The Champions League knockout stage is down to the final eight teams and the draw was held on Friday, March 18 with some heavyweight clashes on tap. Though there are three English teams and three Spanish teams in the quarterfinals, no teams from the same country were paired up.
Reigning champions Chelsea will face record 13-time winners Real Madrid in a rematch of last season's Champions League semifinal, which saw the Blues advance by a 3-1 aggregate score.
It will be another England vs. Spain matchup when Atletico Madrid face Premier League champions Manchester City as managers Pep Guardiola and Diego Simeone clash. The winner will have to contend with the survivor of the Chelsea vs. Real Madrid quarterfinal.
Bayern Munich and Liverpool received relatively favorable draws among the favorites to hoist the trophy, landing Villarreal and Benfica, respectively. Both giants will host the second leg of each series at home. Should Bayern Munich and Liverpool advance, they would meet in the semifinals with Bayern hosting the second leg.
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Champions League quarterfinal draw results
The quarterfinals will be played on April 5-6 (1st Leg) and April 12-13 (2nd Leg).
| 1st Leg Host | 2nd Leg Host | |
| Chelsea | vs. | Real Madrid |
| Manchester City | vs. | Atletico Madrid |
| Villarreal | vs. | Bayern Munich |
| Benfica | vs. | Liverpool |
Champions League semifinal draw results
The semifinals will be played on April 26-27 (1st Leg) and May 3-4 (2nd Leg).
| 1st Leg Host | 2nd Leg Host | |
| Man City / Atletico | vs. | Chelsea / Real Madrid |
| Benfica / Liverpool | vs. | Villarreal / Bayern Munich |
The winner of the second semifinal (Benfica, Liverpool, Villarreal or Bayern Munich) will technically be the home team for the final on May 28 at the Stade de France north of Paris though it's a neutral venue.
The designation of a home team for a neutral venue final is an important formality for matters like bench assignments, jersey assignments and other procedural, competitive and administrative considerations.
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Teams qualified for Champions League quarterfinals
The Round of 16 came to a close on March 16 with advancing teams added to the list of squads included in the Champions League quarterfinal draw.
Here are the matchups from which the final eight teams emerged:
Round of 16 schedule & results
| Round of 16 Match | 1st Leg Result |
2nd Leg Result |
Team qualified |
| PSG vs. Real Madrid | 1-0 | 1-3 | Real Madrid (Spain) |
| Sporting CP vs. Man City | 0-5 | 0-0 | Man City (England) |
| Inter Milan vs. Liverpool | 0-2 | 1-0 | Liverpool (England) |
| RB Salzburg vs. Bayern Munich | 1-1 | 1-7 | Bayern Munich (Germany) |
| Atletico Madrid vs. Man United | 1-1 | 1-0 | Atletico Madrid (Spain) |
| Benfica vs. Ajax | 2-2 | 1-0 | Benfica (Portugal) |
| Chelsea vs. LOSC Lille | 2-0 | 2-1 | Chelsea (England) |
| Villarreal CF vs. Juventus | 1-1 | 3-0 | Villarreal (Spain) |
UEFA Champions League quarterfinal schedule
We're down to just nine Champions League matchdays after the quarterfinal draw.
The quarterfinals will be played in the span of a week in April, and we'll have our two finalists by May 4.
Then the two teams that will play for the UEFA Champions League title will have 24 days of preparation and buildup to the May 28 final in Saint-Denis, France.
Quarterfinals
| Date | Match | Time (ET) |
| Tues, April 5 | Quarterfinal TBD - Leg 1 | 3 p.m. |
| Tues, April 5 | Quarterfinal TBD - Leg 1 | 3 p.m. |
| Wed, April 6 | Quarterfinal TBD - Leg 1 | 3 p.m. |
| Wed, April 6 | Quarterfinal TBD - Leg 1 | 3 p.m. |
| Tues, April 12 | Quarterfinal TBD - Leg 2 | 3 p.m. |
| Tues, April 12 | Quarterfinal TBD - Leg 2 | 3 p.m. |
| Wed, April 13 | Quarterfinal TBD - Leg 2 | 3 p.m. |
| Wed, April 13 | Quarterfinal TBD - Leg 2 | 3 p.m. |
Semifinals
| Date | Match | Time (ET) |
| Tues, April 26 | Semifinal TBD - Leg 1 | 3 p.m. |
| Wed, April 27 | Semifinal TBD - Leg 1 | 3 p.m. |
| Tues, May 3 | Semifinal TBD - Leg 2 | 3 p.m. |
| Wed, May 4 | Semifinal TBD - Leg 2 | 3 p.m. |
Champions League Final
| Date | Match | Time |
| Sat, May 28 | Semifinal winners | 3 p.m. |
Could teams from the same country have met in quarterfinals?
While UEFA has a rule that establishes that no teams from the same country can match up in the Round of 16, that rule is only in place for that specific round of the competition.
From the quarterfinals on, any team can be drawn against any other team, leaving the field wide open for the stretch run of the Champions League.
MORE: Round of 16 Champions League betting picks & tips
The three English clubs and three Spanish clubs that advanced to the quarterfinals could have easily been drawn against one another. But they weren't. Still, we could see Manchester City vs. Chelsea or Real Madrid vs. Atletico Madrid in the semifinals.
Last year's Champions League tournament did not feature any inter-country matchups through the entire knockout stage until the final when Manchester City lost to fellow English club Chelsea.
The last time teams from the same nation matched up in either the quarterfinals or semifinals was in the 2019-20 competition, when Tottenham defeated Manchester City on penalties in the quarterfinals, and eventually reached the final before losing to fellow Premier League side Liverpool.
Was the quarterfinal draw seeded?
Like the rule about same-country matchups, group stage seeding was only a factor for the Round of 16 draw. It did not come into play in the quarterfinal draw.
In the Round of 16, teams that finished first in their group could only match up with teams that finished second in their group, earning those group winners the chance for a more favorable matchup. For that reason, group winners were considered "seeds".
In last year's competition, all but one group stage winner failed to advance past the Round of 16. The only group winner to fall short of the quarterfinals was Italy's Juventus, which finished first in Group G but fell in the Round of 16 to Group C runner-up Porto on the away-goals tiebreaker.
When was the 2022 Champions League quarterfinal draw?
The quarterfinal draw for the 2022 Champions League tournament took place on Friday, March 18 at 12 p.m. CET (7 a.m. ET).
- Date: Friday, March 18
- Time: 7 a.m. ET (12 p.m. CET)
- USA Stream: CBS Sports HQ, Paramount+
- Canada Stream: DAZN
The draw occurred at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland and was streamed live by UEFA.
USA: The entire Champions League draw was shown live on CBS Sports HQ in the USA.
Canada: The draw was seen in Canada on DAZN, the home of the Champions League in Canada.
While the draw set the matchups for the quarterfinal round, it also set the bracket for the remainder of the competition and eliminated the need for any more draws.
After the quarterfinal matches was set, UEFA also held the semifinal draw, paving a path for each club and the opponents they will face in each remaining stage.
The draw concluded by determining which side of the bracket will be deemed the "home" team in the final, for procedural purposes, despite the final taking place at a neutral venue.
It was an open draw with no country or other special conditions.
