Just eight teams are left in this season’s Champions League and, for the first time in years, the tournaments looks to be wide open.
Four English teams are still remaining in the tournament, with Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur all still in contention.
Both City and Spurs coasted into the last eight. Tottenham stunned German side Borussia Dortmund 4-0 over two legs, while Pep Guardiola’s City annihilated Schalke 10-2.
Manchester United meanwhile progressed in more dramatic circumstances. After losing the first leg of their tie with Paris Saint-Germain 2-0, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side battled back to win 3-1 in the French capital, to progress on away goals.
LIVE: Latest updates from the Champions League quarter-final draw
And Liverpool beat Bayern Munich on the road to keep alive their hopes of going one better than last season. Here is everything you need to know about the forthcoming draw.
When is the Champions League quarter-final draw?
The draw will take place on Friday 15 March at 11.00am GMT.
The semi-final draw will then take place immediately afterwards.
As usual, the draw will be held in Nyon, Switzerland – the home of Uefa.
How can I watch the draw?
The draw will be shown live on BT Sport 2.
You will also be able to stream the draw via Uefa.com.
And join us at The Independent for the latest news, updates and reaction from Switzerland.
Which teams are in the quarter-final draw?
- Ajax (Netherlands)
- Barcelona (Spain)
- Juventus (Italy)
- Liverpool (England)
- Manchester City (England)
- Manchester United (England)
- Porto (Portugal)
- Tottenham Hotspur (England)
How does the draw work?
There is no seeding or country protection in the Champions League quarter-final or semi-final draw.
The semi-final draw takes place immediately afterwards, meaning teams will immediately know their potential paths to the final.
Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of the Champions League quarter-final draw.
Liverpool became the fourth Premier League side to make it into the hat for the quarter-finals after seeing off Bayern Munich on Wednesday evening.
They join Manchester City, who routed Schalke, Tottenham, who proved too strong for Borussia Dortmund, and of course Manchester United, who famously stunned Paris Saint-Germain a week ago.
They will all find out who they will play next with Lionel Messi's Fc Barcelona and Cristiano Ronaldo's Juventus still looming large.
We will have all the latest updates from Nyon so stick with us throughout the morning.
How does it all work then?
Well the key point is that there is no seeding or country protection in either the quarter-final or semi-final draws.
So that means a fairly good chance that two (or more) Premier League sides will face each other in the last eight.
The semi-final draw takes place immediately after the quarter-final one, meaning teams will immediately know their potential paths to the final.
Excited? Yep. So am I.
48 years of waiting is finally over!
With the live draw for the Champions League quarter-finals and semi-finals just over two hours away, let'stake you through the teams who will be involved in Nyon come 11am today.
It's quite a lineup!
Ajax
First up is the side with the lowest UEFA ranking but also the team who caused the biggest upset of the last 16 by knocking out holders Real Madrid.
They did not let the disappointment of losing the first leg at home 2-1 to Madrid prevent them from coming back and winning the tie in emphatic fashion, producing a scintillating display to stun the 13-time winners 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Compared to last season, when Ajax were knocked out in the third qualifying round of the Europa League, this season has seen the confidence return to Erik ten Hag's side, and the 49-year-old has overseen the emergence of another talented bunch in the Dutch capital who also held Bayern Munich twice this season in the competition.
And the four-time European champions can also call on experience with former Southampton man and current top scorer Dusan Tadic on target on six occasions already in this competition.
They may prove to be everyone's favoured draw, but that would do a disservice to the job ten Hag and the Ajax players have done in the Champions League this season.
Reminder to Manchester City and Manchester United fans:
The two sides will not be able to play at home on the same night, nor on consecutive nights, following a decision made by the relevant local authorities.
Therefore, if the draw results in both Pep Guardiola and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's teams being drawn at home in the same week, the team having finished lower in the Premier League last season – in this case Manchester United – will be reversed in accordance with the UEFA Club Competitions Committee principles.
Any potential reversal for the semi-finals, for the same reason, would be confirmed after the quarter-finals.
Barcelona
Rather surprisingly the only Spanish side left in the Champions League after Real Madrid's shock exit, Barcelona will be looking for their first European title since 2015.
However, since that year they have not made it past the quarter-final stage and have endured some rocky patches this season which were exacerbated by an injury to top scorer Lionel Messi.
However, there were no worries about the Argentine’s fitness or form on Wednesday night when they dispatched of Lyon 5-1 at the Camp Nou, which came after a 0-0 draw at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais in the first leg.
Barcelona were knocked out in incredible fashion by THAT Kostas Manolas header at the Stadio Olimpico last year in the last eight, but as they look odds-on to retain their La Liga title, they will be hoping for an improved showing in European competition this season.
As if the race for the Champions League places wasn't enticing enough already.......
Juventus
Max Allegri’s side kept alive the dream of a first Champions League title since 1996 with a Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired comeback against Atletico Madrid.
Juve, who look on course for an eighth straight Scudetto after going 18 points clear at the weekend, had left themselves in a perilous situation after the first leg, with Atletico holding a 2-0 advantage after goals from centre-backs Jose Gimenez and Diego Godin at the Wanda Metropolitano.
