The big two from Spain and
Germany have been kept apart in
the draw for this year's
Champions League semi-finals. Bayern Munich were paired with
Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund
with Real Madrid when Friday's
draw was made at UEFA
headquarters. And that leaves open the
prospect of an El Clasico final or a
meeting between the past two
Bundesliga champions at Wembley
next month. Dortmund, the competition's last
unbeaten side, beat Real 2-1 at
home and drew 2-2 in Spain as
both qualified for the knockout
stages through Group D. The first leg of their semi-final
will take place in Germany on April
24 - 24 hours after Bayern host
Barcelona in the first leg of their
tie. The return legs will take place
the following week. Dortmund
visiting the Bernabeu on April 30
and Barca taking on Bayern on
May 1. Bayern and Barca last met in the
quarter-finals four years ago,
the Catalans winning 5-1 on
aggregate, and Bayern chairman
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is relishing
the chance to take them on again. "Barcelona are the benchmark
for me in Europe. They have won
the Champions League more than
any other team in the recent
years," Rummenigge told
UEFA.com. "They are the best team in Europe at the moment,
with fantastic attacking potential. "We played them in 2009 and
received a real thumping. I
remember that game well and I
don't really like to think about it,
because it was quite painful to
watch. However, it's a wonderful opportunity to show that we
have improved a lot since then. "I think we will see two very good
games, played at the highest
possible level. Furthermore, I
think playing at home first is a
slight advantage, contrary to the
popular belief that it's a disadvantage. "We saw that against Juventus,
where people said that it might
be a disadvantage. But we
produced a great performance at
home and that set the stage for
the return leg and our progression into the semi-finals. "I'm really excited that we will get
to play the best team in Europe. I
still feel Barcelona are the big
favourites to win the Champions
League."