Rédaction Africa Links 24 with alm
Published on 2024-04-09 11:07:41
The big poster of the Champions League quarter-finals will see the last two winners, Manchester City (2023) and Real Madrid (2022), face off on Tuesday, while Paris SG coach Luis Enrique will face FC Barcelona at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday.
This match between Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid and Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City has already been played in the semi-finals of the last two editions, with a different outcome: Madrid qualified in 2022, Manchester in 2023. Between the record holder for the most victories in the competition (14) and the current European champions, coached by the master tactician Pep Guardiola, there will be a huge favorite on the field at the end of the quarter-finals. It is therefore a match between the last two clubs to have won the Champions League, who have never met in a final.
However, this is the fourth time in five seasons that Real Madrid, close to winning the La Liga title, and City, still in the running for a treble, are facing each other in the knockout stages. The English team has won twice out of three. In addition, Paris will face their old Catalan enemy on Wednesday at the Parc des Princes, before a return match on April 16 in Barcelona at the Olympic Stadium of Montjuic. This is the fifth time in 12 years that the two teams meet in the knockout stages. The most memorable encounter being the thrashing received at Camp Nou in the return leg of the round of 16 seven years ago.
“I am very happy, I am going home,” said Luis Enrique upon hearing the draw against FC Barcelona. This duel is very special for the Spaniard, former coach of Barcelona, who was on the opposing bench in 2017 during the historic comeback against PSG (6-1 at Camp Nou after a 4-0 defeat in the first leg).
Read the original article(French) on Aujourdhui.ma
