UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final draw took place on Friday, 17th March 2023 in Switzerland – now, the question is, who will reach the Semi-Finals?
Qualifying for the quarter-finals is not enough, winning the tie and proceeding to the next stage is all that matters.
The UEFA Champions League, the premier club football competition in Europe, is in its 68th season in 2022–23, the 31st season since it changed its name from the European Champion Clubs’ Cup to the UEFA Champions League.
The Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey, will host the game’s finale. The COVID-19 epidemic caused the 2020 UEFA Champions League final, which was scheduled to take place in the stadium, as well as the 2021 final, which was shifted to the Atatürk, to be postponed.
Real Madrid are the defending champions, having won their fourteenth title in the previous season.
On Futballnews today, we are going to look at the anticipated teams likely to qualify for the 2022-23 Champions League Semi-finals and how we came about it.
Teams Qualified For The UEFA Champions League Quarter-finals
- Chelsea
- Benfica
- Milan
- Bayern
- Manchester City
- Inter
- Real Madrid
- Napoli
UEFA Champions League Quarter-Finals
Quarter-final:
- Real Madrid vs Chelsea
- Benfica vs Inter Milan
- Manchester City vs Bayern Munich
- AC Milan vs Napoli
Real Madrid vs Chelsea
Real Madrid and Chelsea, the two most recent Champions League champions, were paired together in the quarterfinals.
The two teams have two of the most star-studded rosters in the competition and are unquestionably among the most glitzy in all of the sports.
Despite their abundant talent and overflowing trophy cases, both teams have fallen short of their previous high points this season.
At the top of La Liga, Real Madrid is presently nine points behind rival Barcelona, and Chelsea is mired in tenth place with little chance of making the Premier League’s Champions League playoffs for the upcoming season.
Head-to-Head
Real Madrid staged a number of incredible comeback victories over great competitors on their way to winning the Champions League for the 14th time last season. They played Chelsea, the previous champions, in the quarterfinals, and won with two late goals.
The Stamford Bridge crowd will never forget last year’s quarterfinal loss, despite the fact that Chelsea has triumphed in four of their seven meetings with Los Blancos.
Last Meeting
It’s interesting to note that both of the most recent Champions League champions defeated the opposing team on their way to the championship game.
In 2021, Chelsea defeated Real Madrid 2-0 at Stamford Bridge en route to the team’s second Champions League victory.
Madrid eliminated the London team the next year at the Santiago Bernabeu with one of their signature comebacks.
The Croatian playmaker Luka Modric delivered an incredible outside-of-the-boot ball to set up the important goal for Rodrygo when the Spanish giants were down 3-0 on the night and in desperate need of a goal to stay in the match.
Benfica vs Inter Milan
Benfica and Inter Milan each played three games before now. Inter Milan won 1 and drew 2. Benfica have won 0 games the Italian side.
Head-To-Head
The two teams had played a total of one game in the San Siro/Giuseppe Meazza, with Benfica winning zero, Inter Milan winning one, and the two teams drawing zero.
The two teams played a total of two games in the UEFA Europa League before this match, with Benfica winning zero, Inter Milan winning one, and the two teams drawing one.
Last Meeting
The last meeting between Benfica and Inter Milan was in a final in 1964/65 which Inter defeated Benfica by a 1-0 scoreline to lift the trophy.
Manchester City vs Bayern Munich
In the quarterfinal of the Champions League, City will play Bayern Munich.
On April 11 or 12, the first leg will be played at the Etihad, while on April 18 or 19, the second game will be held in the Allianz Arena.
City would then play either Real Madrid or Chelsea in the semi-finals, which would take place in May, should Pep Guardiola’s team defeat Munich.
Bayern have won the Champions League six times, but City have faced them six times, winning three and losing three.
Both teams are currently doing well in their respective leagues with Bayern topping Bundesliga and City second in the EPL.
However, it will be difficult to determine who wins this encounter in April.
Head-To-Head
- Man City: 3 wins
- Bayern Munich: 3 wins
- Draws: 0
Last Meeting
Manchester City prevailed in the second match of the group stage between the two teams, following the pattern established in prior campaigns. After barely 20 minutes, Mehdi Benatia received a red card, and Sergio Aguero converted the ensuing penalty.
Even though Munich had 10 players for 70 minutes, Xabi Alonso and Robert Lewandowski scored twice before halftime, and it took Aguero till the 85th minute to score twice more and turn the game around.
The victory was essential because City made it into the round of 16 after six games and eight points.
AC Milan vs Napoli
Napoli, a first-time quarterfinalist, was paired with AC Milan, another Italian team, in their quest to advance further in the Champions League.
Milan qualified for the last eight along with domestic rivals Inter and Napoli, holders Real Madrid and Benfica, Manchester City, Chelsea, and Bayern Munich after defeating Spurs 1-0 over two legs in the competition’s round of 16.
The last two balls to be drawn were Milan and Napoli; the Rossoneri will host the first leg at San Siro, and the tie’s victor will take on the winner of Inter vs. Benfica.
During the season, Napoli played six group-stage games and one second-round game, winning seven and losing one, scoring 25 goals and giving up 6, with four of those goals coming from Victor Osimhen.
In the meantime, Olivier Giroud scored four goals in AC Milan’s four victories, two draws, and two losses while they scored 13 goals and allowed seven.
Head-To-Head
This is the first time Napoli and AC Milan are playing against each other in the UEFA Champions League but they are local rivals.
The Azzurri now has a higher 1v1 performance index, at 95. Napoli has scored 60 goals overall, while Intalian Power House has scored 43.
Napoli and Ac Milan have met 31 times over the years and in this encounter, Gli Azzurri (which means the Blues) have won 13 while AC Milan have won 7.
The both teams have drawn 13 times.
Last Meeting
In their most recent meeting, which took place in September 2022, Napoli defeated the San Siro champions.
After defeating AC Milan 2-1 and handing the defending champions their first loss of the year, Napoli took the top spot in Serie A.
Both teams entered the match undefeated and tied on 14 points, with Napoli in third position on the strength of their better goal differential.
Victor Osimhen, the man of the moment, did participate in that game, but Napoli won.
With Osimhen up front and Napoli in their best form in a long time this season. It is already looking like Napoli will defeat their local rivals AC Milan and advance to the Champions League Semi-Finals.
Probable Teams To Qualify For The Champions League Semi-Finals
The following are probable teams that will advance to the UEFA Champions League Semi-Finals based on our projections and taking into account the clubs that are currently in form:
- Real Madrid
- Inter Milan
- Bayern Munich
- Napoli
The reason we chose the above teams to reach the semi finals of the competition are simple.
Real Madrid may not be in form currently in La Liga as Barcelona are topping the league, but when it comes to Champions League – it’s more like their forte, and also, they meet a struggling Chelsea who are 10th on the Premier League table.
Inter Milan on the other hand have an upper edge on Benfica as the Portuguese team are not really favorites in Europe.
Bayern Munich have been in scintillating form this season too as they are topping the Bundesliga, they are the favorites to top it as their opponent Manchester City barely have any European Experience even after getting Pep Guardiola as coach.
Napoli on the other hand have been in the best form of their lives with their front three attackers being amongst the best in Europe currently. Given their head to head stats with AC Milan, they have an edge and will most likely proceed to the Semi-Finals.
