Champions League draw: Liverpool face Manchester City in quarter-finals
Manchester City will face Liverpool in an all-Premier League Champions League quarter-final. Runaway leaders City suffered their only defeat in the league this season at Liverpool on 14 January, while Pep Guardiola’s side beat the Reds 5-0 at Etihad Stadium last September.
The first leg will take place at Anfield on 3-4 April, with the return on 10-11 April.
“We take what we’ve got, let’s go,” said Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.
City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain added: “It’s going to be a great couple of games.”
Holders Real Madrid will face Italian champions Juventus – a repeat of the 2017 final which Real won 4-1 in Cardiff.
La Liga leaders Barcelona, who are looking to win the Champions League for the first time since 2015, face Roma, while Sevilla, who beat Manchester United 2-1 on aggregate in the previous round, take on five-time European champions Bayern Munich.
Clash of the Premier League free-scorers
The tie between Liverpool and Manchester City will be the first meeting between Premier league sides in the Champions League quarter-finals since 2010-11 when Chelsea faced Manchester United.
On that occasion, United advanced 3-1 on aggregate on their way to the final which they lost 3-1 to Barcelona at Wembley.
Friday’s draw means one Premier League club is guaranteed a place in the semi-finals.
City are 21 points clear of fourth-placed Liverpool in the table.
They are the top two scorers in the Premier League, with City finding the net 85 times in 30 games. Liverpool have scored 68 goals from the same number of matches.
“I’ve said it before and it’s still the truth, it’s always common in a draw that you’ll get your neighbour, more or less, but to be honest I don’t mind, really,” added Klopp.
“We are for sure not the favourites in this round, but in the last eight there are not a lot of favourites – maybe two of them, Bayern and Barcelona.”
‘We know the power and strength of Liverpool’
While Liverpool have been crowned champions of Europe five times in their history, City are chasing their first Champions League success.
“It’s a very difficult one,” added Begiristain.
“We like to travel and to go to another country in the Champions League but it is what it is.
“In the Champions League there is no time for mistakes, everything has to work, you have to be almost perfect in both games.
“We know the power and the strength of Liverpool.”
Champions League quarter-final draw
Barcelona v Roma
Sevilla v Bayern Munich
Juventus v Real Madrid
Liverpool v Manchester City
