Spanish giants kept apart in quarter-finals

Real Madrid and Barcelona have been kept apart in the last eight of the Champions League following this morning's draw.

The chance of Real Madrid meeting Barcelona in the Champions League final at Wembley remained alive when the Spanish giants were kept apart in the draw for the quarter-finals.

Barcelona will face David Beckham’s side Paris St Germain – he is the only English player left in the competition – while Real Madrid will take on Galatasaray.

In the other two quarter-finals, Bayern Munich’s reward for seeing off Arsenal is a meeting with Celtic’s conquerors Juventus, while Borussia Dortmund will play Spanish side Malaga.

Unlike in previous seasons, UEFA did not also make the draw for the semi-final pairings at the same time - that will now take place next month.

Real Madrid head coach Jose Mourinho is aiming to become the first manager to win the Champions League with three different clubs, having achieved it previously with Porto and Inter Milan.

His side saw off Manchester United in the first knockout round and also qualified from a tough group comprising the domestic league champions of Spain, Germany, England and Holland.

Steve McManaman, the former Liverpool and Real midfielder who carried out the draw for UEFA, said: “Real have had to do it the hard way so far – they have beaten a lot of good teams.”

Galatasaray’s squad include two former Mourinho favourites – ex-Chelsea striker Didier Drogba and former Inter midfielder Wesley Sneijder.

Barcelona, who came from 2-0 down in the first leg of the last round to beat AC Milan 4-2 on aggregate, will come up against their former striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The draw in full is:

Malaga v Borussia Dortmund

Real Madrid v Galatasaray

Paris Saint Germain v FC Barcelona

FC Bayern Munich v Juventus

The ties will take place on 2nd/3rd April (1st Leg) and 9th/10th April (2nd Leg)