual, as are English sides Chelsea and Man City.
Surprise packages Benfica are also in the hat, as are a TRIO of Italian teams in Inter Milan, AC Milan and Napoli.
Bayern Munich fill the last spot at today’s draw in Nyon, Switzerland.
Stay tuned for all the build-up and reaction to the draw which gets going at 11am GMT – we’ve got you covered throughout.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
