Gary Lineker to conduct Champions League draw

Pa,Martyn Ziegler
Thursday 17 March 2011 16:57 GMT
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(GETTY IMAGES)

The three English clubs remaining in the Champions League will be holding their breath when Gary Lineker makes the draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals tomorrow.

The draw at 11am GMT will be completely open and unseeded meaning Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham could all face each other, or come up against Spanish powerhouses Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Lineker is conducting the draw at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland in his role at ambassador for the final, which takes place at Wembley on May 28.

Two of his former clubs are in the last eight - Spurs, at this stage of the competition for the first time since 1962, and Barcelona, who are the bookies' favourites.

Barca have already knocked out Arsenal but Wayne Rooney insists they hold no fear for Manchester United, who were beaten by the Catalan side in the 2009.

"We will be confident we can win whoever we get in the next round," said the England striker.

"If you are going to win this tournament you have to play anyone - and beat them."

Holders Inter Milan also represent a strong threat after their last-gasp elimination of Bayern Munich, while Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk, appearing in the quarter-finals for the first time, have shown against Arsenal and Roma this season that they are a force to be reckoned with.

Schalke are the rank outsiders, at least in terms of the bookmakers, and they sacked manager Felix Magath yesterday after a disappointing first half of the season in the Bundesliga which sees them currently in 10th position.

The quarter-final ties will be played on April 5/6 and 12/13. The semi-final pairings will also be drawn tomorrow with the matches on April 26/27 and May 3/4.

The draw for the Europa League quarter-finals and semi-finals will also take tomorrow.

It too will be open and unseeded meaning that any of Manchester City, Liverpool and Rangers can play each other if they qualify.

The Europa League final takes place in Dublin on May 18.

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