However as they say, cometh the hour cometh the man, and Ronaldo underlined his worth in Europe's elite competition once again, being on hand to score his eighth Champions League hat-trick as Allegri’s side ran out 3-0 winners to overturn the first-leg deficit.
Paulo Dybala remains the top scorer for Juventus in the competition despite the Portuguese’s hat-trick, and together the Serie A champions will hop they can bring European glory back top Turin again.
Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp’s men have added defensive steel to their potent attacking threat this season and those elements were on display during their round-of-16 tie with Bayern Munich.
After a 0-0 draw with the German champions at Anfield, they asserted themselves at both ends of the field to take the return leg 3-1, which involved a beautifully executed chip from Sadio Mane for the opener.
The Senegalese is alongside Mohamed Salah the top scorer for Liverpool in the Champions League this season with three, and while they may not have been quite as explosive as they were last season, they have faced high-quality opposition at all stages this season.
Finishing second behind Paris Saint-Germain but crucially above Carlo Ancelotti’s Napoli in the group stages, the Reds will feel confident against any side after toppling the Bundesliga champions in the last round.
Have you done yours?
For those just joining us on here, as we reach the half way stage of our team profiles for the Champions League draw, remember that it is not the only European draw taking place today.
Arsenal and Chelsea will be the English representatives in the Europa League draw at midday after they overcame Rennes and Dynamo Kiev in the last 16.
So stick around afterwards once Man United, Liverpool, Man City and Spurs have found out their fate!
Manchester City
Pep Guardiola will not entertain talk of the quadruple quite yet, but no trophy would please the Catalan more than that of Europe’s elite competition.
The Premier League leaders have already secured the League Cup, and with an FA-Cup quarter-final also on the horizon, the possibility is by no means dead.
City handed out the most devastating dismantling of any side in the previous round of this competition though, recording a 10-2 aggregate score over Schalke, which included a 7-0 win at the Etihad in the second leg.
And they will hope that by showcasing their relentless attacking threat, they can record a much-coveted first Champions League title.
Manchester United
We’ve already discussed the comebacks of Juventus and Ajax in the previous round of Champions League, but none caused as much debate as Manchester United’s passage into the quarter-finals.
The Red Devils looked well off the pace of the European elite when Presnel Kimpembe and Kylian Mbappe’s goals put PSG 2-0 ahead going into a home second leg.
However, United’s spirit and class was on another level in Paris as Romelu Lukaku’s double saw them into a 2-1 lead on the night after Juan Bernat’s equaliser, but still going out.
That was before THE penalty. Was it or was it not? No one still seems to know, but Marcus Rashford’s penalty ensured United are alive and well in Europe to match their domestic form as they contest a top-our spot and the FA Cup.
Lukaku, Rashford and Paul Pogba are joint top scorers for United in the competition, and all of them have been reenergised following the appointment of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to replace Jose Mourinho.
Ousmane Dembele responds to rumours he is set to three to four weeks of action, including the Champions League quarter-finals.
"You don't know anything."
He might know a thing or two about winning it I guess.
The Portuguese won the competition with Real Madrid in 2002.
Porto
Another Champions League team mounting another comeback, Porto secured their quarter-final berth after toppling Roma in the last 16.
In the absence of Vincent Aboubakar and Moussa Marega in the first leg, the Primeira Liga champions left Rome dejected after a 2-1 defeat.
But Sergio Conceicao’s men rallied and secured a 3-1 victory at the Estadio do Dragao thanks to a 117th minute penalty from Alex Telles after the game went to extra time.
Eder Miltao, who agreed to sign for Real Madrid yesterday for £42.7m, has helped the Portuguese champions into the quarter-finals, while Marega tops the goalscoring charts for them.
Vying for a domestic double and supremacy over rivals Benfica is a huge incentive for the 2004 Champions League to extend their run in the competition, and their duo up front will be a combination that no defence will want to face.
Tottenham Hotspur
A mouth-watering tie against Borussia Dortmund for Spurs in the last 16 failed to live up to expectations, such was Mauricio Pochettino’s side’s dominance against the German side.
A 3-0 victory for Spurs at Wembley, thanks to goals from Son, Jan Vertonghen and Fernando Llorente, all but rendered the second leg a dead rubber, but that did not stop their top scorer Harry Kane from securing a 1-0 win at Signal Iduna Park.
Having already faced Barcelona in the group-stage this season, Pochettino’s men are used to the big occasion and are just one step away from equalling their European Cup best of reaching the semi-finals in 1962.
Despite their delayed stadium move, lack of recruitment and a number of injuries, Spurs have excelled in all competitions once again this season and their European achievements this season have been a testament to that.
Fifteen minutes-to-go klaxon before those all-important balls are drawn in Switzerland.
The teams in the last eight have 23 European trophies between them, 10 of which have come from the Premier League sides.
Will we see that become 11 this season?
Just going to leave this here for you all.
Manchester derby dreams to become reality?
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