Atletico Madrid were handed a chance to avenge last season’s Champions League final defeat by city rivals and record 10-times winners Real after the two sides were drawn together in the last eight yesterday.
Paris St Germain and Barcelona were paired together having met in the group stage, with the French side winning in Paris and the Catalans coming out on top in Spain.
Porto will face 2013 champions Bayern Munich and Juventus take on Monaco in the other ties.
Real won last year’s final 4-1 after extra time but Atletico’s superb recent record against their more illustrious neighbours will give them huge cause for optimism.
The teams have met six times in all competitions this season with Real Madrid yet to register a win, while last year’s final was Real’s only victory in the last eight derbies.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side have drawn three and lost four of those eight games while the last Madrid derby ended in a 4-0 win for Atletico, their biggest victory against their rivals since 1987.
Real’s recent form has also been less than impressive having ceded the advantage in La Liga to Barcelona and suffered a surprise wobble in the last 16 against Schalke 04 when they slumped to a 4-3 defeat at the Bernabeu to squeeze through 5-4 on aggregate.
“Atletico are a very competitive team,” Real director Emilio Butragueno told Canal Plus.
“But we are Real Madrid, we are defending the title and we will try to perform well enough to get through the tie.”
Porto’s clash with Bayern is a repeat of the 1987 final when the Portuguese side came out on top 2-1 in Vienna.
Bayern will start as overwhelming favourites, however, against an inexperienced Porto side, with the Germans offering a potent remin-der of their pedigree in a devastating 7-0 drubbing of Shakhtar Donetsk in the last 16.
In the Europa League, Zenit St Petersburg will have to overcome a terrible record against Spanish clubs after being drawn against holders Sevilla in the quarter-finals.
Zenit, UEFA Cup winners in 2008, have won only twice in 14 games against Spanish teams and are without a victory in their last seven against opponents from the Primera Liga.
Fiorentina’s reward for demolishing Serie A rivals Roma in the last 16 was a quarter-final against Dynamo Kiev, while Napoli play Wolfsburg and Dnipro play Club Bruges, the only unbeaten side left in the competition.
Sevilla, three-times winners of the competition, have eased into the last eight and made light work of La Liga rivals Villarreal in the last round, winning 5-2 over two legs.
Wolfsburg will fancy their chances against Italy’s Napoli having dispatched Serie A Inter comprehensively in the last round, 5-2 on aggregate.
Napoli, however, may prove cannier opposition under European specialist Rafa Benitez, who is seeking to become only the second man after Giovanni Trapattoni to win the trophy for a third time after victories with Valencia in 2004 and Chelsea in 2013.
Champions League quarter-finals
Tuesday, April 14
Atletico Madrid (Spain) vs Real Madrid (Spain)
Juventus (Italy) vs Monaco (France)
Return legs: April 22.
Wednesday, April 15
Paris St Germain (France) vs Barcelona (Spain)
FC Porto (Portugal) vs Bayern Munich (Germany)
Return legs: April 21.
Europa League last-eight draw
Sevilla (Spain) vs Zenit St Petersburg (Russia)
Club Bruges (Belgium) vs Dnipro (Ukraine)
Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine) vs Fiorentina (Italy)
VfL Wolfsburg (Germany) vs Napoli (Italy)
First legs: April 16. Second legs: April 23.