Friday 24 April 2015

UCL DRAW: Barcelona drawn with Bayern Munich


Champions League: Barcelona v Bayern, Juventus v Real Madrid
Barcelona have been drawn against Pep Guardiola's
Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-finals.
The other last-four tie sees Juventus - in their first semi-final
since 2003 - face Carlo Ancelotti's Real Madrid, the defending
champions.
The first legs will be played on 5 and 6 May, with the return
matches a week later.
In the Europa League, holders Sevilla face Fiorentina, while Rafael
Benitez's Napoli are up against Ukraine's Dnipro.
Bayern boss Guardiola won 14 trophies as a manager - including
the Champions League in 2009 and 2011 - during four years at
Barcelona.
He has reached the Champions League semi-finals in each of his
six seasons as a manager, four with Barca and now two with
Bayern.
The Catalan said: "Everyone understands how special this game is
for me, for [midfielder] Thiago and my staff.
"Barcelona was our life. Barcelona is my home.
"Barcelona are the best team at the moment. I am not surprised.
He (Luis Enrique) has a lot of quality. He is a great guy and I am
happy I will be facing him."
Ancelotti will also be reunited with one of his former clubs, with
the Italian having managed the Turin side from 1999 to 2001.
The draw leaves open the possibility of a Barcelona v Real Madrid
European Cup final, something which has never happened before.
The arch-rivals are also battling it out for the Spanish league title
this season.
Real Madrid reached the last four by beating city rivals Atletico - in
a repeat of last season's final - thanks to Javier Hernandez's late
goal.
Bayern Munich thrashed Porto 6-1 at home to overturn a first-leg
deficit and progress 7-4 on aggregate.
Things were more straightforward for Barcelona, who beat Paris
St-Germain 5-1 overall, and Juventus, who beat Monaco 1-0 over
two legs.
This season's final will be played at Berlin's Olympic Stadium on
Saturday, 6 June.
The Europa League draw leaves the possibility of an all-Serie A
final. There have been four all-Italian Uefa Cup finals, but none
since the tournament was rebranded in 2009.
The first legs of the semi-finals will be played on Thursday, 7 May
with the return matches a week later.
The final is in Warsaw's National Stadium on Wednesday, 27 May.

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