Champions League 2018-19: All you need to know about the quarterfinal draw

The Round of 16 stage of UEFA Champions League is done with now, and we have eight top teams who will contest in the quarterfinals to battle it out for the last four spots.

FC Barcelona, Manchester United, Liverpool, Porto, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Ajax and Juventus are the eight teams that have managed to make it to the final 8 of the tournament.

This is actually the first time since 2008/09 season that four English clubs have made it to the quarterfinal stages. However, the draws for the last eight are yet to be decided.

When is it?

The quarterfinals draw, as well as the draw for the semi-finals, will take place on the 15th of March, at 4:30 pm IST (11 am GMT).

Where is it?

The fixtures for the last eight teams will be decided at UEFA’s Swiss Headquarters at Nyon.

Preview

Most of the top eight teams to have made it this far in the tournament had intense fixtures in the pre-quarterfinal stage. Juventus and Manchester United sparked remarkable turnarounds against Atletico Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain respectively. Both of them overturned a 2-0 deficit from the first leg of the match and are now worthy contenders for their opposition currently.

Porto defeated AS Roma in yet another thriller where the VAR came under the scanner yet again. However, probably the biggest upset of the Round of 16 was when Ajax eliminated three times defending champions Real Madrid by scoring four goals in Santiago Bernabeu.

Tottenham Hotspur defeated Borussia Dortmund fairly comfortably, who were initially supposed to be really tough competitors. Liverpool displayed their might and increasing European prominence by notching one over Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena. Similarly, FC Barcelona made easy work of Lyon while Manchester City humiliated Schalke 04 by scoring seven goals in the second leg.

It is fair to say that the most deserving of teams have progressed in this tournament. However, none of the sides could be taken lightly by the supposed heavyweights as there are plenty of examples of arguably inferior teams thumping their stronger adversaries to cause major upsets in crucial stages of the tournament. FC Barcelona’s loss to AS Roma last time around is one such example.

Needless to say, but football fans all around the world would be eager to know the quarterfinal fixtures.

In what will be a prominent change, for the very first time, the draw for the semi-finals will take place right after the teams are drawn for the quarterfinals.

Dates of the quarterfinals

The first leg of the quarterfinals would be played on the 9th and 10th of April. The second leg, which would be detrimental for the semifinal spots will be played on the 16th and 17th of the same month.