AC Milan’s honorary Vice President Franco Baresi believes that the draw for the Champions League quarter-finals has put the Rossoneri against a ‘difficult opponent’ who will be favourites for the tie.
The draw for the quarters and the semi-finals of the competition took place this afternoon in Nyon at the UEFA headquarters and it saw Milan pitted against a domestic rival in Napoli, who are the runaway league leaders at the moment.
Real Madrid will play Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the Champions League while Manchester City were paired with Pep Guardiola’s former side Bayern Munich in Friday’s draw.
Serie A leaders Napoli take on AC Milan in an all-Italian showdown and Inter Milan face Portuguese league leaders Benfica.
The winners of Real’s tie against Chelsea will go on to face either City or Bayern in the semi-finals, throwing open the possibility of an all-English last-four tie.
That also increases the chances of seeing an Italian team reach the final for the first time since Juventus in 2017, as Inter will play either Milan or Napoli in the last four should the Nerazzurri beat Benfica.
The quarter-final first legs will be played on April 11 and 12, with Real entertaining Chelsea at the Santiago Bernabeu first before travelling to London for the return a week later, and City at home to Bayern first.
Inter were drawn to play Benfica at home initially but will now travel to Lisbon for the first leg to avoid a clash with AC Milan’s meeting with Napoli at San Siro.
The semi-finals will be played in May with the final in Istanbul scheduled for Saturday, 10 June.
Full draw below:
Real Madrid vs Chelsea
Inter Milan vs Benfica
Manchester City vs Bayern Munich
AC Milan vs Napoli
