UCL draw: Madrid get City; Barça to face PSG

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Mar 15, 2024, 06:35 AM ET

Manchester City were drawn against Real Madrid in the quarterfinals of the Champions League on Friday in a tie that sees the most recent winners of Europe’s premier competition take on its most successful side.

Kylian Mbappé and his Paris Saint-Germain team will take on Barcelona in what is expected to be his final season with the French club, with sources telling ESPN he is expected to join Barça’s rivals Madrid this summer.

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Elsewhere, Harry Kane will face a familiar foe as Bayern Munich were drawn against Arsenal. It is also a familiar matchup, with Bayern having knocked the north London club out of this competition in 2013, 2014 and 2017.

The other tie is Atlético Madrid against Borussia Dortmund

In the semifinals, the winner of Atlético against Dortmund will play Barça or PSG in the semifinals, meaning two of Arsenal, Bayern, Madrid and City will compete for a spot in the final.

Barça’s contest against PSG will evoke memories of several recent ties, with the two teams having met in the knockout stages three times since the 2014-15 season.

Most famously, the Catalan club overcame a 4-0 first-leg deficit in the 2016-17 round of 16 with a 6-1 win at the Spotify Camp Nou in a fixture christened by Spanish press as La Remontada — the comeback of all comebacks.

Madrid and City have also have very recent history in the Champions League having met in the semifinals of the past two seasons.

Pep Guardiola’s team beat Madrid en route to their maiden title last year behind a crushing 4-0 win at the Etihad, while in 2021-22, Madrid staged a typically resilient fightback to steal the tie and progress.

The first legs of the quarterfinals will take place on April 9 and 10, with the return games a week later on April 16 and 17.

This year’s Champions League final is being held at Wembley in London on June 1. It will be the eighth time England‘s national stadium has hosted UEFA’s showpiece club fixture.