Kevin McCarra offers his verdict on the quarter-final draw Link to this video Liverpool and Chelsea will meet again in the Champions League quarter-final in a tie that has become an almost annual event in European football, and Rafael Benítez's team will be spared a fixture on the anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.
The two meet in the competition for the fifth consecutive season and for the fourth time in the knockout stages, Liverpool having won in semi-finals in 2005 and 2007 before Chelsea won 4-3 on aggregate last year.
This time around they will renew acquaintance at Anfield on Wednesday 8 April with the return leg the following Tuesday, allaying fears that Liverpool would have to play a match on the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster. "There's no more important issue than this," said Rick Parry, the club's chief executive, before the dates were confirmed.
The defending champions Manchester United open at Old Trafford against Porto, who under Jose Mourinho knocked them out of the Champions League in 2004 and manager Sir Alex Ferguson admitted his contentment at the tie. "This is a good draw for us, we've met Porto before and obviously we respect any Portuguese team," he said. "You sometimes wonder if being at home first is a good or a bad thing but I think in this modern-day competition there is no indication of what is better."
Arsenal will play Villarreal, whom they beat in the semi-finals in 2006 before losing to Barcelona in the final. Arsène Wenger's team travel to Spain for the first match.
The four Premier League clubs have avoided the second-favourites Barcelona, who were drawn against the German champions Bayern Munich, with the first leg at Camp Nou.
The draw for the semi-finals, made at the same time, paved the way for a possible repeat of last year's final as well as a Manchester United-Liverpool showpiece. The winners of United's tie with Porto will play Villarreal or Arsenal while Chelsea or Liverpool will have to find a way past Barça or Bayern.
The Champions League draw in full
Quarter-finals
Tuesday 7 April
Villarreal v Arsenal
Manchester United v Porto
Wednesday 8 April
Liverpool v Chelsea
Barcelona v Bayern Munich
Tuesday 14 April
Bayern Munich v Barcelona
Chelsea v Liverpool
Wednesday 15 April
Arsenal v Villarreal
Porto v Manchester United
Semi-finals
Manchester United or Porto v Villarreal or Arsenal
Barcelona or Bayern Munich v Liverpool or Chelsea
Semi-final ties to be played on 28-29 April and 5-6 May
Friday, March 20, 2009
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