Real Madrid and Barcelona meet in the quarterfinals of the Women’s Champions League | PHOTO

Sexy duel in the women’s Champions League. Real Madrid, the club that makes its debut in this European competition, and Barcelona, ​​the current champion and defending champion, will meet in the quarterfinals of the club competition, according to the draw held this Monday at the UEFA headquarters from Nyon in Switzerland .

As Barcelona’s Alexia Putellas, declared the best player in the world this year, had predicted, there will be a ‘classic’. The ‘innocent hand’ of Patrizia Panico, former Italian striker and ambassador for the Turin final, and Nadine Kessler, UEFA’s head of women’s football, did not ‘fail’. The first leg will be played at the Madrid fiefdom on March 22/23 and the return leg at Barça on March 30/31.

Real Madrid, which gave the surprise by eliminating Manchester City in the previous round, has been planted in these quarters as second in group B after Paris Saint Germain and ahead of the Ukrainian Kharkiv and the Icelandic Breidablik.

Barcelona, ​​dominator of Spanish and European football, has qualified with great authority, winning all six Group C matches against English Arsenal, German Hoffenheim and Danish Koge, with 24 goals in favor and only 1 against.

The azulgrana team is the clear favorite for this confrontation. In fact, in the two years of life of Real Madrid it has always beaten him. Last season they won both league matches (0-4 and 4-1) and in this season the team led by Jonatan Giráldez beat Alberto Toril’s team on the 12th at Alfredo di Stéfano by 1-3.

The one who succeeds the tie will face the winner of the tie Arsenal-Wolfsburg in the semifinals, while on the other side of the table a duel may take place between the French teams, Paris Saint Germain and Olympique Lyon, who on paper are superior to Bayern Munich and Juventus, respectively.

Also in the Women’s Champions League, the away goal rule has been eliminated, so that draws after the two quarterfinal or semi-final matches will go to extra time, regardless of the number of goals scored by each team as home and away. If the equalizer is not undone, the penalty shoot-out will be used.

Kessler highlighted the progression of the tournament, which launched this campaign format with a group stage, and highlighted that the public attendance in the 48 games amounted to 158,939 spectators. There were 18 thousand 344 in the Park of the Princes in the PSG-Real Madrid and 36 thousand 058 in the total of the three games of the Juventus Stadium, scene of the grand final in May.

Quarterfinals (22/23 and 30/31 March):

Bayern Munich – Paris Saint Germain

Juventus – O. Lyon

Arsenal – Wolfsburg

Real Madrid – Barcelona

Semifinals (April 23/24 and April 30 / May 1)

1. Winner Real Madrid-Barcelona – Winner Arsenal-Wolfsburg

2. Winner Juventus-O. Lyon – Winner Bayern Munich-PSG

Final. Juventus Stadium, Turín:

Winner semi-final 1 – Winner semi-final 2