Real to face Bayern in Champions League semifinal

Nyon, April 14: Champions Real Madrid will meet Bayern Munich in the Champions League semifinals, while Liverpool will take on AS Roma.

Liverpool will host Roma at Anfield on Tuesday, April 24 with Real at Bayern on Wednesday, April 25.

Bayern visit the Spanish capital on May 1 with Roma's Olympic Stadium hosting Liverpool on May 2.

Cristiano Ronaldo's Real will go to Bayern's Allianz Arena for the first leg while Liverpool will host Roma at Anfield in their first match, after Friday's draw at UEFA's headquarters in Switzerland.

The official result of the #UCLdraw!@FCBayern v @realmadrid @LFC v @OfficialASRoma

🏆Who will reach the final in Kyiv? pic.twitter.com/fHyjIPresp

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 13, 2018

Real, who have won the competition 12 times, reached the semifinals by fighting off a remarkable Juventus comeback before Ronaldo scored a late penalty to give them a 4-3 win on aggregate.

Bundesliga champions Bayern, who named Niko Kovac as their next coach minutes before the draw, eased past Sevilla in their quarter-final.

"I have to say, it's a cracking tie. A gigantic fixture, in a very positive way," said Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes, whose club have been knocked out by Spanish opposition in the last four seasons.

Having become the first side to win back-to-back titles in the Champions League era last season, Real Madrid want to be the first club since Bayern (1974-76) to claim three successive European Cups.

Emilio Butragueno, Real Madrid's Director of Institutional Relations said: "We need to get a good result in Munich to then take it back to the Bernabeu. At this stage of the competition it's impossible that you don't suffer.

"If we have to do so in order to get to the final, so be it. We really want to be there. It's been a tough Champions League thus far drawing Paris (St Germain), Juve and now Bayern."

Roma produced one of the most remarkable comebacks in Champions League history to knock out Lionel Messi's Barcelona with a 3-0 victory in the Italian capital that gave them an unexpected win on away goals over the two legs.

Liverpool beat runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City 5-1 on aggregate to set up their meeting with Roma, a repeat of the 1984 European Cup final that the English side won on penalties.

Liverpool will have happy memories of their meeting with Roma in the 1984 European Cup final which was played in the Italian capital with the English side winning on penalties.

The game will reunite Liverpool's top scorer this season, Mohamed Salah, with his former club.

Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp was at pains to play down any suggestion that the Serie A outfit was the easier draw for his side, who demolished Premier League leaders Manchester City to reach the semi-finals for the first time in 10 years.

"Whichever opponent we would have got, I would have said there is a chance because it is football - so there is a chance against Roma," Klopp said at a news conference on Friday.

"But if anybody think this is the easiest draw then I cannot help this person; they obviously didn't see both games against Barcelona."

Source: Agencies/OPTA