The draw for the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League took place in Athens, Greece, with AC Milan and Roma from Serie A drawing against Premier League and Bundesliga giants Manchester United and Bayern Munich respectively.

The opposition were strong, but neither Serie A manager's head coach thought they had been drawn, with Carlo Ancelotti and Luciano Spalletti even talking about an Italian derby that could follow in the semi-finals.

"Bayern are certainly a very strong team and they have an honourable tradition to be proud of." AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti told Sky TV after learning the draw: "They are in very good physical condition, they have a lot of strength, Bayern's form before the winter was a bit up and down, but after the change of manager they have gradually come out of the predicament, the elimination of Real Madrid is the best example. Heathfield (Bayern's new manager) is an experienced and capable manager who has won the Champions League and is very good at managing the team. ”

However, after complimenting his opponents, Carlo Ancelotti changed his mind and expressed confidence that AC Milan would continue to move forward in the Champions League. "But it's not too bad to draw Bayern, at least they're not the toughest opponents to play against." Ancelotti said: "We are not afraid of Bayern. "What gives Carlo Ancelotti confidence is the historical record. AC Milan and Bayern Munich have met eight times in their history, with the Milanese winning five of them while the Munich have won just one. The two teams met in the quarter-finals of the Champions League last season, with AC Milan comfortably knocking out Bayern Munich 5-2 on aggregate over two legs.

With such a psychological advantage, Ancelotti will certainly feel at ease. He even predicted his hopeful semi-final opponent. 'It would be disappointing to meet Manchester United in the semi-finals,' said Carlo Ancelotti, 'not that Roma are better than Manchester United. But it was quite an attraction to meet another Italian team in the semi-finals. It also reminds me of the Champions League in 2003, when we faced an Italian team in the semi-finals – Inter Milan, and after knocking them out, we won the Champions League! I think that's a good sign. ”

Compared to Carlo Ancelotti's confidence, Roma coach Spalletti felt a little pressure, and the draw for Manchester United was quite a test for Roma. It's not just that the Red Devils' form is on the rise, but the point is that Roma have a consistently poor record against English sides in their history.

1984 year. Roma's only Champions League final was defeated by England's Liverpool; Prior to this season, Roma came closest to the knockout stages of the Champions League in 2002, losing again to Liverpool after only needing a draw to qualify. lost the right to qualify from the group; Last season, Roma was helpless against Middlesbrough, who were only in the middle of the Premier League, in the UEFA Cup, and now they are facing the super giants of the Premier League, and there is really nothing to support the Roma to create another miracle.

But Spalletti wasn't discouraged. "There's nothing unfair about it." The Roma boss said in an interview. "The Champions League has reached this stage and all the teams are equally strong. Manchester United have an honourable tradition of young, strong and technically good players. Whether it is the individual ability or the overall combination of the players, whether it is the tactical system or the physical condition, this team is among the best in Europe. But Lyon are just as strong and we have to repeat what we did in Lyon against Manchester United. We just go into the game with confidence and don't think too much about the result. ”

And that's not all. Spalletti also spoke about a possible Italian derby. 'It would be nice to meet AC Milan in the semi-finals, Carlo Ancelotti's side have few weaknesses. Spalletti said. It seems that the Roma boss also has considerable confidence in knocking out Manchester United. For the Italians, an Italian derby in the semi-finals is certainly the best result, or at least it proves that Serie A is still one of the top leagues in Europe, especially with the unexpected exit of the hegemons Inter Milan.

Perhaps when the Champions League quarter-finals draw comes out, the AC Milan hierarchy in the audience will have a smug smile on their face, as they wished, UEFA has given them Bayern, the most desirable of them, but if the Milanese are still dreaming of reliving their dream with ease, then they will likely pay a heavy price for it.

1 win, 2 draws and 5 losses, this is Bayern's record against AC Milan in Europe, and in the first 3 meetings, AC Milan won the final championship, so in their opinion, Bayern has simply become Milan's "lucky charm", so it is not surprising why AC Milan midfielder Gattuso was so eager to meet Bayern before the game. I believe that the scene of their 4-1 home victory over Bayern last season often excites players and even coaches, but I wonder if AC Milan knows that it is not 2006, and Bayern is no longer the Bayern of last year.

