Friday, March 16, 2012

Champions League draw LIVE! - Benfica v Chelsea, AC Milan v Barcelona



Chelsea will face Benfica in the quarter-finals of the Champions League - but could face reigning European champions Barcelona in the semi-finals.
England's last remaining club in Europe will face Portuguese side Benfica for the first time in European competition, with the second leg at Stamford Bridge.
Should they progress, Chelsea would face the winners of the quarter-final between AC Milan and Barcelona.
In the other quarter-finals, Real Madrid were drawn against Cypriot side APOEL Nicosia while Marseille will take on Bayern Munich.
The draw also means there is a good chance of a mouthwatering all-Spanish final between Real and Barcelona.

Chelsea have two former Benfica players in their squad - the Brazilians David Luiz and Ramires. The Portuguese club are currently second in their domestic league, a point behind Porto, and emerged triumphant in the group phase during which they drew home and away with Manchester United.
Benfica also overgcame a 3-2 first-leg defeat by Zenit St Petersburg in the first knock-out stage, winning 2-0 at the Estadio da Luz to secure their place in the quarter-finals.
Chelsea's chief executive Ron Gourlay claimed it was a decent draw for the club, especially with the second leg being played at Stamford Bridge.

He told uefa.com: "It's a good one for us but it doesn't matter who you get at this stage. It was important to get the away game first and hopefully we can build the foundation from there. We're pleased.
"Ramires and David Luiz will know a lot about Benfica - we also know a lot about them because they topped Manchester United's group."
If Chelsea do go on to meet Barcelona in the semi-finals, it would be a chance to avenge their agonising defeat in 2009 when Andres Iniesta scored in injury time at Stamford Bridge to seize a place in the final for the Catalan side.

AC Milan however matched Barcelona at the Nou Camp in the group stage drawing 2-2, although they lost at home 3-2, and the club's director Umberto Gandini insisted they were confident.
He said: "At least it will be easy to organise the away game as we have been there recently and we know the place. We faced them in the group stage and the aggregate score was 5-4 so I think it will be balanced.

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