The draw for the Champions League quarter-finals has taken place – and Leicester's reward for their last 16 victory over Sevilla is a clash against Atletico Madrid.
The Foxes have only enjoyed two European campaigns to date but played the capital club in both of them, losing 3-1 on aggregate in the 1961/62 Cup Winners' Cup and 4-1 in the 1997/98 UEFA Cup.
The ties
Atletico Madrid (ESP) vs Leicester (ENG)
Both of Marc Albrighton's goals this season have come in the Champions League (vs Club Brugge, Sevilla)
- How Atletico got here: Bayer Leverkusen 2-4 Atletico Madrid (2-4, 0-0)
- Competition best: Runners-up x 3 (1974, 2014, 2016)
- How Leicester got here: Sevilla 2-3 Leicester (2-1, 0-2)
- Competition best: Quarter-finals (2017)
Atletico blitzed their group, winning five of their six matches to finish three points clear of Bayern Munich (who they beat 1-0 at the Vicente Calderon, and had already won the group by the time they lost the reverse fixture). Notoriously stubborn and seemingly impossible to break down at times, they only conceded two goals before the knockouts.
Meanwhile, it turned out Leicester wouldn't be ruining England's UEFA coefficient, what with them being the last Premier League side standing and all. It didn't look like that would be the case after a first-leg 2-1 defeat in Sevilla which could have easily been 4-0 to the Spaniards by half-time, but then we should all know not to write off the Foxes. They tore into Sevilla with a stunning display at the King Power Stadium under new boss Craig Shakespeare, and ultimately deserved what they got via goals from Wes Morgan and Marc Albrighton.
Borussia Dortmund (GER) vs Monaco (FRA)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is only the 5th different African player to score a Champions League hat-trick after Drogba, Eto'o, Brahimi & Yakubu
- How Dortmund got here: Benfica 1-4 Borussia Dortmund (1-0, 0-4)
- Competition best: Winners (1997)
- How Monaco got here: Man City 6-6 Monaco (5-3, 1-3; away goals)
- Competition best: Runners-up (2004)
A first, here – these two sides have never played one another.
1997 victors Dortmund made sure a dodgy (if dominant) first leg against Benfica was wiped out with a thoroughly convincing thumping in the second leg at Signal Iduna Park. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has 29 goals in 32 games for Dortmund this term – seven in seven in the Champions League after his recent hat-trick – and hopes will be largely resting on him when Thomas Tuchel's side come up against the elite.
Monaco are arguably the most exciting team in Europe this season, and stayed true to type by squeezing through on away goals against Manchester City after a thrilling 12-goal tie over two legs. Their three net-ripplers in Manchester were only good to keep the first-leg deficit to two, but they'd made that up inside 30 minutes at the Stade Louis II. Unsurprisingly, they had an answer for Leroy Sane's late effort and got the goal they needed via Tiemoue Bakayoko. Monaco have scored 84 goals in Ligue 1 this season. The next best? Lyon... with 58.
Bayern Munich (GER) vs Real Madrid (ESP)
Only one Champions League tie had produced a greater margin of victory for a team than Bayern’s 10-2 win over Arsenal — Bayern again, vs Sporting (12-1, 2009)
- How Bayern got here: Bayern Munich 10-2 Arsenal (5-1, 5-1)
- Competition best: Winners x 5 (1974, 1975, 1976, 2001, 2013)
- How Real Madrid got here: Real Madrid 6-2 Napoli (3-1, 3-1)
- Competition best: Winners x 11 (1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016)
These two sides last met in 2013/14, when Real Madrid delivered a counter-attacking masterclass to triumph 4-0 in the second leg at the Allianz Arena.
As usual, this is the competition by which great seasons are measured in Bavaria – Bayern top the Bundesliga, albeit only by a point, and this is the trophy they're so desperate to get their hands on each year. No final since 2013, though.
After a 12-year wait to land La Decima, Real Madrid have got pretty good at lifting the Champions League trophy again – twice in the last three seasons, in fact. And who'd bet against them to do it again in 2017? Zinedine Zidane's side might never look like dominating any competition they play in these days, but they're well poised to win a first La Liga title since 2012 and would love nothing more than a Double with another European triumph. In short: there's more to come.
Juventus (ITA) vs Barcelona (ESP)
Juventus have faced the fewest shots (53) and conceded the fewest goals (2) of the quarter-finalists
- How Juventus got here: Porto 0-3 Juventus (0-2, 0-1)
- Competition best: Winners x 2 (1985, 1996)
- How Barcelona got here: PSG 5-6 Barcelona (4-0, 1-6)
- Competition best: Winners x 5 (1992, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2015)
A repeat of the 2015 Champions League Final here, which Barcelona came out 3-1 winners of.
Gigi Buffon has been there and seen a few things during his near-16 years at Juventus – but never laid his hands on Ol' Big Ears. How he'd love to rectify that this year. Juventus made light work of Porto and look typically mean at the back, having conceded just twice all tournament – making them a positively unappealing draw.
Barcelona got here with a brilliantly mental game against PSG which handed a lesson to us all: don't ever turn off that telly, even if one team needs three goals and only has about three minutes of normal time plus extras to get them. (It also raised expectations, so you know who to blame next time you watch a straightforward romp expecting a comeback.) That Barça are here is a miracle – but now they are, they'll be keen to give Luis Enrique the send-off he deserves before leaving at the of the season.
