UEFA Champions League draw result favors PSG, but Bayern Munich look hopeful too
Li Xiang
Qu Bo/CGTN

Qu Bo/CGTN

Though only four teams were decided for the quarterfinals, UEFA finished the draw for the rest of the 2019-20 Champions League on Friday and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) will definitely love the result because they have managed avoid meeting all the major opponents before the final.

PSG will meet Atalanta, Serie A's biggest dark horse this season, in the quarterfinal game. The other two teams in this division are Atletico Madrid and RB Leipzig. Both rank No. 3 in La Liga and Bundesliga respectively. The difference is, the 2019-20 Bundesliga season is already over so Leipzig can 100 percent focus on the Champions League while Atletico Madrid still have three games to play. Of course, there was also good news for Los Colchoneros. Timo Werner, Leipzig's ace striker, already left for Chelsea.

Atalanta have been favored recently to achieve nine straight wins. After they beat Sampdoria 2-0 at home on Wednesday, the team surpassed Inter Milan to rise to No. 3 on the ranking table of Serie A. Atalanta's Josip Ilicic and Duvan Zapata scored 15 and 14 goals respectively this season, both among top 10 of Serie A.

Players of Paris Saint-Germain celebrate their second goal in the Coupe de France semifinal second-leg game against Olympique Lyonnais at Groupama Stadium, Lyon, France, March 4, 2020. /VCG

Players of Paris Saint-Germain celebrate their second goal in the Coupe de France semifinal second-leg game against Olympique Lyonnais at Groupama Stadium, Lyon, France, March 4, 2020. /VCG

However, none of the three clubs seems to be able to threaten PSG which were granted the Ligue 1 championship over two months ago while leading the second Olympique de Marseille by 12 points while playing one fewer game. The team have probably the most expensive striker group of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Mauro Icardi. The only concern for PSG was that they team did not play any game since late April so there is a question mark on their players' forms.

Compared with this division where there one team is clearly way stronger than the rest, the other division is just hell for everybody. First, none of the eight teams on this side have made the quarterfinals yet so there is still the second-leg game left for them first. The UEFA confirmed yesterday that the four teams were allowed to play the second-leg game at home.

Cristiano Ronaldo #7 of Juventus shoots the ball in the Serie A game against AC Milan at Stadio San Siro, Milan, Italy, July 7, 2020. /VCG

Cristiano Ronaldo #7 of Juventus shoots the ball in the Serie A game against AC Milan at Stadio San Siro, Milan, Italy, July 7, 2020. /VCG

It should be only a matter of time for Juventus to win their 36th Serie A championship but "The Old Lady" is after more than that, just like they were for so many years. Besides, who doesn't want to see Cristiano Ronaldo playing against Real Madrid, the club he won four Champions League titles for? However, Juventus will first need to figure out how to come back from the 1-0 loss against Olympique Lyonnais at home. Besides, Man City will also have a say in whether this "meeting your ex" scenario will happen.

Man City will host Real Madrid at the City of Manchester Stadium with a 2-1 lead thanks to their close win at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in late February. Man City were already humiliated by Liverpool in Premier League this season and their chances of winning the appeal against the UEFA's two-year-ban from the Champions League did not seem good. Leroy Sane already departed for Bayern at a ridiculous price of 49 million euros (about 55.3 million U.S. dollars) and he won't the last. Therefore, Man City already have nothing to lose this will be their last chance to chase the top honor in at least two years.

Players of Real Madrid celebrate after Sergio Ramos #4 scores a goal in the La Liga game against Athletic Bilbao at at San Mames Stadium in Bilbao, Spain, July 5, 2020. /VCG

Players of Real Madrid celebrate after Sergio Ramos #4 scores a goal in the La Liga game against Athletic Bilbao at at San Mames Stadium in Bilbao, Spain, July 5, 2020. /VCG

Real Madrid managed to replace Barcelona as the leading team of La Liga. Currently, La Casa Blanca lead their mortal enemy by one point (77-76) and they played one fewer game. Of the four future opponents Real Madrid will face in La Liga, only Villarreal are a top 5 team and may pose some threat. Of course, it's absolutely no picnic trying to reverse a 2-1 home loss against Man City.

By contrast, Barcelona face a more difficult situation in La Liga but a relatively easier task in the Champions League, at least before the quarterfinals. They will return to Camp Nou with one away goal thanks to the 1-1 draw in Napoli, defeating the Italian club at home should not be a problem. Nonetheless, Barcelona's only hope to win the La Liga title this season is to count on the possibility of Real Madrid making mistakes. So far, that's is unlikely to happen.

Robert Lewandowski #9 of Bayern Munich celebrates after scoring the fourth team goal in the DFB Cup final game against Bayer 04 Leverkusen at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, July 4, 2020. /VCG

Robert Lewandowski #9 of Bayern Munich celebrates after scoring the fourth team goal in the DFB Cup final game against Bayer 04 Leverkusen at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, July 4, 2020. /VCG

What should raise a bigger concern for Barcelona is their possible rival in the quarterfinal game – Bayern Munich which will host Chelsea at Allianz Arena with a big 3-0 advantage. The German giants already pocketed both the Bundesliga title and the DFB-Pokal championship. Moreover, Bayern already claimed 17 strait wins in all competitions. The team's 31-year-old striker Robert Lewandowski already got 51 goals for Bayern in 43 games this season. Defeating Lionel Messi and Barcelona will definitely be helpful in this year's competition for Ballon d'Or.

The four round-of-16 second-leg Champions League games will all happen on August 7. After that, the rest of the competition will all be single-leg fixtures, which will make things both more exciting and crueler. Leipzig will meet Atletico Madrid on August 13 and Atalanta will challenge PSG on August 15.