Holders City face Real in Champions League blockbuster - RTHK
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Holders City face Real in Champions League blockbuster

2024-03-15 HKT 23:45
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  • The Champions League draw set up some juicy quarter-final ties. Photo: AP
    The Champions League draw set up some juicy quarter-final ties. Photo: AP
Defending champions Manchester City will play record winners Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals while Barcelona take on Paris St Germain after the draw was held at Uefa's headquarters in Nyon on Friday.

Real Madrid are 14-times champions and knocked City out in 2022 semi-finals but Carlo Ancelotti's side were soundly beaten 5-1 on aggregate by Pep Guardiola's team in the last four last year.

"We don't have another option. It looks like a little bit of a tradition... playing the kings of the competition, winning 14 Champions Leagues," Guardiola told reporters.

"Hopefully we can arrive in a good moment. There's still three weeks before the first game (leg) in Madrid, we'll see."

Paris St Germain, who are seeking their first Champions League title, will take on Barcelona while Atletico Madrid face Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund, which means all three Spanish teams have the opportunity to reach the semi-finals.

This may also be Kylian Mbappe's last chance to win the title with PSG with the French forward set to leave the Ligue 1 club at the end of the season. PSG reached the final in 2020 where they lost to Bayern Munich.

Arsenal returned to the quarter-finals for the first time in 14 years and they play Bayern Munich which will give the German club's star striker Harry Kane – who has scored 36 goals this season – another crack at his former north London rivals.

Kane has played Arsenal 19 times in all competitions and scored 14 goals. The former Tottenham Hotspur striker is the joint-top scorer in the Champions League this season alongside Antoine Griezmann, Erling Haaland and Mbappe with six goals.

"We certainly have the most difficult path ahead of us that you can imagine. We now face one of the best teams in Europe," Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel said.

In the Europa League quarter-finals, Liverpool will play Serie A side Atalanta while Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen take on West Ham United.

AC Milan are looking to win the trophy for the first time and they will face last season's beaten finalists AS Roma in an all-Italian clash.

Benfica were drawn against French side Olympique de Marseille, and both clubs have reached the final of the competition three times.

In the Europa Conference League, Aston Villa will face Lille, currently fourth in Ligue 1, in the quarter-finals. Last year's finalists Fiorentina take on Czech side Viktoria Plzen while Club Brugge play PAOK of Greece in the other quarter-final. (Reuters)

Holders City face Real in Champions League blockbuster