Europe's élite down to eight

Monday, 2 April 2007
AC Milan of Italy and FC Bayern München of Germany will go head to head in a UEFA Champions League quarter-final lineup that also boasts three other former winners.
Exciting encountersMilan and Bayern, who have ten continental crowns between them, met most recently in the first knockout round last season when the Serie A side won 5-2 on aggregate. The other matches see PSV Eindhoven, the 1988 champions, and five-time winners Liverpool FC pitted together once more following their group-stage games in the autumn, while AS Roma face a Manchester United FC side looking for a hat-trick of titles. Chelsea FC take on Valencia CF in the other tie. Only Chelsea, bidding for a third semi-final in four seasons, have never reached a final, with Roma (1984) and Valencia (2000 and 2001) having each fallen at the last hurdle.
Final routeThe 9 March draw at the Megaron International Conference Centre in the Greek capital Athens featured a straight draw involving all eight clubs without seedings or country protection. As well as the quarter-finals, the draw was also made for the semi-finals, meaning teams know who they will meet over two legs on 24/25 April and 1/2 May should they progress. The winners of Milan-Bayern will take on the Roma-United victors while one of Chelsea-Valencia will meet the triumphant team from the PSV-Liverpool tie.
Trophy handoverThe final will be staged at the Olympic Stadium on 23 May and Athens is already looking forward to the event. The city's mayor, Nikitas Kaklamanis, has received the European Champion Clubs' Cup from UEFA President Michel Platini after FC Barcelona's Ludovic Giuly had symbolically handed the trophy back to UEFA.
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