Leading lights await draw
Thursday, March 11, 2004
Article summary
The draws for the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals and semi-finals take place on Friday.
Article body
The draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals of this year's UEFA Champions League take place in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday at 12:30CET, with no fewer than five current domestic league leaders in the last eight of the world's premier club competition.
Strong lineup
The holders AC Milan are joined by Olympique Lyonnais and AS Monaco FC of France; Real Madrid CF and RC Deportivo La Coruña of Spain; Chelsea FC and Arsenal FC of England; as well as FC Porto, the UEFA Cup holders.
Anything possible
It is an open draw, so teams from the same country can face each other from now on, raising the prospect of some exciting 'derbies'. The dates for the quarter-final first legs are 23/24 March, with the second legs a fortnight later.
Remaining dates
The semi-finals are scheduled for 20/21 April and 4/5 May, with the final at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen, Germany on Wednesday 26 May.
