Ancelotti and Mbappe the winners, MSN and Real Madrid the losers in Champions League draw

Peter Staunton

Ancelotti and Mbappe the winners, MSN and Real Madrid the losers in Champions League draw image

WINNER: Carlo Ancelotti


Carlo Ancelotti Bayern Munich 2017

Carlo Ancelotti is such a genial figure that revenge would never be a motivation but there is no doubt he will be itching to prove to Real Madrid they were wrong to dismiss him after winning La Decima, the Copa del Rey, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. No recent Real coach had the team playing with such effortless fluidity as the Italian but coming up short in la Liga ultimately saw him sacked.

Barca draw Juve; Real to meet Bayern

He is back, though, and ready to lead his Bayern Munich team in the quarter-finals. Ancelotti's record in the Champions League is impeccable with five wins as player and manager in the competition. Having seen off Arsenal with characteristic Bavarian brutality, Ancelotti will no doubt be plotting to exploit the weaknesses in the team that left him behind.

He will have great insight into Real's vulnerabilities having worked there and will be ready to capitalise on any tactical mis-step by his one-time assistant Zinedine Zidane. This is the tie Real Madrid wanted to avoid. 


WINNERS: Leicester City


Leicester Sevilla

Leicester City are the only English team left in the Champions League and they have drawn the most English team of the rest. Atletico Madrid would not look out of place in the Premier League given Diego Simeone's favouring of direct tactics, set-piece organisation and defensive reliability.

Stylistically, this is a match-up that suits Leicester far more than it does Atleti. In many ways, Simeone likes to play the Leicester role in knockout ties, allowing more esteemed opponents their time on the ball before striking at pace through Antoine Griezmann up front.

Well, there is no doubt who will be the underdog in this one and - being the weakest team in the draw - Atletico fans will be expecting their team to attack the Foxes. Nobody realistically expects Leicester to progress from here but then again, they have made a habit of defying expectations to this point. 


WINNER: Kylian Mbappe


Kylian Mbappe Monaco

Kylian Mbappe was somewhat of an unknown quantity outside French football circles until his two goals in two matches helped eliminate Manchester City and Pep Guardiola. The new Thierry Henry now has a quarter-final stage on which to demonstrate his credentials against - perhaps - the most amenable opponents left in the draw.

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Monaco will not be up against clean sheet monsters Juventus or Leicester, they will not be facing the suffocating power of Bayern Munich or the overwhelming abilities of MSN. Instead they will face a Dortmund team who are no less attractive than themselves but very much susceptible to conceding goals.

The pace Mbappe possesses on the break means Dortmund will be weary of getting caught too far forward as City did and the scheming abilities of Bernardo Silva will also be key. Monaco and Mbappe have enjoyed a breakout run to this point and the indications are that it might yet continue to the semi-final stage. 


LOSERS: MSN


Messi Suarez Neymar Barcelona Paris Saint-Germain

Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez have scored 18 of Barcelona's 26 goals in the competition so far and Luis Enrique's side are top scorers following their 6-1 demolition of Paris St-Germain. That was a game that owed less to the fluency of MSN than it did to the self-destruction PSG carried out upon themselves.

Barcelona's real form is somewhere between the 4-0 trouncing they got in Paris and the 6-1 they meted out at Camp Nou. They are still searching for their true identity in the competition and are facing - possibly - the best-organised side left in the draw and one with an alarming potential for knocking them out. Juventus have conceded only two goals in the Champions League so far with Gianluigi Buffon rolling back the clock and Leonardo Bonucci expertly leading the backline.

Barcelona's capacity for out-scoring their opponents will be severely diminished in this tie and Juventus's attacking threats - chief among them Paulo Dybala - will be ready to take advantage. This is not the Barca who beat Juve in the 2015 final; it's a worse version. Meanwhile, Juventus under Max Allegri, look the real deal. 


LOSERS: Real Madrid


Zinedine Zidane Napoli Real Madrid Champions League

Last season Real Madrid benefited from the most gentle draw to befall any champion team in many a year. They overcame Roma, Wolfsburg and Manchester City to get to the final where they beat Atletico in Milan. However they appear to have cashed in their good luck chips.

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There have been times this season where Real's vulnerabilities have been exposed. Against Legia Warsaw in the group stages they suffered a meltdown while Dortmund and Napoli have also ran them close. They have been reliant on moments of brilliance from the likes of Sergio Ramos to carry them through instead of any over-arching plan from Zinedine Zidane.

Bayern Munich are not a team who give up chances lightly and should be favourites to progress. Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale have not been at their best this season in this competition and everyone at the White Club should be wary of Bayern. 

Champions League quarter-final ties

Peter Staunton

Peter Staunton Photo

Peter Staunton is Goal’s Chief Correspondent, responsible for news, analysis and interviews from all angles of the game, primarily covering the big stories in the Premier League and Champions League. He has been part of the Goal team since 2008 and has been to multiple World Cups, European Championships and Champions League finals as well as interviewing some of the game’s biggest names, including Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Pele. He has appeared as a guest and analyst on outlets such as BBC Radio 5 Live, the Totally Football Show, CNN, TalkSPORT and RT.