WASHINGTON, D.C. March 14, 2013 —The draw for the quarterfinals of the Champions League has conjured up a juicy clash between four-time winners Barcelona and well-funded French club Paris St-Germain. Get ready for seeing the world’s greatest player, Barcelona ace striker Lionel Messi, go up against French-based world stars David Beckham and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Real Madrid will face Turkish power Galatasaray, including former Chelsea sharp-shooter Didier Drogba, while last year’s finalists Bayern Munich play Italian giant Juventus and Spanish newcomers Malaga take on unbeaten Borussia Dortmund. Juventus are unbeaten and dispatched Scotland’s Celtic with five goals overall in the two games in the last 16.
The home and away games will take place on 2-3 April and 9-10 April.
For the first time since 1996 there are no teams from England’s Premier League in the last eight. Manchester United were dumped in a controversial game at Old Trafford by Real Madrid, while after a brave fight, Arsenal were knocked out by Bayern. Chelsea and Manchester City fell in the group stage.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said it was a “massive wake-up call” for Premier League teams. This years final is on May 25 at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Read more Soccer and Sports news with John Haydon
Paris St-Germain have reached the last-eight for the first time since 1995. Back then, the Paris team beat Barcelona over two legs before losing to Italy’s AC Milan in the semi-finals.
Paris St-Germain v Barcelona
Bayern Munich v Juventus
Malaga v Borussia Dortmund
Real Madrid v Galatasaray
John Haydon wrote a weekly soccer column for The Washington Times for 20 years. He has covered two World Cups and written about Major League Soccer from the league’s inception in 1996.
Follow John on Twitter at @Johnahaydon or email jhaydon@washingtontimes.com
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