Champions League Quarter-Final Draw 2015: Date, Time and Live Stream Info
Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid are among the remaining favourites for the 2015 Champions League trophy. All will have their quarter-final fates decided on Friday, when the draw for the final eight is made at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Porto, Monaco and Juventus make up the rest of the teams looking to secure a run to the Berlin final.
Each are three ties from lifting the trophy and will have a keen eye on the draw for the next round. Below, you can see the draw details and information on the teams others will wish to avoid:
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Date: Friday, March 20
Time: 11 a.m. GMT / 7 a.m. ET
Location: Nyon, Switzerland
Live Stream: UEFA.com, Eurosport Player, Sky Go.
The quarter-final draw is an open one, meaning there are no seeds or non-seeds. Juggernauts are more likely to be placed against each other. Clubs from the same national association can also be paired, allowing a two-legged Clasico to take place, per UEFA.com.
Teams to Avoid
Bayern Munich
Pep Guardiola won the Champions League twice during his historic spell with Barcelona, and according to Oddschecker.com, is favourite to emerge victorious this year. Bayern showed different sides to their game during the round-of-16 clashes with Shakhtar Donetsk.
In the first leg—a difficult away trip to Ukraine—the Bundesliga leaders battled hard to overcome Xabi Alonso's second-half red card, taking a positive 0-0 draw back to the Allianz Arena. Shakhtar gave themselves little chance in the second leg when Olexandr Kucher racked up the quickest red card in the tournament's history, grabbing an early bath after three minutes, per Andy Cryer of BBC Sport.
Seven different scorers put Shakhtar to the sword. Granted, this match became something of a gimme after the dismissal, but Bayern have remained impressive for most of the competition. They average the highest amount of possession (67 percent) and unleash the most shots (19.1) per game, recorded by WhoScored.com.
Guardiola's men have conceded just four goals thus far and suffered their only loss during November's 3-2 defeat to Manchester City. It's worth noting Bayern had already won Group E by this point, however, and had Mehdi Benatia dismissed after 20 minutes.
Having won the tournament as recently as 2013 and currently enjoying a 10-game unbeaten streak, Bayern will fill many with fear.
Barcelona
Few teams possess the momentum Barcelona are currently enjoying. Wednesday's 1-0 victory over Manchester City once again underlined a team who are growing in confidence.
Luis Enrique is finally getting the best out of his tremendous front three, perhaps most obviously highlighted by Luis Suarez finding his goalscoring form.
Messi is now leading the charge for the European Golden Shoe, reported by Jamie Rainbow of WorldSoccer.com. While he didn't score during the second leg against City, he put in a stunning performance. Only Joe Hart stopped a basketball score being tallied.
Squawka highlighted Messi's performance:
Ivan Rakitic, who notched the second leg's only goal, believes even City admired his play. Phil Kitromilides of Real Madrid TV tweeted his comments:
Like Bayern, Barca have suffered just one defeat in the competition so far. PSG got the best of them with a 3-2 win at the end of September, before Suarez returned from his ban.
Enrique has managed to zone in on a combative style that doesn't overlook Barca's passing roots. This has played a major role in the side moving above Real Madrid in La Liga, and indeed, outlining Barca as genuine Champions League contenders.
B/R UK's Sam Tighe believes the Catalan club are among the most exciting teams left in the competition:
Messi was the outstanding player of the round of 16, perhaps an ominous sign for Barca's upcoming opponents.
Friday's draw will pinpoint exactly who needs to come up with a master plan to stop the iconic star across two extremely challenging legs.
