Europe's elite await Champions League draw
Reuters - Friday 18 March 2011, 01:00
LONDON - England's Manchester United,
Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur will find out their paths to a
possible Champions League final on home soil at Wembley when the
draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals is made on Friday.
The trio are joined in the draw scheduled for 11:00 GMT by
Barcelona, favourites to claim a second European crown in three
seasons, La Liga rivals Real Madrid, champions Inter Milan,
Schalke 04 of Germany and Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk.
Barca ensured there would not be a quartet of Premier League
teams in the last eight be beating Arsenal in the last 16.
Pep Guardiola's men are the team to fear though many believe
this could be record nine-times winners Real Madrid's year after
they finally broke a six-year jinx to reach this stage.
With coach Jose Mourinho appearing to have the magic touch
in the competition after previous triumphs with Porto and Inter,
no side will relish locking horns with the Portuguese coach.
The draw is open so teams from the same country can play one
another leaving the possibility of a Barca-Real clash or
Manchester United facing Chelsea in a repeat of the 2008 final.