BERLIN: Title holders Real Madrid renew their long-time rivalry with Bayern Munich and Barcelona play Juventus in a rematch of the 2015 final when the Champions League quarterfinals get underway on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Real aim to become the first team to defend the title in the competition’s current format but out to prevent that will be the coach who led them to the 2014 trophy, Carlo Ancelotti.
Real won the 2014 and 2016 crowns by beating cross-town rivals Atletico who are also still alive and face English champions Leicester City. The fourth tie brings together the 1997 winners Borussia Dortmund and 2004 finalists Monaco.
Real play a 23rd European match against Bayern coming off a 1-1 league home draw with Atletico, and have fond memories of their last visit to the Allianz Arena.
In the 2014 semifinal second leg, Ancelotti’s Real thrashed Pep Guardiola’s Bayern 4-0 en route to the title. But Bayern have won a competition record 16 home games since then, the latest a 5-1 drubbing of Arsenal in the last 16.
Ancelotti has the chance to win the elite event with a third different club after earlier trophies with AC Milan and Real, and the confidence of Bundesliga leaders Bayern is running high after a weekend 4-1 league demolition of Dortmund.
“It would be quite special to win it again, especially for this club. The club have played in two semifinals in the last two years, so they’ve been close, and I’d like to win it because of that,” Ancelotti told uefa.com. Winger Arjen Robben, along with midfielder Xabi Alonso, formerly of Real, said: “We’ll have to shift up another gear on Wednesday. We’ll have to demonstrate from the off that our opponents won’t have a chance, and that we want to win the match.”
Real meanwhile boast former Bayern midfielder Toni Kroos who told uefa.com that “we are all looking forward to these games. They will be two fantastic games. This tie could easily be the Champions League final.”
Real are without key defender Pepe on Wednesday while Bayern also have to make adjustments to their central defence with Mats Hummelsout. But Robert Lewandowski, who scored four goals against Real for Dortmund in the 2013 semis, is fit to play after a shoulder scare.
Barca meanwhile aim to shake off a surprise 2-0 league defeat against Malaga as they travel to Italy for the Tuesday date at Juve.
Sergio Busquets is suspended, while Rafinha as well as full-back Aleix Vidal and midfielder Arda Turan are also out injured.
Barca hope the presence of Polish referee Szymon Marciniak will be no bad omen as he also officiated their 4-0 meltdown in the last round at Paris Saint-Germain — which Barca then famously reversed 6-1 at the Camp Nou.
Serie A leaders Juve hope for goals from Gonzalo Higuain and have Miralem Pjanic and Mario Mandzukic returning from minor injuries. “We have a lot of respect for Barcelona but we’ll go into the tie knowing we have a very good chance of going through. It’s two matches and we’ll have to be on our game both defensively and going forward,” coach Massimiliano Allegri said.
Surprise English champions Leicester have reached the last eight in their Champions League debut and now face Atletico who beat them in their previous two European dates, in the 1997 Uefa Cup and the1961-62 Cup Winners’ Cup.
Leicester come into the game on the heels of a thrilling 4-2 Premier League loss to Everton that ended Craig Shakespeare’s run of six straight wins as manager since replacing the fired Claudio Ranieri. “We will brush ourselves down and we will be ready for Wednesday,” said Shakespeare who misses captain Wes Morgan with a back injury. Atletico coach Diego Simeone said: “This is a team that was able to win the English League so we will not take them lightly. We know that the game will be tough against a rival that is quite similar to us.”
Dortmund will meanwhile shake off the Munich defeat quickly as they set their sights on their home game with Manchester City’s conquerors Monaco. “It’s going to be a great game. We’ll have gotten the match against Bayern out of our heads by then and we’ll put in a different performance,” Dortmund midfielder Sebastian Rode said. — dpa
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