At first glance, Bayern's situation seems to be more difficult than a year ago, when they were leaders in the Bundesliga at this time last year, but now they are only fourth, and it has become a situation that Bayern have to face to retain qualification for next season's Champions League, and they have also been eliminated from this season's German Cup. But in fact, Bayern are not as dangerous as AC Milan imagined, and after Heathfield was appointed last month, Bayern have been reborn as a brand new team in just over a month, not only winning all the way in the league, but also beating Real Madrid in the Champions League to reach the quarter-finals. Bayern, coached by Heathfield, has increasingly shown the domineering of the team that won the Champions League in 2001. Real Madrid have taught AC Milan and the rest of the world a hard lesson that there is a price to be paid for underestimating Bayern.

In fact, AC Milan's own situation is not much better than Bayern's, they have a difficult time winning the league title, and the more realistic goal is to fight for a Champions League ticket, and Shevchenko, who scored twice for Bayern last season, has also left Chelsea, and AC Milan's road has been more bumpy than Bayern's this season. It's far from the time for AC Milan to be optimistic, as they are under pressure to play on both fronts, and the pressure is greater than that of Bayern. I'm afraid it's also going unabated.

AC Milan can't ignore the schedule yet, this year Bayern Munich first away and then home, and just like last year, as Bayern manager Hoeness said yesterday: "We don't care who the opponent is, we just want to get the away and then home fixtures, I believe that with the support of the home fans, we can beat any opponent." "Hoeness is by no means blindly confident. As you can see from the match against Real Madrid in midweek, Bayern's home advantage is very clear, and the nearly 70,000 fans at the Allianz Arena have cheered and cheered Bayern from start to finish. It's enough to make any team scared. San Siro is just the beginning, Allianz is the end.

If AC Milan still think Bayern are scared of the San Siro, they are very wrong, not forgetting last September. Bayern beat another Milan side 2-0 at the San Siro Stadium, Inter Milan. It ended more than 10 years of invincibility in Italy.

I don't know if AC Milan understands that history is not an immutable repetition, and records will be ended sooner or later. If you still don't understand, I believe Bayern won't mind educating another team in Milan City with facts.

After learning of this result, the Bayern soldiers also reacted immediately.

Rummenigge (Bayern President): Everybody knows the result we had last year against AC Milan and it wasn't a good memory for us. Now we need to do our best to make up for our mistakes and the away and home schedule is good for us. But we won't be easy, maybe we haven't adapted well to the tactics of the Italian team, they are defensive and playful, AC Milan are the kind of team that waited until the last minute for their chances, they were waiting for their opponents to make mistakes. So we have to avoid making mistakes at Milan and it's better to be able to score away from home. We're not going to waste time thinking about the semi-finals now, it's all about playing away games first, and back in Munich, we'll give AC Milan the atmosphere that Real Madrid used to feel, so let's wait and see.

Hoeness (Bayern manager): Once you're in the quarter-finals, there's no team to play against, we're going to try to score in Milan and I guess our chances are half right and half right.

Heathfield (Bayern Munich manager): AC Milan are a traditional powerhouse, and their game will be a challenge for us to take on one of the best teams in Europe, AC Milan has a history behind them, and now both teams have some problems, AC Milan were deducted league points at the beginning of the season, and like us, they are fighting for qualification for next season's Champions League, the away and home schedule will be crucial for us, and more importantly, we will be able to have Van Bommel when we return to home. He missed the first leg due to suspension. And the fans will give us the greatest support, as we did against Real Madrid.

Van Bommel (Bayern midfielder): The other seven teams are not going to be in a better position than us, now our priority is on the Bundesliga games against Bremen, Eintracht Frankfurt and Schalke 04, AC Milan are a tough opponent, they can score goals in any situation, they are a typical Italian team, maybe last year they beat Bayern Munich was a big psychological advantage for them, but it was also our chance.

Sagnol (Bayern defender): The worst we can do is against Chelsea (Chelsea news, Chelsea say it), AC Milan have had some problems this season, so we'd love to meet them, for them Shevchenko is irreplaceable, we've gotten a lot better in recent weeks and I think we have a 50 per cent chance of progressing.

