Liverpool await their Champions League fate

Mar 13 2008

The destiny of this season’s Champions League trophy is likely to heavily influenced by the fate of the four English clubs when the draw for the quarter-finals takes place tomorrow.

Almost to a man, players and coaches at Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea would prefer to meet further down the road to Moscow - and if possible avoid Barcelona too.

The fact Fenerbahce, Schalke and Roma are possible opponents would leave the Premier League clubs feeling slightly aggrieved if they have to play each other in the last eight of the competition.

There is no seeding or country protection in tomorrow’s draw in Nyon, Switzerland - it all comes down to who is picked out of the hat against whom.

The draw will also decide the semi-final line-ups by pairing the quarter-final winners.

Liverpool have twice overcome Chelsea in the semi-finals in the last three years but Reds captain Steven Gerrard would not welcome a re-match at this stage.

“If it happens then we will deal with it but it would be nice to avoid the English teams for as long as possible,” said Gerrard. “It will be an exciting tie if we do draw one, that’s for sure.”

Chelsea and Arsenal have met at the quarter-final stage in 2004, with the Gunners losing, while Manchester United have not played an English side in the Champions League before.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson insisted, however, he would not be overly concerned about being faced with such a task.

“We will relish the chance to face another English team in the quarter-finals if that happens,” said Ferguson. “I don’t think it matters who you play - they are all difficult games.”

Ferguson and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger have often expressed the belief that it is an advantage to play the second leg at home - that again is down solely to the luck of the draw this time - but in terms of pure statistics, the clubs which advanced from both the quarter-finals and semi-finals in the last five years bore absolutely no relation to which leg was played at home.

Chelsea captain John Terry admits he would prefer to avoid domestic opposition at least until the semi-finals.

He said: “Hopefully we can avoid other English teams but if we are drawn together we have to beat them.

“We’ve missed out in this competition on a few occasions and we want to make the final step and get our hands on the trophy.”

Wenger agreed. The Arsenal manager said: “I would say that every English team, if they are honest, would prefer to play a foreign team. It’s a bit more Europe, you know?

“It becomes more of a domestic competition when you play a local team. Ideally you would want to play a foreign team but if we have to overcome an English hurdle we’ll do it as well.”

The quarter-final first legs will be played on April 1 and 2 with the return matches on April 8 and 9.

The draw ceremony in Nyon takes place at noon GMT and will be followed by the draw for the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup.