Gunners to battle against Reds in quarters

Nyon (Switzerland), March 14: Arsenal will meet fellow English giants Liverpool in the Champions League quarterfinals following the draw made here on Friday.

Four English clubs are in the final eight and Arsene Wenger’s side were the first out of the hat for their first leg at home on April 1-2, with the return leg against the 2005 champions at Anfield on April 8-9.

The tie means that Arsenal and Liverpool, last season’s finalists, will play each other three times in one week as the two European legs sandwich a Premier League game.

Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry said: "We’d hoped to avoid the English teams at this stage but statistically there were bound to be two coming together and unfortunately it’s us.

"We play Arsenal in a league game in between so we’ll be playing them three times in a week."

"It’ll be very similar. We know them extremely well and they know us.

"The three games are going to be very, very tight. I don’t think the Champions League is going to be any different, it’s tough."

He added: "We’ve successfully avoided a trip to Turkey (to face Fenerbahce) so that’s a bonus."

Arsenal managing director Keith Edelman for his part said: "Liverpool are a great team. They’ve obviously had fantastic performances in this competition and we’ll play them three times in a week, so we’ll get to know them pretty well.

"I think it should make compelling viewing for the fans and I think they’ll be very exciting matches." Arsenal reached the Champions League final in 2006, losing to Barcelona, and Edelman said the last-16 victory over defending champions AC Milan should give them a lot of encouragement.

"The AC Milan match was very important. We played some sublime football and to go and beat them in the San Siro must give us a lot of hope and belief we can go all the way this time."

Manchester United come up against old foes AS Roma. Sir Alex Ferguson’s side inflicted a 7-1 thrashing of the Italians in the return leg of the quarterfinals last season for an 8-3 aggregate win. The two clubs also crossed swords in the current campaign’s group stage.

Chelsea open at Fenerbahce while German Bundesliga side Schalke host Barcelona.

Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon, who epxressed relief at avoiding another English side, remarked: "It’s the first time we’ve ever played Fenerbahce so there’s no history between the two clubs and I think everyone will be looking forward to a good quarterfinal." (AFP)