Champions League Quarterfinals Set
The draw for the quarterfinals of the Soccer Betting Champions League was held on Friday and Arsenal will face Liverpool while Manchester United will play AS Roma. Barcelona takes on Schalke and Chelsea takes on Fenerbahce. The semifinal draw was also held. The winner of Arsenal-Liverpool faces the winner of Chelsea-Fenerbahce. The winner of United-Roma faces the winner of Barcelona-Schalke. The first legs of the quarterfinals are scheduled for Tuesday, April 1st and Wednesday, April 2nd.
“I think it’s challenging, interesting as well. It’s a good opportunity to be consistent against Liverpool because it’s three very important games for us,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, “It’s amazing but not surprising because I have seen that many times.” It would seem from the quarterfinal draw that United and Barcelona would be headed for a great semifinal while Chelsea would face the Liverpool-Arsenal winner. The Liverpool-Arsenal match looks to be a classic test in the quarterfinal round. “It’s not the worst moment for us,” Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez said. “We have confidence, playing well, scoring goals, progressing well in the Champions League, beating an Italian team top of their table, one of the best teams in Europe. They (Arsenal) know it will be tough for both. Nobody wanted to play an English team.” If Liverpool can get by Arsenal and Chelsea wins as expected, the two teams would meet in the tournament for the fourth straight year.
Manchester United and Roma have also met a lot recently. Last season, United beat Roma in the quarterfinals. The two teams also played this year in the group stage. United won 1-0 at home and the two teams played to a 1-1 draw in Rome. “We know them very well but Roma also knows us very well after we played against them so many times, especially the way we beat them in the Champions League last season,” United assistant manager Carlos Queiroz said. “I think we have a good chance and we know that we can beat them. But it’s a team that has improved a lot. I saw Roma’s game against Real Madrid and it is much better than the team we played some months ago.”
Chelsea got a great draw and will face Fenerbahce. “First and foremost, we managed to avoid another English team,” Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon said. “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.”
Barcelona also looks to have a good draw. “It’s one of the teams that one would choose (to face),” said Barcelona sporting director Txiki Beguiristain, “But I have to reiterate what we’ve always said, that the important thing is to play the second leg at home. That motivates us. We have a great responsibility because only the great teams make the quarterfinals.”
