The semi-finals of this season's UEFA Women's Champions League could consist of one all-French and one all-German tie after the quarter-finals were drawn this afternoon, and the last four ties pre-drawn.

VfL Wolfsburg and Olympique Lyonnais got the luck of the draw with the unseeded teams, whilst last season's two finalists, 1. FFC Frankfurt and Paris Saint-Germain, have much tougher routes to the final hurdle this season instead.

However, at this stage of the competition, there are no weak teams and all eight sides will have to be at their best to progress.

Draw is made

Frankfurt will have some task in retaining their European crown this season after they were drawn against Brazilian superstar Marta's Rosengård in the last eight.

The Swedes may not have the best record in the Europe, having struggled to make it past this stage, but Frankfurt are not in the best form domestically and will now have to set their sights on amending that before the tie takes place.

Their Frauen-Bundesliga rivals Wolfsburg got a much kinder draw, with them to play Italian side Brescia who knocked out Liverpool and Fortuna Hjørring to get to this stage. It is their best ever run in the competition, but they will have some trouble continuing it as they face a side who have reached the last four in all of their previous three seasons in Europe.

The third quarter-final sees French giants Lyon get a good draw against Czech side Slavia Praha, another team on their best ever run having reached this stage, whereas PSG have a tricky test in Barcelona, the Spaniards boasting countless talented players but having failed to live up to their potential on the European stage.

The first legs of these ties will be played on 23/24 March next year, with the return legs to be played on 30/31 March.

Semi-finals pre-drawn

As is always done at this stage, the semi-final ties were also pre-drawn today, meaning those in the last eight know which tie to keep an eye on as they know who their potential opponents could be in the next round.

If all the favourites progress to the next round, then we will be looking at an all-German semi-final and an all-French one, with the winners of Wolfsburg's and Frankfurt's quarter-finals to face each other, and the winners of the remaining two, featuring Lyon and Paris, to face off in the other.

The first legs of those ties will be played on 23/24 April, and the second legs on 30 April/1 May.