UEFA Champions League Draw Puts City and Bayern Togheter

The UEFA Champions League quarterfinal pairs were drawn today, with the most significant matchup being between Manchester City and Bayern. Besides that, two of the most recent UCL champions, Real Madrid and Chelsea, will also square off in this stage.

🇪🇸 Real Madrid vs Chelsea 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
🇵🇹 Benfica vs Inter 🇮🇹
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Man City vs Bayern 🇩🇪
🇮🇹 Milan vs Napoli 🇮🇹

*FC Internazionale Milano's match has been reversed in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee. #UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/m1gMqFs1fV

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) March 17, 2023

Top Two Favorites Clash

The top two favorites for winning this year’s Champions League title, Manchester City and Bayern Munich, highlight the quarterfinals. The draw wanted the Citizens to host the German champs in the opening leg, with the second one taking place at the Allianz Arena in Munich.

The opinion about who has a better chance of advancing to the next stage are divided. The bookies give slightly better prospects to the English powerhouse, but the rematch in Munich could be lethal for the Citizens, with Bayern being one of the most confident hosts in the world.

Everyone expects high-scoring affairs as Man City and Bayern have fantastic offensive potential and attacking mentality. The last time these two units met was in the 2014 UCL group stage when Bayern won at home, 1-0, and then City did the same, 3-2.

Real and Chelsea Square Off

The latest two UCL winners, Real Madrid and Chelsea, meet again. After facing one another in the previous two Champions League edition, both times in the knockout stage, we have the luck to witness these two titans competing once again. There aren’t too many clubs in the world that have a positive record against Los Blancos, and Chelsea is one of them.

In seven meetings so far, the Blues have posted four wins, with two ties and only one loss. That single defeat was in last year’s quarterfinals at Stamford when Real eventually advanced to the next stage following a drama in Madrid.

Chelsea is a completely different team now, still developing, but that won’t make them less dangerous. Meanwhile, Real is experienced enough not to underestimate the English unit, especially because they have shown some signs of weakness recently.

Inter In Portugal Vol. II

After surviving Dragao Stadium and Porto, Inter will head for Portugal again. Nerazzurri play against Benfica for the semis, and this might be one of the most interesting pairs of all. The first meeting is at La Luz Stadium in Lisbon, where Benfica posts incredible results.

One of Napoli, Inter Milan, AC Milan or Benfica are set to play in the UCL final. 🤯

Honestly I hope it’s Napoli pic.twitter.com/oosK89z167

— Janty (@CFC_Janty) March 17, 2023

Inter has struggled to find consistency on the road over the previous few weeks, which is why the Eagles come into this matchup with high hopes. Despite Inter having a home-court edge in the rematch, the chances for the semis here are 50-50.

Napoli Against Milan in the Italian Derby

Napoli is maybe the most dominant team in the Champions League and overall in Europe this year. Gil Azzurri, the new Serie A champs, meet the previous one, AC Milan, in the UCL quarterfinals. Rossoneri are weaker than last year, and Stefano Piolo has lots of problems finding good chemistry.

If there is a clear favorite in either of the four quarterfinals, that would be Napoli, who already demonstrated its power against Milan this year, defeating Rossoneri at San Siro, 1-2. The rematch will be at Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, which is another plus for Napoli.