WEBDESK: The UEFA Champions League quarter-finals bracket was set Wednesday, after the final round of 16 games which puts Real Madrid and PSG toward more English teams standing in their path of the title.
Aston Villa will play Paris St-Germain and Arsenal will face Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.
Real Madrid beat city rival Atlético Madrid in a penalty shootout in the round of 16 on Wednesday – after Atlético’s 1-0 win tied the aggregate score at 2-2 – having already eliminated Manchester City in the new knockout playoffs round last month.
Defending champions Real Madrid now face Arsenal who beat PSV Eindhoven with an aggregate score of 9-2 over two legs. The first leg for the UEFA Champions league game between Real Madrid and Arsenal will be April 8 or 9. The return game is on April 15 or 16.
PSG’s reward for eliminating top-seeded Liverpool on Tuesday is playing Aston Villa with the first leg in Paris. The winner over two legs will play Arsenal or Madrid in the semifinals. That could yet be a clash of Kylian Mbappé’s past and present clubs.
Borussia Dortmund beat Lille in another close game to book their place in the quarterfinal against a strong Barcelona side led by former Borussia Dortmund striker, Robert Lewandowski.
Bayern Munich and Inter Milan, which both qualified on Tuesday, meet in the UEFA Champions League quarter finals in a repeat of the 2010 final which was won by the Italian team.
UEFA will share almost €2.5 billion euros ($2.7 billion) total prize money among the 36 Champions League teams this season and the 20% higher payouts this season figure to widen the wealth gap in European soccer. England and Spain also are in line for bonus fifth places in the UEFA Champions League next season, sending tens of millions more in prize money there.
Each quarter-finalist will get 12.5 million euros ($13.6 million). A place in the semifinals pays an extra 15 million euros ($16.3 million).
