There are no more Italians, but the show is guaranteed. Villarreal-Bayern Munich and Benfica-Liverpool the other challenges. In the semifinals it is possible to have an English or Spanish derby
Three English, three Spanish, one German and one Portuguese teams in the draw that today in Nyon will establish the path of the Champions League up to the final scheduled in Paris on May 28th.
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The rules
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A tennis scoreboard will come out of the draw: we will therefore know not only the intersections of the quarter-finals, but also that of the semifinals. No restrictions in the draw which will be completely free: unlike what happened for the draw for the round of 16, there are no seeded players and derbies are allowed, an event that is far from remote considering the contingent brought between the magnificent eight from Spain and England.
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le favorite
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It is a Champions that will restart in the name of balance with three teams that divide – even in the odds of the bookmakers – the favors of the prediction: Guardiola’s Manchester City (whose final success is paid from 3 to 3.2 times the stake , depending on the agency), Klopp’s Liverpool (4) and Nagelsmann’s Bayern (4.5) seem the best equipped to go all the way. In a hypothetical second bracket there are Chelsea of Tuchel, reigning champion (with a variable odds between 8.5 and 9) and Real Madrid of Ancelotti (between 9 and 10). Simeone’s Atletico (18) more distant, the two outsiders who arrived unexpectedly among the best eight are even more distant: Emery’s Villarreal, which can also be played at 50 and Verissimo’s Benfica, even at 75.
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Pep vs Jurgen?
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The fact that two of the main favorites – City and Liverpool – are also the protagonists of the duel for the title in the Premier League (they are separated by one point 9 days from the end) seems to be able to characterize the upcoming spring as a long duel between Guardiola and Klopp. For a joke of the calendar, the City-Reds direct clash that could decide the English championship is scheduled for Sunday 10 April, right between the first leg and the return leg of the quarter-finals: if the urn of Nyon today paired the two teams there we would be facing a triptych of stellar challenges in 8 days.
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The German
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Bayern are the only team to have interrupted the Spain-England duopoly in the last 11 editions: Nagelsmann has a very high potential squad at his disposal that he lines up with an ultra offensive system, but arrives at the appointment with the quarters after having squandered in the group back 10 points of advantage that he had in the Bundesliga on the second in the standings: now the historical rivals of Dortmund are at 4 points and on 23 April (4 days before the first leg of the semifinals) the direct clash is scheduled.
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The others
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Ancelotti’s Real is more serene, having long ago mortgaged the success in the La Liga (+10 over Sevilla 10 days from the end) and can dream of the assault on the fourteenth cup. Tuchel will have to be good at isolating his Chelsea from the corporate storm that has broken out and motivate the players in a complicated situation. Atletico del Cholo reached the quarters without having won any of the 4 home games and with an overall balance of 3 wins, 2 draws and 3 defeats, but appears to be growing, while for Benfica and Villarreal the goal achieved appears already the maximum of the respective possibilities. Today in the draw they will be the dream of the other six. But beware, they were also of Ajax and Juventus …
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March 18, 2022 (change March 18, 2022 | 12:41)
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