When he announced his three favourites to win the Champions League, Cristiano Ronaldo left out Arsenal.
When he announced his three favourites to win the Champions League, Cristiano Ronaldo left out Arsenal.
At the Champions League draw on Friday at the UEFA headquarters in Nyom, Switzerland, Manchester City and Arsenal were matched with Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, respectively.
Paris Saint-Germain versus Barcelona and Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund are tied on the opposite side of the draw.
Arsenal had a difficult draw because, if they defeated Bayern over two legs, they would play either holders City or 14-time champions Real in the semifinals.
Additionally, five times Ronaldo, the winner of the Ballon d’Or, has won the title five times, all with Manchester United and Real Madrid. As a result, the Gunners are out of the tournament entirely.
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Despite having ties to Old Trafford, Ronaldo actually picked City as his favourite to win the tournament hands-down.
In January, Ronaldo responded as follows to a question about which teams he thought had the best chance to win the Champions League this year: “Manchester City have a good chance to win the Champions League again. Favourites? Man City, Real Madrid, Bayern [Munich]…”.
The Portuguese player continued to wax poetic about Pep Guardiola’s City and lauded the record treble from the previous season.
“Manchester City did amazing”, Ronaldo said. “Congratulations on their season. Players, coach. Superb. Finally, they win the Champions League, they probably deserved it two years ago. I enjoy seeing them play.”
The Champions League quarterfinal matches’ first legs are set for April 9 and 10, with the second legs taking place on April 16 and 17.
The dates of the semi-finals are April 30 and May 1, and the dates of the second legs are May 7 and 8.
On June 1, the competition final will take place at Wembley.
Other matches in the Europa League quarterfinal draw included Benfica versus Marseille, Liverpool versus Atalanta, Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen versus West Ham and AC Milan versus Roma.
One semi-final pits AC Milan or Roma against Bayer Leverkusen or West Ham, while the other pits Benfica or Marseille against Liverpool or Atalanta.
