Italy's two surviving teams in the
Champions League will both face a tough challenge in the
quarterfinals, with Juventus drawn against Real Madrid and AS
Roma pitched against Barcelona.
Roma will face the Catalan giants away in the first leg on
April 4, with the return in the Italian capital six days later.
It will be the opposite way around for Juve, who will host
Real in Turin in the first leg on April 3 and travel to Madrid
for the second leg the following week.
The tie is a repeat of last season's final, which Real won
4-1.
"The difficulties will be enormous but we have more of a
chance over two legs," Juventus Vice-President Pavel Nedved told
Mediaset Premium.
"The two matches will be difficult and we have two suspended
players, but you always start at 0-0 and I'm convinced we can
cause them trouble".
The most recent encounter between Roma and Barcelona was in
the 2015/16 group stage, with the Catalans winning 6-1 at the
Camp Nou and Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez both scoring twice.
"I'm happy about the draw because we are among the eight best
teams in Europe and so it would have been the same to take on
Manchester City or Real Madrid," said Roma director Francesco
Totti.
"We'll play to win as we have up to now. We've had a good run
in this Champions League so Barcelona will have to sweat hard to
knock us out.
"My son is crazy about Messi. The last time I asked him for
his shirt because I'd already given him five of mine".
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