2011/12 Champions League Draw
The Champions League trophy is pictured during the draw for Champions League first knockout round (last 16) soccer matches at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, December 16, 2011. Reuters

And then there were eight...

The 2011/12 UEFA Champions League is entering its home stretch and from here on, every team will be looking to win... it is no longer a question of scoring points or of being satisfied with a draw. It is, for every team, an all-or-nothing situation.

Defending champions Barcelona came through after a ruthless demolition of Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen (7-1, in the second leg at the Camp Nou, and 10-2 on aggregate). Meanwhile, their fierce rivals Real Madrid were equally comfortably, if less spectacularly, through after a 5-2 two-legged win over CSKA Moscow.

Elsewhere, Italian powerhouse AC Milan went through after a rather surprising dismantling of Arsenal. The Gunners, who were comprehensively beaten 4-0 in the first leg at the San Siro did fight back to record a 3-0 win in the second leg... but to no avail.

The other big name club through to the quarter-finals is Germany's Bayern Munich, who were as brutal in their defeat of Swiss club Basel as Barcelona were against their compatriots.

These four clubs have been joined in the quarter-finals by France's Olympique Marseille (who surprisingly beat former champions Inter Milan), Portugal's SL Benfica (who saw off Russia's Zenit St Petersburg), Chelsea (who recorded a stunning 5-4 aggregate win over Napoli, after losing the first leg 1-3) and Cypriot minnows Apoel FC (who beat Olympique Lyon on penalties).

The draw for this season's Champions League will be, from this stage on, open... meaning that any side can be drawn to play any other (unlike the earlier round, where teams could not play others from the same country or those they played in the group stages). This means we could see some exciting match-ups - Real Madrid could play Barcelona or even, led by former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, return to Stamford Bridge.

The draw will be held at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, at 11.45 CET (10:45 GMT) and will include both quarter-final and semi-final pairings.

The quarter-finals have been scheduled for 27/28 March and 3/4 April. The semi-finals will be played on 17/18 April and 24/25 April.

The 2011/12 UEFA Champions League final will be played on Saturday, 19 May, at the Fußball Arena München.

Meanwhile, the draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the Europa League will also be made on the same day. In the fray for that competition are Spanish clubs Athletic Bilbao (who beat Manchester United), Valencia and Atletico Madrid; Dutch side AZ Alkmaar; German sides Schalke 04 and Hannover 96; Ukrainian club Metalist Kharkiv and Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon (who beat Manchester City).

Click here to watch the draw live online, via UEFA's official Web site...

Click here to watch the draw live on Goal.com...

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