It IS undoubtedly true that RM has gotten easy draws until the semis pretty much every year recently. Let's start in 2010, when the current incarnation of RM really began:
2010:
ROUND OF 16: Real Madrid plays (and loses to) Lyon, who were not very good. To be fair, Barca only played Stuttgart in that round, who were probably worse than Lyon.
2011:
ROUND OF 16: Real Madrid again plays Lyon. And again, Lyon was not very good. In fact, they only got 64 points in Ligue 1 that season. Barcelona had to play Arsenal, a clearly superior team.
QUARTERS: Real Madrid plays Tottenham. Tottenham was not particularly good, and only finished a distant 5th in the Premier League that season. Barcelona played Shakhtar. It's hard to compare Shakhtar and Tottenham, since one is a decent team in a good league while another is a dominant team in a not-so-good league. But I think Shakhtar was almost certainly better.
2012:
ROUND OF 16: Real Madrid gets CSKA Moscow, a team who only finished 3rd in the Russian League that season, and really is not very good, having merely skated through the knockout round courtesy of an okay display in a bad group. Barcelona got Leverkusen, who also were not very good, but who were probably better than CSKA Moscow (for instance, they beat Chelsea and Valencia in the group stages).
QUARTERS: Real Madrid gets APOEL. Obviously, this is an absurdly easy quarterfinal draw. Meanwhile, Barcelona drew Milan. Milan were not Serie A champions that year, but they were very close, despite Juventus going unbeaten. They were a good team and certainly miles more difficult than APOEL.
2013:
ROUND OF 16: Real Madrid gets Manchester United. Barcelona gets Milan. For once, RM got a harder draw. Man U was not favored, but they were certainly a difficult round of 16 draw.
QUARTERS: Real Madrid gets Galatasaray. Very easy quarter final draw. Meanwhile, Barcelona gets PSG, who is a powerhouse team by this time. No question that RM got a way easier draw here.
2014:
ROUND OF 16: Real Madrid draws a merely decent Schalke team. Meanwhile Barcelona draws Manchester City, who won the Premier League that season. Barcelona's draw is way way harder, no matter what anyone says about Manchester City not performing in the CL.
QUARTERS: Real Madrid draws Dortmund. Dortmund was a good team, but they finished an extremely distant 2nd in the Bundesliga with only 71 points. Meanwhile, Barcelona played La Liga champion Atletico. While Dortmund is no slouch, Atletico was certainly a harder draw.
2015:
ROUND OF 16: Real plays Schalke, who are legitimately just a mid-table Bundlesliga team this year (they may be in 5th place, but they're super far from 4th. They're closer to 14th place than they are to 4th place). Meanwhile, Barcelona plays Manchester City. City isn't having their best year, but they're certainly far better than Schalke.
QUARTERS: RM plays Atletico, while Barcelona plays PSG. Atletico is certainly not easy, but PSG is a bit better this year.
By my count, RM has had an easier draw in 9 of the 11 pre-semifinal rounds since 2010. And honestly, RM has only had a few opponents that had any business posing a threat to them at all (Man U in 2013, Dortmund last year, and Atletico this year). Meanwhile, by my count, Barcelona has face EIGHT opponents that posed legitimate threats (Arsenal in 2011, Milan in 2012, Milan in 2013, PSG in 2013, Manchester City last year, Atletico last year, Manchester City this year, PSG this year). It really is hard to say that the draw has not been kinder to RM these past years. And it certainly was kinder again for this semifinal round.
