Manchester United draw Bayern Munich while Chelsea visit PSG
Manchester United are to take on the team they beat to win the European Cup in their treble year of 1999, the reigning champions and favourites, Bayern Munich, in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
The task facing David Moyes' side will be even harder after they were also drawn to play the second leg in Munich.
"I have probably drawn out the favourites," the Scot said. "They are the holders so it is a really tough draw for us but it's one I am looking forward to."
The teams' last meeting was also in the quarter-finals, in April 2010, when they finished 4-4 on aggregate, Bayern going through on away goals. The clubs' overall record in the competition is more or less level, with three wins to Bayern against United's two with four draws, although on present form the Germans are the ones firmly in the ascendant.
"We should not be blinded by their current position in the league because they have outstanding players," said the Bayern captain, Philipp Lahm. "We have to perform according to what we can and if we do that we have good chances of reaching the semi-finals."
Their international forward Thomas Müller tweeted: "Man Utd - an interesting game in the quarter finals. I always like to travel to the the island. This will be a tough fight, but we will get through."
Chelsea have been drawn against Paris Saint-Germain and the free-scoring Zlatan Ibrahimovic, whom José Mourinho managed while at Internazionale, while neutrals will be relieved that Barcelona and Real Madrid, who meet in the clásico on Sunday, have been kept apart.
Ibrahimovic has spoken of his admiration for Mourinho, saying in his autobiography that he "was basically willing to die for" the Portuguese. The Chelsea manager said on Friday morning: "We're very, very calm because we know what's waiting for us. It's balanced, but balanced by the top. The big candidates are there. All the big teams, the teams of the moment but also the teams with history. So we have to be really happy to be among the best teams."
Chelsea's only previous meetings with PSG were in the Champions League in the group stage in the autumn of 2004. Chelsea beat the French side 3-0 away before holding them to 0-0 at Stamford Bridge and finished top of the group, with PSG bottom, going on to reach the semi-finals, where they were defeated by the eventual winners, Liverpool.
Barcelona take on their Spanish League rivals Atlético Madrid – their first-ever meeting in European competition – while Real Madrid face last season's losing finalists Borussia Dortmund, the team who beat them in the semi-finals. Borussia, however, will be missing their suspended talisman Robert Lewandowski for the first leg.
Dortmund's chief executive, Hans-Joachim Watzke, admitted: "We would have liked to get someone else. Real is the world's biggest football club. But there is no easy draw here at this stage. We just have to be as best prepared as possible.
"It will take an enormous effort from everyone to do well. Obviously we had a great team [last year] whether or not we can raise the level of our game we will see."
Barcelona's sporting director, Andoni Zubizarreta, said: "Considering the teams that were in the draw I don't know if we would swap for anyone else as they would all be very tough ties. We are seeing in La Liga this season that Atlético are one of the strongest teams in Europe right now."
The semi-final draw will be held on 11 April, with those matches scheduled for 22/23 April and 29/30 April.
This year's final is to be held at Benfica's Estádio da Luz in Lisbon on 24 May.