Arsenal to face Liverpool in Champions League quarters

Chelsea, meanwhile, will be happy with the draw having to face Fenerbahce, but will then face the winner of the all-English tie in the semi-finals, if they beat the Turkish club in the round of the last eight.

 The other quarter-final sees the sole surviving German team Schalke 04 face former winners Barcelona, while Roma face Manchester United. The winners of the two ties will meet in the semi-finals.

 Liverpool's Chief Executive Rick Parry said that they were hoping to avoid a match against a Premiership club. "We have not managed that, but we avoided a trip to Turkey, so that is a bonus.

 "The dream of having an all-English final is still very much alive and that would be very interesting."

   Arsenal's Managing Director Keith Edelman, whose side will be facing Liverpool in a league match in between the two Champions League matches said that they should know each other quite well after the three matches.

 "The AC Milan game was very important for us. After drawing at home to then go and win in Italy is great. That must have given us a lot of hope."

   Manchester United's Ken Ramsden said that he was not worried that their clash at Roma could see a repeat of crowd trouble as they had in April last year.

 "We are glad that we are not facing an English team and I think there will be no problems. We played them in the group phase this year and there were no problems."

   Peter Kenyon of Chelsea said that he too was happy to have avoided a Premiership club. "I do not think there will be a security issue in Turkey. We have no history against them and we will give them a lot of respect."

   He dismissed speculation that coach Avram Grant would be dismissed if his side did not win the Champions League or the Premiership. "We have signed a four year contract with him and there is no reason why we should break that."

DPA