Despite Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat at home to Arsenal, Bayern are through to the Champions League quarter-finals after winning the first leg 3-1 in London. Jupp Heynckes and his men now turn their attention to the draw for the last eight, to be held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, at midday on Friday.
Barcelona, Real Madrid, Malaga, Juventus, Paris St-Germain, Galatasaray and Borussia Dortmund are FCB’s possible opponents. At this stage of the competition there are no seeds, and teams from the same national association can be drawn against each other for the first time.
Revived Barcelona crush Milan
That means Bayern could meet Borussia Dortmund. In the Round of 16, BVB drew 2-2 away to Ukrainian cracks Shakhtar Donetsk before impressively sealing the tie 3-0 at home to make the quarter-finals for the first time in 15 years.
Barcelona also bounced back with a bang, becoming the first team to recover from a two-goal deficit in a knockout tie first leg without scoring a goal of their own and still progress to the next round. The Spanish league leaders thrashed AC Milan 4-0 at Camp Nou to win the clash 4-2 on aggregate.
Micho, Roque, Hamit
Spain’s other last eight hopefuls are Real Madrid and Malaga. Cristiano Ronaldo and Co won 2-1 away to Manchester United after drawing 1-1 in the Spanish capital, while Malaga beat Porto 2-1 on aggregate thanks to a 2-0 home win on Wednesday. The second and decisive goal was scored by former Bayern striker Roque Santa Cruz, with long-serving ex-FCB defender Martin Demichelis also featuring for the Andalusian team.
Turin side Juventus keep the Italian flag flying after the Serie A leaders cruised past Glasgow outfit Celtic 5-0 on aggregate. It was a much closer-run thing for Galatasaray, currently top of the Turkish league. The Istanbul giants were held 1-1 at home by Schalke, but won an exciting return leg in Gelsenkirchen 3-2. Ex-Munich and Schalke midfielder Hamit Altintop scored the opening goal on Tuesday for Gala, who also feature Bayern’s bogeyman from last season’s final Didier Drogba, and current Champions League joint top scorer Burak Yilmaz, who is level with Ronaldo on eight goals.
Ties to be played in early April
Last but not least, Qatari-backed Paris St-Germain and their marquee signings Zlatan Ibrahimovic and David Beckham lead Ligue 1 in France and are through to the last eight in Europe. Coach Carlo Ancelotti’s side drew 1-1 with Bayern’s group opponents Valencia after winning the first leg 2-1.
Friday’s draw determines which of the seven clubs provide Bayern’s quarter-final opposition, and also which teams play the home leg first. The last eight ties will be played in the space of a single week, with the first meetings on 2 and 3 April, and the returns on 9 and 10 April.
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