Lyon given difficult route in draw

UEFA Women's Champions League holders Olympique Lyonnais will meet Brøndby IF in the last eight after the draw for the rest of the competition was made in Nyon leaving open the possibility of an all-German final in Munich.

For the quarter-finals on 14/15 and 21/22 March, Lyon – who have a perfect record at this stage over the last four years – will face Brøndby, the club which drew 0-0 at Stade de Gerland in OL's European debut season of 2007/08 in a second qualifying round group game. The team who Lyon beat in last year's final in London and lost to 12 months earlier in Madrid, 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam, will be up against FC Rossiyanka of Russia. If both Potsdam and Lyon win, they will play in the semis on 14/15 and 21/22 April.

In the other half of the draw, three-time winners 1. FFC Frankfurt will travel to play Swedish champions FC Malmö in the first leg of their tie, a replay of the 2003/04 semi-finals when the German side drew 0-0 away but then came from behind to win 4-1 at home. Should Malmö progress they could meet league rivals and European debutants Göteborg FC, who are up against 2007 champions Arsenal LFC, the first team to make the quarter-finals ten times.

With Frankfurt and Potsdam on opposite sides of the draw, it is possible they could meet in the final in Munich on Thursday 17 May, two days before the men's decider in the same city. They previously met in the only single-country final, Frankfurt winning the 7-2 on aggregate in the old home-and-away showpiece decider.

Quarter-finals (14/15 and 21/22 March)
1: FC Malmö (SWE) v 1. FFC Frankfurt (GER)
2: Olympique Lyonnais (FRA, holders) v Brøndby IF (DEN)
3: 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam (GER) v FC Rossiyanka (RUS)
4: Arsenal LFC (ENG) v Göteborg FC (SWE)

Semi-finals (14/15 and 21/22 April)
1: Lyon or Brøndby v Potsdam or Rossiyanka
2: Arsenal or Göteborg v Malmö or Frankfurt

Final (17 May, Munich)
Winner semi-final 1 v Winner semi-final 2

"Reaching this stage of the competition is a privilege that has not been easy to achieve with a total of 96 matches having been played so far," said UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino, who made the draw with Karen Espelund, member of the UEFA Executive Committee by invitation and chairwoman of the UEFA's Women's Football Committee. "Now only four matches separate the teams here today from the final in Munich, representing 360 or even more minutes of extreme emotions and drama."

Espelund told UEFA.com: "I think it's been extremely positive that the competition has become the UEFA Women's Champions League. I notice, when talking with European football people now, that to have a women's club competition is very important.

"In my opinion, we had a very good final in London this year, and when you see the quarter-finalists now, they are open games, we know the clubs will perform to a high level. There are very few newcomers, which suggests that some teams are part of an elite in women's football. It also proves that experience in the UEFA Women's Champions League is beneficial. "