Schweinsteiger (Bayern midfielder): Great, I wanted to play Milan or Chelsea back in the round of 16 draw, we were knocked out by them before, I'm looking forward to playing against Kaka, because you can't play against a player like him every day, and I'm looking forward to playing at the San Siro again.

Van Bigen (Bayern defender): We were talking in the dressing room about the quarter-finals, we need to get a good result away from home and then we go back to our goal of qualifying, that's a big advantage for us, we've found our rhythm in the Champions League and now we want to keep moving towards our goal, it's not easy, but I'm sure we can beat AC Milan.

Facing a united Bayern Munich. AC Milan will need some luck and a lot of luck depending on manager Carlo Ancelotti's tactics if they want to get through in April. If he is still as "superstitious" as ever Inzaghi and indulges Kaka's desire to shoot, it will be even more difficult for the Rossoneri to reach the last four, and once he has a slight flexibility in his thinking and gives a decisive role to the key players, Milan still have a better chance of winning.

Super Lure: Kaka!

Strikes don't happen in every game, and instead of letting Kaka dictate the limited shooting opportunities in the face of Lucio and Kahn's Bayern defence. To consume the passion of his teammates, it is better to use him as a "running bait", the Brazilian's big stride with the ball. It is bound to attract Bayern two or three people, at which point he can quickly transfer the ball to his teammates who are plugged in, and his role is fine-tuned. Can effectively disrupt Heathfield deployment.

All-round weapon: Joank!

In more than half a year of Milan city life. Jonk has proven his savings to everyone more than once, and those who doubted it at the beginning have now all shut their mouths, and it turns out that Milan has made this exchange with the top scorer in the country, not only does not lose, but also makes a lot of money! Jonker, who is already a World Cup winner, has not been crowned with a Champions League trophy in his entire career. This young killer will definitely give it his all in the Champions League!

Source of fighting spirit: Ambrosini!

For Ambrosini's use, it seems that Ancelotti has a reason. When the game is basically won, he will be sent on the field as a "defensive striker", or when he is desperate, he will be expected to make a headshot, but the battle with Celtic shows that he cherishes the opportunity and never gives up his hard work, as if to let Milan have one more person on the field, a moment of center-forward header goal, a moment of speeding to his own goal to make up for the leak, the bloody nature of the team, prompting the big brother Maldini to rejuvenate, let Kaka also forget about tiredness, facing the high-spirited Bayern in April, the lifeless Milan has no hope, if then Ambu can still start, and even wearing the captain's armband openly, will surely allow the German giant to once again appreciate Milan's fighting power.

Defensive stalwarts: Nesta!

Maldini and Bonella can withstand Hessellink, but it is difficult to stop Mackay and Lucio from head to toe, Milan wants to give the talent in the front court a chance to finish the opponent, must add another heavyweight weight to the backline: Nesta! Last year, even Nesta, who could only play six times, made Bayern's forward line miserable, and a month later, after a long period of recuperation, Nene's teaming up with Kaladze will make Milan's defense suddenly upgrade.

When the media analyzes the matchup between Bayern and AC Milan, it is generally believed that Bayern this season now has an advantage over AC Milan, that is, Bayern is relatively easy to get a Champions League ticket in the league than its opponents, and the strategic focus will naturally be tilted towards the Champions Cup.

"It's a matchup between the absolute giants of the world's two major leagues." AC Milan vice-president Juliani said this as he looked ahead to the matchup. It's clear that Galliani have been crazy for Manchester United this season if they were to talk about the Premier League, and in the words of the media, their Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo was a phenomenon.

Now, in European football, the media and fans are generally recognized as the top three young stars: AC Milan's Jonker, Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona's Lionel Messi.

Of course, in the league, unlike Manchester United in the Premier League, AC Milan is still 8 points away from Inter Milan in the league, which is ridiculous to say, these 8 points are officially the 8 points that Milan was penalized before the start of the season!

