The quarter-final draw for the UEFA Champions League will take place in Nyon, Switzerland today with all four Premier League clubs making it through to the last eight, for the second year in a row.
Liverpool met Arsenal at this stage last season, with the Merseysiders coming out victorious. Last year’s final was contested between Chelsea and Manchester United, with the latter winning a dramatic penalty shoot-out in Moscow.
English teams will have a 43 per cent chance of drawing one of their Premier League rivals in the draw to be held at 11am.
Dan Johnson from the Premier League said; “We are clearly very pleased that all four clubs have made it through to this stage. It reflects well on the Premier League as a competition that we have four clubs progressing once again.”
Manchester United, top of the Premier league and newly crowned world club champions, beat Italian Champions Inter Milan two-nil on aggregate. They will be the name to avoid for most teams.
United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson believes the pace of the English league has helped to improve the quality of English teams and make them difficult to play against in European competition, “The quality, intensity and speed of the game in England is far beyond other countries,” he said.
Last season’s runners up are in the hunt again as they overcame Juventus 4-2 on aggregate after a spirited performance by the Italians, who were reduced to ten-men in the second leg.
Liverpool, who have reached two finals under manager Rafa Benitez, will be looking to make an impact once again after demolishing Real Madrid 4-0 at Anfield to win 5-0 on aggregate.
Their emphatic four-one win last weekend against Manchester United at Old Trafford will have sent shockwaves around Europe and many clubs wouldn’t relish a trip to Merseyside.
The quarter-inals are due to take place on April 7/8 and April 14/15. Meanwhile UEFA have insisted that Liverpool will not be made to play their quarter-final on the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy in which ninety-six fans died.
Michel Platini, UEFA President said: “"We are aware of the huge significance of the 15th April date for both Liverpool FC and their fans, and that is why we will do our utmost to make sure that the club does not have to play its Champions League second leg quarter-final match on that day.”
After a faltering start to the campaign, Arsenal are starting to find their feet. After dominating possession in the two legs against Roma they eventually came out winners after a tense penalty shoot-out. Of the four English teams, many would rather draw Arsenal who have not shown consistency this season and they are languishing in fourth place in the league.
The remaining four teams include Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Porto and Villarreal.
Barcelona have been setting the pace in Spain, twice winning seven games in a row in the league. They overcame Lyon to make it through to the quarter-finals, but their form has faltered in the league losing two games in the last month. Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger still believes, however, that Barcelona are the team to beat, he said: “"Perhaps Barcelona are the favorites because they had the most convincing win and have scored more goals than anyone else in Europe."
German heavyweights, Bayern Munich, demolished Sporting Lisbon 12-1 on aggregate after a second-leg 7-1 win in Germany. Although a similar scoreline would be unlikely at this stage, teams would be wary of the free-scoring Germans who have made a return to the competition this year after missing out last season.
Porto will be familiar to Arsenal fans, the Portuguese champions lost four-nil to the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium in the group games last September but they beat Wenger’s team in the return fixture by two goals to nil.
Villarreal, often underestimated, finished second to Barcelona in La Liga last season. They knocked-out Panathinaikos in the last sixteen to make it into the hat for the quarter-finals. They will hope to make it through to the semi-finals for the second time in three years after losing to Arsenal in 2006.
The Champions League draw takes place as rumours of a European Super league resurface with Platini refusing to rule out any changes to the Champions League format in the future.
Liverpool met Arsenal at this stage last season, with the Merseysiders coming out victorious. Last year’s final was contested between Chelsea and Manchester United, with the latter winning a dramatic penalty shoot-out in Moscow.
English teams will have a 43 per cent chance of drawing one of their Premier League rivals in the draw to be held at 11am.
Dan Johnson from the Premier League said; “We are clearly very pleased that all four clubs have made it through to this stage. It reflects well on the Premier League as a competition that we have four clubs progressing once again.”
Manchester United, top of the Premier league and newly crowned world club champions, beat Italian Champions Inter Milan two-nil on aggregate. They will be the name to avoid for most teams.
United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson believes the pace of the English league has helped to improve the quality of English teams and make them difficult to play against in European competition, “The quality, intensity and speed of the game in England is far beyond other countries,” he said.
Last season’s runners up are in the hunt again as they overcame Juventus 4-2 on aggregate after a spirited performance by the Italians, who were reduced to ten-men in the second leg.
Liverpool, who have reached two finals under manager Rafa Benitez, will be looking to make an impact once again after demolishing Real Madrid 4-0 at Anfield to win 5-0 on aggregate.
Their emphatic four-one win last weekend against Manchester United at Old Trafford will have sent shockwaves around Europe and many clubs wouldn’t relish a trip to Merseyside.
The quarter-inals are due to take place on April 7/8 and April 14/15. Meanwhile UEFA have insisted that Liverpool will not be made to play their quarter-final on the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy in which ninety-six fans died.
Michel Platini, UEFA President said: “"We are aware of the huge significance of the 15th April date for both Liverpool FC and their fans, and that is why we will do our utmost to make sure that the club does not have to play its Champions League second leg quarter-final match on that day.”
After a faltering start to the campaign, Arsenal are starting to find their feet. After dominating possession in the two legs against Roma they eventually came out winners after a tense penalty shoot-out. Of the four English teams, many would rather draw Arsenal who have not shown consistency this season and they are languishing in fourth place in the league.
The remaining four teams include Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Porto and Villarreal.
Barcelona have been setting the pace in Spain, twice winning seven games in a row in the league. They overcame Lyon to make it through to the quarter-finals, but their form has faltered in the league losing two games in the last month. Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger still believes, however, that Barcelona are the team to beat, he said: “"Perhaps Barcelona are the favorites because they had the most convincing win and have scored more goals than anyone else in Europe."
German heavyweights, Bayern Munich, demolished Sporting Lisbon 12-1 on aggregate after a second-leg 7-1 win in Germany. Although a similar scoreline would be unlikely at this stage, teams would be wary of the free-scoring Germans who have made a return to the competition this year after missing out last season.
Porto will be familiar to Arsenal fans, the Portuguese champions lost four-nil to the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium in the group games last September but they beat Wenger’s team in the return fixture by two goals to nil.
Villarreal, often underestimated, finished second to Barcelona in La Liga last season. They knocked-out Panathinaikos in the last sixteen to make it into the hat for the quarter-finals. They will hope to make it through to the semi-finals for the second time in three years after losing to Arsenal in 2006.
The Champions League draw takes place as rumours of a European Super league resurface with Platini refusing to rule out any changes to the Champions League format in the future.
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