The four teams still dreaming of European glory will learn their fate for the last four during Fridays draw in Nyon WHEN IS THE DRAW? With the Champions League quarter-finals having come to an end on Wednesday, the focus of the football world will now turn towards Fridays draw for the semi-finals, with coaches desperate to find out whom they will face as the competition enters its final stages. The highly-anticipated event will take place in Nyon, Switzerland and is scheduled to start at 12:00 CET, with Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino and director of competitions Giorgio Marchetti in charge of proceedings, assisted by the ambassador for the final in Lisbon, Luis Figo. WHEN ARE THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMI-FINALS? The semi-final ties involving the four winners from the Champions League quarter-finals will be determined by an open draw. At this stage of the competition, no teams are seeded and clubs from the same national association may be drawn against each other. The semi-finals are played on a home-and-away basis, with the first legs on Tuesday 22 and Wednesday 23 April and the return legs the following week, Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30 April. WHICH TEAMS HAVE QUALIFIED? Both Madrid sides are joined by the Bundesliga champions - and titleholders - and one remaining Premier League representative. Real Madrid Bayern Munich Chelsea Atletico Madrid The fact that the semi-final ties will be determined by an open draw means that Atletico could be paired with city-rivals Real again, while a rematch of the 2012 final between Bayern Munich and Chelsea is an option, too. PLAYERS TO WATCH Although the Champions League was robbed of stars such as Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie, Lionel Messi, Neymar, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani, Robert Lewandowski and Marco Reus, there will still be plenty of stellar names in the last four. Two out of the three players who made up the podium of the 2014 Fifa Ballon dOr - Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) and Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich) - will be present. Additionally, Real Madrid boast stars such as Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema in their squad, Chelsea have Eden Hazard, Oscar and Samuel Etoo among others, while Atletico can call on Diego Costa, David Villa and Thibaut Courtois. Not convinced just yet? How about Arjen Robben and Mario Gotze (Bayern), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Frank Lampard (Chelsea) and Luka Modric and Angel Di Maria (Real Madrid)? The list goes on and on! Posted By - Odudu Paul
Posted on: Thu, 10 Apr 2014 07:51:08 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015