The draw for the last eight of the UEFA Europa League was unveiled on Friday (17), with eight teams randomly grouped with different fates. Among them, Premier League rivals Chelsea and Manchester City will both face tough opponents. Chelsea will face defending champions Real Madrid, while City will take on German giants Bayern Munich. The eight-team competition will kick off on April 11th.
Chelsea and Real Madrid have met frequently in recent years, with records of meetings in the quarterfinals of the previous season and the last eight of last season. In the quarterfinals of the previous season, Real Madrid drew 1-1 with Chelsea at home, and Chelsea won 2-0 at home in the next round to advance to the final and eventually win the championship. Last season, Chelsea met again in the last eight, Chelsea lost 1-3 at home, the next round of Real Madrid in the legal time to lose 1-3 again, the two sides ended up with a 4-4 draw into extra time. In extra time, Real Madrid won 5-4 thanks to a goal by Binschmar, and eventually won the championship.
City and Bayern have met less frequently in recent years, with the last time they faced each other in the UEFA Europa League was back in 2014 in the group stage, when each side won a home game. Bayern were then coached by Pep Guardiola, who is now in charge of City, helping the Blue Moon to their first UEFA trophy. In addition, the other two last-eight matches will see Inter Milan take on Benfica, while AC Milan will play a derby against their Serie A city rivals in Napoli.
The draw also determined the opponents for the quarterfinals. The winners of Real Madrid and Chelsea will face the winners of Manchester City and Bayern, in what is expected to be a Premier League derby. In the other line, three Serie A teams will meet, with the winners of AC Milan and Napoli facing the winners of Inter Milan and Benfica.
The UEFA Europa League last eight draw is as follows:
Real Madrid (Spain) vs Chelsea (England)
Manchester City (England) vs Bayern Munich (Germany)
AC Milan (Italy) vs Napoli (Italy)
Inter Milan (Italy) vs Benfica (Portugal)
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