8/2/2019 17MARChampionsLdraw

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW THE ROAD TO MUNICH

Surely the Cypriot giantkillersadventure

will end here. Apoel have got past somegood teams, but Real are at another level.

Expect Apoel - whose main January recruit

was a 34-year-old signed for 75,000 - to

sit deep and hope Gustavo Manduca (left)

can nick a goal while Cristiano Ronaldo,

Gonzalo Higuain, Karim Benzema, etc,

have two collective o-days.

Real MadridApoel Nicosia

FINAL

Saturday19 May

Allianz Arena

Munich, aboveSEMI-

FINAL

Wed 18 Apr/Tue 24 Apr

SEMI-

FINAL

Tue 17 Apr/Wed 25 Apr

FIRST LEGTue 27 Mar SECOND LEG Wed 4 Apr

Lionel Messi, ofBarcelona, lifts the

Champions Leaguetrophy at Wembley lastMay GETTY

VBEST

STATUS

Quarter-nals (1)

Cypriot 1st Div (3rd)

Winners (9)

La Liga (1st)

QUARTER-FINALS

Benca are formidable at home, less so

on the road, so although they would

prefer a calmer passage, Chelsea may

have to repeat this weeks great

escape. As with most Portuguese sides,

there is a South American accent to

Benca with the usual Brazilians

supplemented by players from

Argentina, Uruguay and ParaguaysOscar Cardozo (left).

ChelseaBenca

FIRST LEGTue 27 Mar SECOND LEG Wed 4 Apr

VBEST

STATUS

Winners (2)

Primeira Liga (2nd)*

Finalists (1)

Premier League (5th)

A tie dripping with glamour and

history with 11 triumphs between

them. Barcelona, seeking to becomethe rst team to retain the Champions

League, won in Milan during the group

stages. So while the enigmatic Zlatan

Ibrahimovic (right) may relish the

chance to show Pep Guardiola what he

gave away, his team-mates will not.

BarcelonaMilan

FIRST LEG Wed 28 Mar SECOND LEGTue 3 Apr

VBEST

STATUS

Winners (7)

Serie A (1st)

Winners (4)

La Liga (2nd)

QUARTER-FINALS

Bayern are now within sight of a nal

they will host and it is hard to envisage

Didier Deschampsinconsistent side

barring their way, especially with

goalkeeper-captain Steve Mandandasuspended. Franck Ribrys return to

Stad Veldrome will be the focus but in

Mario Gomez (right) Arjen Robben and

Thomas Mller Bayern have plenty of

other executioners.

Bayern MunichMarseilles

FIRST LEG Wed 28 Mar SECOND LEGTue 3 Apr

VBEST

STATUS

Winners (1)

Ligue 1 (8th)

Winners (4)

Bundesliga (2nd)

IN NUMBERS

Matches played by 100-1

outsiders Apoel Nicosia,whose campaign began

in the second qualifyinground on 13 July

14

number of

countriesrepresented in the

quarter-nals themost since1996-977

Fouls suered

by FranckRibry, highest

in competition

23

*Statisticsnot including lastnights matches