Soccer

Leicester City draw La Liga giants in Champions League quarter-finals

Bayern Munich will face reigning champions Real, while Barca take on Juve

The Champions League quarter-final draw was made on Friday morning. Photograph: Getty Images

Fri Mar 17 2017 - 12:05

Leicester will play Atletico Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

The Foxes will continue their remarkable run by travelling to the Spanish capital for the first leg in the week beginning April 10th, with the second match taking place the following week.

Leicester are England's sole representatives following the elimination in the last 16 of Manchester City and Arsenal.

Craig Shakespeare's side secured their unexpected progress with a 2-0 second-leg victory over Sevilla, while Atletico defeated Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 on aggregate.

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It was perhaps inevitable the sides would be drawn together given that two of Leicester’s four European ties prior to this season were against Atletico.

The Spaniards came out on top of both of them, winning 3-1 on aggregate in the 1961/62 Cup Winners’ Cup before winning both legs of a Uefa Cup tie in 1997 for a 4-1 aggregate victory.

The tie will pit Leicester against one of the most consistent European teams of recent years.

Diego Simeone’s team have reached the Champions League final in two of the last three seasons, losing to city rivals Real on both occasions, last year on penalties.

They were also beaten by Real in the quarter-finals in 2015 and won the Europa League in 2012.

The one encouraging factor for Leicester is Atletico have not been quite as strong in the league this season and sit fourth in LaLiga, five points behind Sevilla.

Leicester’s win over Sevilla was their third in a row and continued their revival since Shakespeare took over from the sacked Claudio Ranieri.

Speaking after Tuesday’s victory, Shakespeare said: ”We might just be the surprise team. We know there’s going to be some terrific teams, as there were in the previous round.

“We have to be delighted with the performance and knocking Sevilla out. Their record in Europe is there for everyone to see. We’re in there on merit. Make no mistake about that.”

Elsewhere reigning champions Real Madrid play Bayern Munich, while Barcelona and Juventus is another mouth-watering tie. Borussia Dortmund take on Monaco, who knocked out Manchester City in the round of 16.

Champions League quater-finals:

Atletico Madrid v Leicester

Borussia Dortmund v Monaco

Bayern Munich v Real Madrid

Juventus v Barcelona

Ties to be played April 11/12th and 18/19th

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