Berlin (dpa) – Title holders Bayern Munich were on Friday drawn to meet Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-finals in what is a rematch of last year’s final.
Bayern won the 2020 decider 1-0 in Lisbon to lift the top European trophy a sixth time against first-time finalists PSG who ousted Barcelona in the last 16 to reach the quarters.
Record winners Real Madrid will face 2019 champions Liverpool in what is a rematch of the 2018 final Real won 3-1.
Runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City faces German opposition again in Erling Haaland’s Borussia Dortmund after ousting Borussia Moenchengladbach in the last 16.
Juventus’ conquerors Porto are up against Chelsea as the three English and two German sides were kept apart.
In order to defend their title on May 29 in Istanbul, Bayern would need to beat the City team of their former coach Pep Guardiola or Bundesliga rivals Dortmund in the semis which were also drawn at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
Kingsley Coman made the difference seven months ago and Bayern know they will face another tough fight against Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and company in the quarters scheduled for April 6/7 and April 13/14.
“Paris are a very good side. They are currently second in the league, but will pose a tough challenge for us,” Bayern sports director Hasan Salihamidzic said.
Before the 2020 final, the sides met eight times in group action with PSG winning all their four home games and getting one draw in Munich while losing the other three there.
PSG are now coached by Mauricio Pochettino as Thomas Tuchel was oursted and is now unbeaten in charge at Chelsea who face the 2004 winners Porto.
The winner of that game will be up against Real or Liverpool in the April 27/28 and May 4/5 semis.
Real and Liverpool not only contested the 2018 final but also that from 1981 Liverpool won 1-0, and Real won both of their group stage matches in 2014-15.
Juergen Klopp’s Reds must effectively lift the trophy again this term if they want to be in the elite event again in 2021-22, given their poor domestic form.
“It’s exciting, exciting. It’s obviously a tough draw,” Klopp said. “It’s only just over two years ago that we faced them and it was a tough night for us, so to get the chance to play them again is cool.”
City are in full control in the Premier League and a search of four titles overall, with a first-ever Champions League success a priority.
The two sides met in the 2012-13 group stage, drawing 1-1 at the Etihad and Dortmund winning the home game 1-0 en route to the final. But Guardiola has never lost against German opposition, winning 11 and drawing two matches.
“Dortmund is tough but all of them would’ve been,” Guardiola said, adding in reference to Haaland: The numbers speak for themselves. he is one of best strikers in the world at his age.”
Dortmund squad chief Sebastian Kehl named city “a tough draw” and one of the teams he had hoped they would avoid because “I consider them the top favourites.”
