Blast from past for Pep as City face Bayern

NYON, March 17

Holders Real Madrid will play 2021 winners Chelsea in the Champions League quarterfinals while Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola will visit his former club Bayern Munich after the teams were drawn together today.

Madrid, who beat last year’s finalists Liverpool 6-2 on aggregate in the last-16 stage, will face another English side after Graham Potter’s Chelsea handed Borussia Dortmund their first loss of the year and qualified with a 2-1 aggregate win.

City, runners-up in 2021, will play 2020 champions Bayern who were managed by Guardiola for three seasons from 2013. Under the Spaniard they were perennial Bundesliga champions but fell at the Champions League semifinals stage each year.

UCL: quarters draw

Real Madrid vs Chelsea
Inter Milan vs Benfica
Man City vs Bayern Munich
AC Milan vs Napoli

Guardiola, who last won the Champions League with Barcelona in 2011, will be up against Bayern for the first time since his move from the German club to City in 2016.

The fixture also gives City striker Erling Haaland the chance to add to his tally of five goals against Bayern when he was with Dortmund.

The 22-year-old Norwegian, who has scored 39 goals in all competitions for City so far this season, is also the leading scorer in the Champions League this term with 10 goals after firing five past RB Leipzig in his last match.

“It will be a reunion with Pep Guardiola, with Erling Haaland, with good acquaintances from the Bundesliga,” Bayern’s former goalkeeper and now CEO Oliver Kahn said. — Reuters

Europa League: Gunners fail to fire

London: Arsenal’s hopes for a European title ended when the Premier League leaders were eliminated from the Europa League by Sporting Lisbon in a penalty shootout. Sporting reached the quarterfinals by prevailing 5-3 in the shootout at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday after a 1-1 draw in regulation in the second leg of their Round-of-16 encounter. The first leg ended 2-2. Gabriel Martinelli failed to convert from the spot for Arsenal. Meanwhile, Manchester United cruised into the quarterfinals after a 1-0 victory at Real Betis. AP