The Champions League quarterfinals were drawn up on Friday. Every single remaining team has won a European tournament before, ensuring that all of the matchups would be filled with tremendous tension. Here are the winners and losers of the draw.
Winners
Bayern Munich: The defending champions' road to the tournament became a whole lot easier on Friday as they avoided the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona. Instead they drew the easiest side in the tournament—Manchester United. David Moyes' club has struggled throughout the year and almost failed to make it to this round. The team was trailing 2-0 against Olympiacos heading into the second game at home but managed to make the turnaround with a 3-0 win.
Munich will be playing its third English side in the tournament. It won 3-1 at Manchester City in the group stage but also lost 3-2 at home. The side then defeated Arsenal 2-0 in the round of 16 before tying 1-1 in the return leg.
Paris Saint-Germain & Chelsea: Both sides could have done a lot worse in the draw but will be playing another side whose championship aspirations are questionable. One side fields an offensive juggernaut while the opposing club is built up on its defensive ways.
Can Zlatan Ibrahimovic shine against Jose Mourinho's suffocating defense? Will Chelsea's goal scorers put up strong performances in crunch time?
Barcelona: Los Cules avoided Bayern Munich and Real Madrid and look to be in good shape to make the quarterfinals. While nothing is guaranteed in this tie, the team will face a team that they are familiar with and have already played three times this year; the sides still have three more games to play against one another including the two legs and a Spanish League match. When the sides met up in the Spanish Sup Cup at the start of the year, Barcelona won the title thanks to an away goal from Neymar in the first leg; the teams actually tied both games by an aggregate of 1-1. The teams met against in January and battled to a 0-0 draw in the Spanish League.
Lionel Messi is back in top form and could be the big difference here. However, Diego Simeone's club has proven itself more than capable of overcoming any task. This should be a fun tie, but Barcelona is in the driver's seat.
Losers
Real Madrid & Borussia Dortmund: Los Blancos will face off against the team that knocked them out of the semifinals last season on the aggregate of 4-3. Of course, Madrid plays the first game at home this time around and will not have to deal with Robert Lewandowski (who scored all four goals for Dortmund in that semifinal) due to a suspension. That said, Madrid needs to careful not to implode defensively against a lethal and quick offense.
For Dortmund, this is not as easy a tie as it was a year ago. Madrid looks like a machine that could beat Bayern Munich and Cristiano Ronaldo is having a Champions League tournament to remember. This will be a compelling matchup, but either side is susceptible to elimination.
Manchester United: David Moyes' side was going to be the underdog regardless of which team it drew. However, United wound up drawing the most difficult side and is likely to see elimination swiftly at the hands of the defending champs. The only thing this team can appreciate is having been allowed to play the first leg at home.