Rival Watch: Victories for Champions League opponents Juventus and league rivals Real Madrid

Rival Watch: Victories for Champions League opponents Juventus and league rivals Real Madrid

Barça’s quarter-final rivals in Europe overcome Sampdoria away from home in Serie A whilst Zidane's men maintain their advantage in La Liga thanks to a win at Athletic Bilbao

FC Barcelona and Italian club Juventus were drawn together in the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Friday in Nyon, Switzerland with the first leg to be played in Turin on Tuesday 11 April and the return leg on Wednesday 19 April at Camp Nou.

In their first game since finding out they will face the blaugranes in the last eight, Massimiliano Allegri’s men extended their lead at the top of Serie A with a 1-0 win away at Sampdoria.

Juventus held firm in the Luigi Ferrari Stadium in Genoa after taking the lead in just the seventh minute thanks to a header from Colombian Juan Cuadrado.

La Vecchia Signora move closer to a record sixth league title in a row as they now have a ten point lead in the table over Napoli and AS Roma who are second and third respectively.

In La Liga Real Madrid maintained their two point lead at the top over Barça thanks to Casemiro’s second half winner in San Mamés against Athletic. 

Benzema opened the scoring in the first half in Bilbao only for Aduriz to  equaliser on 65 minutes. Three minutes later the Brazilian midfielder’s goal gave Zidane’s side a vital 2-1 win over Ernesto Valverde’s team.

Real Madrid are now on 65 points with FC Barcelona just two back following their 4-2 over Valencia at Camp Nou although Luis Enrique's team have played one game more than the leaders. 

Third placed Sevilla dropped points for the third successive league game when they lost 3-1 at fourth placed Atlético. Jorge Sampaoli’s side are now four points behind second placed Barça and just two points ahead of Diego Simeone’s team.

Finally, Granada, Barça’s next opponents in the league following the international break, suffered a setback in their battle against relegation when they lost 3-1 at fellow strugglers Sporting Gijón.

After taking the lead in the second half, the Andalusians conceded three goals in just seven minutes to leave them second to bottom in the table and some seven points adrift of safety. Luis Enrique's team travel to the Nuevo Los Cármenes on 2 April for the 8.45pm CET kick off. 

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