Chelsea face Liverpool in Champions League
Liverpool and Chelsea met at the semi-final stage last season
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Friday, 20, Mar 2009 10:36
Premier League rivals Liverpool and Chelsea have been drawn against one another in the quarter-finals of this season's Champions League.
The two clubs have already faced each other eight times in the last four years, and have been paired together at some stage for the last five seasons running.
The tie looks to be as well matched as ever, with both teams coming into some form - Chelsea are unbeaten under new interim manager Guus Hiddink, while Liverpool are fresh from a 5-0 aggregate win over Real Madrid in the last round of the Champions League.
The Reds also handed a 4-1 thumping to Manchester United in the Premier League last weekend.
The rest of the draw sees holders United paired with arguably the weakest club remaining in the competition, FC Porto.
But it was the Portuguese side that came out on top last time the two teams met in 2003/04, when a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford - courtesy of a late Benni McCarthy equaliser - knocked out the English team.
Arsenal have also been presented with one of the easier tasks in the last-eight after being drawn against Villarreal.
However, Gunners boss Arsene Wenger will be wary of the threat caused by the Spanish side - having watched them share two goalless draws with the holders in the group stage of the competition.
The two clubs also met at the semi-final stage in 2006, when a last-minute penalty save from Jens Lehmann saw the north Londoners into the final.
Wenger's men went on to lose to Barcelona in the final that year.
Finally, in another mouth-watering quarter-final clash, the Spanish league leaders face German champions Bayern Munich, with the first leg Camp Nou.
The Bundesliga side are coming off a Champions League record 12-1 aggregate victory over Sporting, while Barcelona knocked out Lyon in the last-16.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUARTER-FINAL DRAW:
Villarreal v Arsenal
Manchester United v FC Porto
Liverpool v Chelsea
Barcelona v Bayern Munich
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMI-FINAL DRAW:
Manchester United/FC Porto v Villarreal/Arsenal
Barcelona/Bayern Munich v Liverpool/Chelsea