All eyes on CL semi-final draw

FC Barcelona and FC Bayern München have joined Real Madrid CF and Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals with the last-four pairings to be decided at Friday's draw in Nyon, streamed live on UEFA.com.

Bayern were always well placed to reach the semi-finals for the third time in four seasons following a 2-0 home win against Juventus last week, and duly wrapped up progress with an identical victory in Turin. Barcelona, meanwhile, were made to sweat by Paris Saint-Germain FC before edging through with a 1-1 draw at Camp Nou, booking a record sixth successive semi-final on away goals.

The pair follow Madrid, beaten 3-2 at Galatasaray A? on Tuesday but through to a record 24th European Cup semi-final 5-3 on aggregate, and Dortmund into the hat for Friday's draw. The German club scored twice in added time to overcome Málaga CF in dramatic circumstances, prevailing 3-2 on the night and on aggregate to make the last four for the first time in 15 years. Bayern, Barcelona and Madrid were all at this stage a year ago.

The draw will start at 12.00CET at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, with Ruud van Nistelrooy assisting UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino and UEFA's director of competitions Giorgio Marchetti in conducting it.

The draw is open, meaning there will be no seeding or country protection. The semi-final ties will be played on 23/24 April and 30 April/1 May. For administrative purposes, the last step of the draw will define whether the winner of semi-final 1 or the winner of semi-final 2 will be the designated home team for the final. The 2012/13 UEFA Champions League final will be held at Wembley, London, on Saturday 25 May, kicking off at 20.45CET.


/UEFA/