Champions: Man Utd won the last all-English Champions League final, defeating Chelsea 6-5 on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Pic: ©SNS Group
Arsenal and Manchester United are on course to face each other in the 2010 Champions League final but both will have to overcome two massive quarter-final hurdles after Friday’s draw in Nyon. Arsene Wenger’s side undoubtedly face the toughest test in getting there, having been picked out against Barcelona, who they lost to in the 2006 final in Paris.
Should the Gunners overcome the competition holders, they will then have come face-to-face with either Jose Mourinho’s Inter or surprise packages CSKA Moscow, who knocked Sevilla out in the last round.
Manchester United have been handed a slightly more favourable draw but still face a tough task in tackling Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich. The two teams faced each other in the final 11 years ago, when 90th minute goals from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Teddy Sheringham dramatically won the trophy for the English club in a comeback 2-1 win.
The winners of the all-French tie between Bordeaux and Olympique Lyon will face either United or Bayern in the semi-finals. Bordeaux, current Ligue 1 champions and league leaders in France, are battling it out with Lyon to retain their domestic title and will be hoping OL aren’t the team to kill off their hopes on both fronts.
For Arsenal, drawing Barcelona will reunite them with former player Thierry Henry, who was a member of the Gunners’ squad which lost the 2006 final to the Spanish giants.
Henry, who has a stuttering season at the Nou Camp, will make his first return to the Emirates Stadium since his departure from the club a year after their Champions League final defeat.
Inter are aiming to reach their first ever Champions League final under the current format. Their last appearance in the final, in the old European Cup, came when they lost the 1972 final to Ajax at Rotterdam’s De Kuip stadium.
Champions League quarter-final draw: Olympique Lyon v Bordeaux, Bayern Munich v Manchester United, Arsenal v Barcelona, Inter v CSKA Moscow.
Champions League semi-final draw: Bayern Munich or Manchester United v Olympique Lyon or Bordeaux, Inter or CSKA Moscow v Arsenal or Barcelona.
