The 2021/22 UEFA Champions League quarter-final draw threw up a couple of long-awaited reunions and one that may feel rather shorter if you are of a Real Madrid persuasion.
Presented by Expedia, we pore over the talking points ahead of the ties, which take place on 5/6 April and 12/13 April.
Champions League quarter-finals
Benfica vs Liverpool
Manchester City vs Atlético
Villarreal vs Bayern
Chelsea vs Real Madrid
How to stop all-action Kanté?
“We play with Danny Drinkwater in the middle, with Kanté either side,” Leicester’s head of recruitment, Steve Walsh, said during the Foxes’ Premier League title-winning season. At times for Real Madrid in last season’s semi-final against Chelsea, it must have felt like N’Golo Kanté was playing the complete midfield diamond, such was the Frenchman’s omnipotence.
He won back-to-back Player of the Match awards, adding another in the final; a diminutive figure for the big occasion. Another year on and with a new man in Carlo Ancelotti at the helm, can Madrid come up with a way of countering him/them?
Klopp relishing Lisbon trip
Lisbon was where the Liverpool love affair started for Jürgen Klopp. Back in 2015, he was sitting outside a cafe in the Portuguese capital when he got the call offering him the manager’s job. Surprisingly, given the distances covered in Europe, he has not been back since.
If that didn’t activate his megawatt smile then avoiding English opponents – “the only thing I didn’t want” – might. Not that Klopp is taking Benfica lightly; he highlighted the backs-to-the-wall job the Eagles performed against Ajax last time out to reach the last eight.
Guardiola vs Simeone
Considering Josep Guardiola and Diego Simeone’s status among coaching royalty, it is striking that they have only met three times during their illustrious managerial careers (Guardiola has won two games to Simeone’s one). It will be fascinating to see how their contrasting styles fare.
For Pedri, who has played under both, they have plenty in common, too. “The way they compete, the way they work every day, the fact that they want you to grow every day,” said the 25-year-old earlier this season. “With their competitive natures, they are very similar.”
Bayern wary of Villarreal
As Bayern weighed up opponents Villarreal following the draw, the Spanish side’s stunning triumph at Juventus two days earlier did not go unnoticed. Thomas Müller, having watched the game with his dog, warned that his side would “have to fight for every second.”
Bayern, although more inconsistent than previous seasons, will take some beating over two legs. Perhaps lucky to escape with a draw from the first leg of their last-16 tie against Salzburg, Julian Nagelsmann’s side made the smooth transition from first gear to fifth and hit seven in the return.
2021/22 Champions League key dates
Quarter-finals, first legs (5/6 April)
Quarter-finals, second legs (12/13 April)
Semi-finals, first legs (26/27 April)
Semi-finals, second legs (3/4 May)
Final (28 May)
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