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Juventus play Arsenal in quarter-finals
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-03-11 10:49
PARIS, March 10 (Reuters) - France midfielder Patrick Vieira will return
to his former club Arsenal when Juventus play at Highbury in the first leg after
Friday's draw in the Champions League quarter-finals .
 Favourites Barcelona, having overcome one Portuguese obstacle in Chelsea
coach Jose Mourinho, meet another after being drawn to play Benfica.
Six-times European champions AC Milan, who lost last year's final to
Liverpool on penalties following a scintillating 3-3 draw after extra time, face
Olympique Lyon who like Arsenal have never progressed beyond the last eight.
Newcomers Villarreal face the winners of the first knockout round tie between
Inter Milan and Ajax, who play their second leg next Tuesday with the score 2-2.
Should both Barcelona, who lost the 1961 European Cup final to Benfica, and
Milan progress to the semi-finals they will meet for the eighth time.
The head-to-head series stands at three wins each and includes the memorable
1994 final won 4-0 by the Italian side.
The quarter-finals are scheduled for March 28 and 29 and April 4 and 5, the
semi-finals for April 18/19 and 25/26 and the final at the Stade de France on
May 17.
KOEMAN LINK
Frank Rijkaard's fine Barcelona side, who eliminated Chelsea 3-2 on aggregate
in the glamour tie of the previous round, come up against a team also coached by
a Dutchman and a former Barca player, Ronald Koeman.
Koeman made his mark in Barcelona history by scoring the only goal in their
sole European Cup success when they beat Sampdoria in the 1992 final at Wembley.
"Benfica are a strong and well-balanced team who played a very serious tie
against Liverpool and didn't concede a goal against a very strong team," said
Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes.
Benfica's director of football Jose Veiga said: "Barcelona really is one of
the best teams, probably the best.
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