And Bayern's life in the league is only better than Milan, and it is currently in fourth place in the league, but the top four in the Bundesliga are more ahead of the points of the chasers behind them, which is not surprising, if it is changed to the Bundesliga in previous years, maybe Bayern has now almost locked the league championship and concentrated on playing the Champions League!

Whoever advances to the semi-finals of the two teams is likely to face a strong Manchester United, although Ancelotti is helping Roma to cheer up, but everyone knows that if they can meet Roma, no one wants to meet the Red Devils Manchester United, and Ancelotti is even more so, Roma who knows the roots, is far easier to deal with than Manchester United.

In any case, Bayern is a must, Milan must pass, all the Italian media are more optimistic, whether it is in terms of historical record or team momentum, Milan seems to be good.

The media is watching the next encounter, but what is even more interesting is that UEFA seems to be brewing a reform of the Champions League!

"We are considering the feasibility of implementing this scheme: the winner of the domestic cup can qualify for the Champions League for the new season, and if it happens that this team is in the top 2 in the league again, then the vacant qualification will be filled by the third place," said Willian Platini, special adviser to the new head of UEFA. Gaillard's remarks in an interview with Reuters were also highlighted at a meeting of UEFA's Executive Committee on Thursday.

From the intention of cutting the fourth place in the three major leagues of England, Spain and Italy to participate in the Champions League, to the current cup winners, perhaps Platini and Gaillard think that this is the best of both worlds, not too offending the clubs, but also achieving their own "reform" goals, and so on, and if the "new policy" is implemented smoothly, there is no doubt that the clubs' attention to their own cup competitions will be greatly increased. It seems that this is not a way to get the best of both worlds, but "kill three birds with one stone".

If this decision is finally approved and implemented, it will not be until the 07-08 season at the earliest. Let's take a look at this season's situation to see how Gaillard's original intention will affect the Champions League landscape for the next two seasons if his original intention is realized.

Serie A is the simplest of the list, with Inter Milan and Roma facing each other in the league and the final of the Coppa Italia for the third year in a row, with the Nerazzurri's bench players looking to the cup as a big stage to show their strength. Considering that AC Milan's strength will be restored to a certain extent next season, the Rossoneri will not attach too much importance to the implementation of the new policy, but Roma, Lazio, Palermo and Fiorentina will increase their investment in the Cup, after all, the limited Champions League quota is very much covered by the traditional top three, of course, if AC Milan can't recover as much as possible, it is difficult to guarantee that there will be no accidents.

The situation in the Premier League is similar to that of Serie A, and the chances of an upset are not very high. In the past 6 years, the four giants have taken turns to sit in the bank, and the middle and lower teams have no strength to attack even if they advance to the final, Southampton, Tottenham, and West Ham have been killed. Not surprisingly, this year's championship will not escape the hands of the giants, and it will be difficult for Watford, the deputy squad leader, to make waves, but Blackburn, who eliminated Arsenal, has the strength to cause an upset.

La Liga is undoubtedly the most chaotic among the three major leagues, Real Madrid has not won the Copa del Rey for 14 years, and staggered to the final 3 years ago, but was slashed by Zaragoza. Marca has pointed out that the Copa del Rey is too complicated to be played by strong teams (two single-legged knockout matches and four double-legged 10 matches are required to qualify for the final). In recent years, the Copa del Rey has been won by teams that are basically worry-free about relegation and thus concentrated. This season's Copa del Rey has reached the semi-finals, and the ABC newspaper predicts that Getafe will first eliminate Barcelona, and then beat the winner between Sevilla and Laco to finally win the cup, the reason is very simple, Sevilla and Barcelona are busy competing for the title, but Schuster's team is not afraid of the sky, as long as the other party is a little tired and relaxed, it is not a big club can be killed.

The situation in the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 is a bit chaotic, with 4-5 rounds of single-legged knockouts, the first two rounds facing countless tests from regional league teams, and the giants cannot come up with too much energy to deal with it, so the term "hotbed of upsets" comes from this, and the final dominance is often those midstream teams with relatively strong first-team lineups in the first division. The competition for Champions League qualification places by Bundesliga and Ligue 1 teams will remain more concentrated in the league, as their cup competitions are too elusive and elusive. (To be continued......)