By Chris O'Brien
March 8 2004

Uefa have announced that the draw for the European Cup quarter-finals will be open, meaning United could face English opposition should we get past Porto. This means United could potentially face Arsenal on four consecutive occasions following the F.A Cup draw pairing us with the Gunners.

European football's governing body Uefa have confirmed that the draw for the quarter-finals of the European Cup will be completely open, meaning clubs from the same country could face each other.

This means should United manage to overturn the 2-1 deficit from the first leg and advance past Porto at the second round stage, United could potentially meet Arsenal or Chelsea in the quarter-finals should they qualify for the last eight of the coveted competition.

Uefa's announcement means United could potentially play Treble hopefuls Arsenal on four consecutive occasions following the F.A Cup draw paired the two Premiership giants against each other. With the league clash and Cup clash close to each other, adding two European Cup matches into the frame would mean we could make or break out season against the Gunners in the run of games against the Londoners. 'The four victories' video is a mouth-watering prospect for all Reds!

Football League sides have faced each other only once in the European's Cup history, with Nottingham Forest facing Liverpool in 1978, with Brian Clough's Nottinghamshire outfit proving victorious. Since the tournament went over it's makeover in the early 1990's and was re-branded the Champions League, there has never been an all-English tie. However, there have been 2 'Battle of Britain' matches, with Leeds United and Manchester United both having faced Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers.

The draw is made on Friday and will be similar to the F.A Cup draw in that there will be no seedings or ties due to nationality. It will also cover the semi-final ties, and takes place in Nyon, Switzerland at 11.00am British time. This means more sneaking onto the internet in work, or playing round with a resistor radio to find the draw, which usually seems to take a farcically long time to complete.