Eight teams are left standing in the 2021/22 Champions League and now they know their route to glory after Friday’s nail-biting draw in Nyon, Switzerland.
And in a dramatic 10 minutes, the English head coaches had smiles on their faces as Manchester City, Chelsea, and Liverpool can all see a route to the final. Arguably the Reds had the best draw of the day, pitched against Portuguese team Benfica while Bayern Munich will be happy enough with a draw against Villarreal.
After the chaos of the Round of 16, this draw all went pretty smoothly. And with no country protection in this free draw, the three English teams which were all highly fancied, were desperate to avoid each other and the gods were with them.
First out of the hat was Chelsea vs Real Madrid and that’s a mouthwatering tie to kick us off. Los Blancos head coach Carlo Ancelotti knows all about Chelsea and he’s a Champions League veteran and Thomas Tuchel knows he has drawn a tougher opponent than his Premier League rivals.
Madrid strikers Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior are in superb form, scoring 36 league goals between them and Los Blancos are 10 points clear at the top of La Liga.
Chelsea can concentrate on the cup competitions with a third place in the Premier League in hand, but their off-field problems mean that they may have to play home fixtures in an empty stadium and that could give Madrid a crucial edge.
The second fixture drawn was another English/Spanish affair as Manchester City vs Atletico Madrid came out of the hat and Liverpool breathed a sigh of relief.
The Champions League 2022 betting odds have backed the Pep Guardiola’s side from the start of the competition and this draw won’t change that for a moment. I took a sneaky look at the SBOTOP odds yesterday and Manchester City were at 3.00, Liverpool at 4.00, Bayern Munich at 4.50, and Chelsea at 9.00, with Real Madrid the next in line.
The Sky Blues look to be the most complete team in this competition and they should have too much quality over two legs for Los Rojiblancos. But they will not underestimate Diego Simeone’s Atleti who have already taken one Manchester scalp after seeing off United in the Round of 16.
With Liverpool still waiting the next two teams to be drawn, the league committee threw out Villarreal vs Bayern Munich and that’s a draw the German champions will be happy with.
The Yellow Submarine had a brilliant win over Juventus to make the last eight and with star striker Gerard Moreno coming back to form they will test the Bundesliga giants.
FC Bayern still have work to do in the Bundesliga with just four points clear of Borussia Dortmund who won away to Mainz on Wednesday and head coach Julian Nagelsmann knows that Villarreal can’t be taken lightly by anyone.
The Yellow Submarine did a real job on Juventus in the Round of 16, beating the Bianconeri 3-0 in Turin and they will be full of confidence as they’re playing freely with little to lose.
So the final match to be drawn was Benfica vs Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp will have no complaints about that. No game at this stage of Europe’s biggest competition is easy but their opponents are the rank outsiders.
Benfica are third in the Portuguese Primeira Division behind Porto and Sporting Lisbon and will probably have to settle for third place, but they overcame a talented Ajax side to make it to the quarter-finals and are here on merit.
But the Reds, still on target for a historic quadruple, are strong favourites to win this one.
The semi-finals were also drawn and the winners of Manchester City vs Atletico will face either Chelsea or Real Madrid. So it could be a Madrid Derby, or a repeat of the 2021 final, or something in between.
And that means Liverpool are likely to meet Bayern Munich, though Benfica and Villarreal will have plenty to say about that.
The first legs of the quarter-finals will be played on the 5th and 6th April with the return fixtures the following week on the 12th and 13th.
We’ll keep the Champions League 2022 updates coming over the weeks as the semi-finals start on April 26th and 27th with the second legs on the 3rd and 4th May.
And then on 28th May, the two finalists will meet at the Stade de France in Paris. Which two teams it will be remains to be seen, but I’m backing Manchester City and Bayern Munich.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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