Manchester City Draw Tottenham in Champions League Quarter Finals

Manchester City have reached the Quarter Finals of the Champions League for the second year running. And the only thing guaranteed at this point is that there will be a new champion in place at the final, after the holders Real Madrid were knocked out.

Last season Manchester City were beaten by Liverpool in a Quarter Final that was dogged by controversy and there is no doubt that City are keen to progress in this competition and to reachy the Semi Finals for only the second time in their history. As Pep Guardiola has said, City are merely teenagers in this tournament and do not have the rich European heritage of other sides. Nevertheless as teenagers they care little about the past and are focussed only on their future.

The draw was made in the presence of many esteemed former players and heads of the European clubs alongside dignitaries from UEFA and some of the member associations. The only thing which can be said for sure is that the atmosphere looked frosty at best! I would love to be at the stuffy stage managed draw if only too inappropriately boo the UEFA anthem.

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We have been a part of enough of these occasions to know it is like Eurovision without the snazzy outfits. And I always sit in the hope that the proceedings will be livened up by some brash Europop.

As the draw went on there was an increased likelihood of drawing another English side. The easier remaining sides began to disappear and we were left with the stark realization that we would have to beat Tottenham Hotspur. For our reward for a record 10:2 demolition of Schalke in the previous round has been a draw against another English opponent, Spurs.

There are no easy draws left in the latter stages of this competition and this is no easy draw it will mean a we face a difficult few weeks in April where our fates will be sealed in two competitions ina matter of days. It will also mean that we play Tottenham twice in the Champions League and once in the League in about 10 days.

The matches will take place on the 9/10 April for the first leg and the second leg at will be on 16/17 April.

The wonderful thing about European ties is the glamour but the unfortunate thing about drawing another English side again is that the tie feels somewhat less glamorous and a kind of fixture fatigue sets in for the fans. We will be sick to death of playing Tottenham by the end of April.