Barcelona to face AC Milan in quarter-finals

Titleholders Barcelona will have to again face seven-times winners AC Milan in the Champions League quarter-finals after a draw which also cleared the way for a final against their eternal rivals Real Madrid.

Rank outsiders APOEL Nicosia, taking Cypriot football into unchartered territory, were handed a glamorous last-eight tie against Real as they continued what chairman Phivos Erotocritou described as "a dream."

Bayern Munich, whose 7-0 demolition of FC Basel in the last 16 made them another team to be feared, must overcome Olympique Marseille if they want to keep up their hopes of reaching the May 19 final in their own Allianz Arena.

The four-times champions would then have to face nine-time winners Real, assuming the Spaniards avoid an upset defeat by APOEL, in the semi-finals.

The winners of the Barcelona and Milan tie will take on Chelsea or Benfica, the Portuguese side trying to recapture past glories, after they were paired in the other two legged quarter-final to be played this month and next.

Barca and Milan, who met in the 1994 final which the Italians won 4-0, have already clashed in the group stage this term with a 2-2 draw at Nou Camp followed by a 3-2 win for the Catalans at San Siro in a match where both teams had already qualified.

"If you want to be champion of Europe you have to beat the best and Milan is without doubt among them," Barca coach Pep Guardiola told reporters in Spain.

"Milan have seven European Cups on their curriculum, all their players are of exceptionally high quality and it will be a very tough tie.

"They are an excellent team in every way, very strong defensively and with quality in midfield and up front that is extremely high. Their players have come through a great number of battles and they know what they are about."

Led by 12-goal Lionel Messi, the Catalans will visit San Siro for the first leg on March 29 as they continue their attempt to become the first side since Milan in 1990 to defend their European crown.

Milan director Umberto Gandini told reporters: "It was pretty much evenly balanced when we met in the group stage.

"We drew away and we lost in Milan with a strange penalty, I know they will not be happy to play us."

Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic's return to Nou Camp, which he left in acrimonious circumstances, will add further spice to the meeting.