UCL Draw : Italians the biggest winners as draw result leave the heavyweights in a dead pool

The draw and the route to the final is not good news for them as only one of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Manchester City can now feature in Istanbul, venue of this year’s final.

The quarter finals draw, held in the early hours of Friday in the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland saw Real Madrid drawn against Chelsea in a repetition of last season’s tie.

Bayern Munich and Manchester City will also lockhorns for a chance to face either of Real Madrid or Chelsea in the last four while the other side of the draw brought good news for teams in Italy, and at the same time, Benfica couldn’t have gotten a better draw.

It’s a win-win for teams on the other side as Milan faces high-flying Napoli while Inter faces another Portuguese team in Benfica, having ousted Porto in the previous elimination round.

Real Madrid and Chelsea met in the knockout rounds of the Champions League for the third year running, after their memorable clashes in the last two years in the competition.

Chelsea have won two of the four meetings in the last two seasons but with one win for Madrid too, both sides have parity as per progression.

Winners of this tie has also gone all the way to winning the title in the last two seasons, and this time, bigger task will be ahead if for the one that makes it past this round.

Chelsea became Champions in 2021, after beating Real Madrid in 2-0 Stamford Bridge, to earn a 3-1 aggregate win and book the ticket to Lisbon, where they defeated fellow English club, Manchester City in the final.

However, in the last season, it was the turn of Real Madrid, who were saved on the brink of disaster by substitute, Rodrygo Goes scoring a late goal to make it 3-1 to Chelsea on the night and force extra time, because Real had won by the same scoreline in the reverse fixture in London.

Karim Benzema went on to score that one goal in extra time to conquered Chelsea’s resilient and earn a place in the semi final, where they beat Manchester City before edging Liverpool in the final, in Paris.

The 3-1 loss in Stamford Bridge last season was the only time Chelsea have lost a game to Real Madrid in UEFA competitions, holding a superior record of four wins and two draws in seven meetings with Los Blancos.

Real Madrid’s path to the final could be the same as that of last season as if they manage to reach the next round, they could face City in the semi finals, the same opponent they faced last season.

On their way to being crowned champion, Carlo Ancelotti’s side met Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City en route, all whom they have and will still meet if all possible rival progress.

It will be interesting to see if the Chelsea side, currently struggling domestically can poll another upset to maybe go all the way or if Real Madrid will show their superiority again.

Karim Benzema has scored ten goals in his last seven knockout round games, all which have come against Premier League teams. Alongside Vinicius Junior, they will be the point of attention over the two legs.

For the first time since their meeting in the group stages of the 2014/15 edition, Manchester City and Bayern Munich meet again, in a competitive match.

Another interesting fact to note is that Pep Guardiola, who was at the time the coach of Bayern Munich will now lead the Citizens over two legs against the Bavarians.

In the Champions League, both sides only started to meet in the last decade, due to Manchester City’s shallow history in the competition.

Six times they’ve met, meetings which have all been in different seasons and all in the group rounds of the competition.

Either side has won three apiece, which the away sides winning just twice, one each on the enemy’s territory.

Bayern and Manchester City have both dominated their domestic competitions while the Bavarians also have fun memories in Europe, but same isn’t the case for City.

Success is never enough though and Bayern will have that in mind when the travel to the Ethiad for the first leg and when they host City in the Allianz Arena for the return leg in Munich.

Erling Haaland scored the only goal when both sides met in a preseason friendly just before the start of the season, while they’ve also met a couple of time in years past, since their last Champions League meeting.

It’s been happening so far for Napoli this season and after learning the result of the Champions League quarter finals draw and the potential route to the final, more reason for them to stay positive.

Luciano Spalletti led the side to their first ever Champions League quarter final ticket in mid-week and now learns that his side faces Milan for a place in the last four.

Might not necessarily be the outright favourite but could they have gotten a better draw ? I doubt.

Due to Napoli not reaching the last eight in this competition until this year, they have not faced Milan in any competitive competitions aside the domestic ones.

Milan, a reputable club in the competition but had struggled to get here since last doing so in 2012 and the seven time winners have a task in their hands, with a doubleheader awaiting them against their runaway league leaders.

Previous meetings has been dominated by Rossonerri, who boast 67 wins from their 170 meetings while losing 52 times, with 51 others ending in draws.

However, Napoli’s stupendous form this season has seen them beat Stefano Pioli’s side in their only league meeting so far this season in San Siro, with Giovanni Simeone scoring the winner in a 2-1 scoreline.

Napoli are favourites for this one and this is their best chance to maybe go all the way to the final, before they come up against any side against whom they’ll be considered underdogs.

Another interesting matchup this one. Inter have escaped Porto, a Portuguese club in the last round and now faces another one in Benfica for a place in the last four.

This put Italian teams in a very good position to reach the final of the competition, with a chance of three out of four and Benfica being the odd one makes their chances even bigger.

Benfica reached the quarter finals last time before losing to Liverpool and this time, meeting Inter is a better chance to go one better.

Three times Inter have come up against Benfica and have remain unbeaten, winning two and drawing one. Both have not meet since Inter eliminatiled their rival in the round of 16 of the UEFA Cup, now known as the Europa League.

It’s a win-win for all on this side of the draw and it will be interesting to see which one of the four reaches the final.

Author : Kehinde Hassan Afolabi