Last season’s finalists and neighbouring rivals, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, will take each other on in the semi-finals of the Champions League this year, it was revealed in the draw on Friday. The other semi-final will see French side Monaco clash with Italian champions Juventus. The ties will take place in back-to-back weeks on May 2-3 and May 9-10.
This is the fourth year in a row that there will be a Madrid derby in the Champions League. Real and Atleti previously clashed in the Champions League final in 2015-’16 and 2013-’14, and in the quarter-finals in 2014-’15, with the former coming out on top on all three occasions. Defending champions Real will host Atletico in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu on May 2, with the return fixture being at the Vicente Calderon on May 10.
Monaco and Juventus last clashed in the 2014’15 season’s quarter-finals, from which the Bianconeri emerged 1-0 winners on aggregate. Their previous meeting before that was in the semi-finals back in 1997-’98, when Juventus won a goalfest 6-4.