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Spanish armada Real leads trio into Champions League last-eight drawPosted: Thursday March 20, 2003 2:36 PMNYON, Switzerland (Reuters) -- Holders Real Madrid are the team fellow Spaniards Barcelona and Valencia as well as Manchester United will want to avoid in Friday's draw for the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League. The Spanish giants, whose faltering midseason form prevented them from winning their second phase Group C, finished as runners-up to AC Milan and will therefore be drawn against one of the winners of the three other groups in a powerful lineup of European soccer's elite clubs. Seven of the eight clubs through to the quarterfinals are former holders of the European Cup, while Valencia, the Spanish champions, were runners-up in 2000 and 2001. The teams that have reached the knockout stage, the cream of European football, have lifted the trophy a total of 25 times between them with Real seeking a record 10th title, Milan their sixth and Ajax their fifth. With all the remaining pretenders to the throne now eliminated from the competition in the group stages, the real action will begin with the draw for what promises to be a spectacular knockout phase. Classic contest Since they cannot meet Milan, Real Madrid must face their great Iberian rivals Barcelona, fellow-Spaniards Valencia or traditional European foes Manchester United in the last eight. Any of these permutations would throw up a classic contest. Favorites Real, boasting a team resplendent with top players spearheaded by Brazilian striker Ronaldo, Portugal's Luis Figo, French maestro Zinedine Zidane and Spanish striker Raul, the all-time top goalscorer in the Champions League, have a good record against all three in recent meetings. They beat Valencia in the final in Paris in 2000, knocked out Manchester United in the quarterfinals on their way to that eighth victory in the competition and beat Barcelona over two dramatic semi-final legs last year. Manchester United may wish to avoid meeting Real in the hope of facing them in the final, scheduled for their Old Trafford stadium on May 28, and would almost certainly prefer to meet the less experienced Inter Milan or Ajax en route to the last four. The clubs in the draw include three from Italy, Juventus, Inter and AC Milan, for the first time, three from Spain and one each from England and the Netherlands. Ajax won the last of their four European Cups in 1995 and will be making their first quarterfinal appearance since 1997 after squeezing through in group B behind Valencia. Of the other six former winners, only Barcelona -- one win in 1992 -- have failed to lift the European Cup more than once. The quarterfinal draw surprisingly has no German team in it for the first time in a decade. Bayern Munich, champions as recently as 2001, crashed out in the first group stage, while 1997 winners Borussia Dortmund and 2002 finalists Bayer Leverkusen were eliminated in the second. Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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