Chelsea have been drawn away to Portugese side Benfica in the last eight of the Champions League, setting up a date with either Barcelona or AC Milan should they reach the semi-finals.
After a sensational second leg at Stamford Bridge against Napoli, Chelsea Chief Executive Ron Gourlay told BBC Sport, “We don’t focus on the semi-finals. We have got to the quarter-finals and we wanted an away tie first”.
Should they progress to the semi-finals, memories of the 2008-2009 semi-final heartbreak against Barcelona will come flooding back, a 92nd minute goal cruelly knocking them out on away goals, although few are stupid enough to write off an AC Milan side, who made Arsenal look extremely ordinary in the first leg.
Firstly, Chelsea will have to defeat a strong Benfica side, who topped Manchester Uniteds group, and defeated Zenit St. Petersburg in the previous round, they currently sit second in their domestic league, behind Porto.
The first leg will be played at the 65,000 capacity Estadio da Luz on March 27th, with the return leg at Stamford Bridge on April 4th.
Should they then progress to the semi-finals, Chelsea will play at home versus AC Milan or Barcelona on April 18th, with the return leg a week later on the 24th, with the final on May the 19th at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
The full draw is below:
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUARTER FINALS
APOEL vs. Real Madrid
Marseille vs. Bayern Munich
Benfica vs. Chelsea
AC Milan vs. Barcelona
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMI FINALS
Marseille/Bayern Munich vs. APOEL/Real Madrid
Benfica/Chelsea vs. AC Milan/Barcelona
By Brad Smith