HOLDERS Manchester United will face 2004 winners FC Porto in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Today's draw at Uefa headquarters in Nyon also paired Liverpool with Chelsea, the English big guns having met three times in semi-finals in the last four years.
Liverpool prevailed in 2005 and 2007 but the Londoners finally overcame their bogey team in extra time last season before losing to Sir Alex Ferguson's United in the final.
Rafa Benitez's side will not have to play against Chelsea on April 15 - the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy, Uefa confirmed today.
It was on April 15, 1989, that 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death in a fenced-in standing area of the Sheffield stadium where Liverpool were playing Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup semi-finals.
The Anfield club have never played a match since on the Hillsborough anniversary.
In the draw for the semi-finals, United or Porto will play Villarreal or Arsenal and Barcelona or Bayern will meet Liverpool or Chelsea.
Of his side's meeting with Porto, Ferguson said: "This is a good draw for us, we've met them before and obviously we respect any Portuguese team. We have had a huge Portuguese influence in the club firstly with Carlos Queiroz but now with Cristiano (Ronaldo) and Nani, so we understand Portuguese football."United will play the second leg in Porto but Ferguson insists that should not be a problem.He said: "You sometimes wonder if being at home first is a good or a bad thing, but I think in this modern-day competition there is no indication of what is better, the only thing you hope is that you don't lose a goal in the home tie."We are happy with the draw and we are looking forward to the next round."Quarter-final draw:Villarreal v ArsenalManchester United v PortoLiverpool v ChelseaBarcelona v Bayern MunichFirst leg April 7 and 8Second leg April 14 and 15Semi-finalsManchester United or Porto v Villarreal or ArsenalBarcelona or Bayern Munich v Liverpool or ChelseaFirst leg April 28 and 29Second leg May 5 and 6
The final will be played on Wednesday, May 27 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
Meanwhile, in the Uefa Cup, Manchester City will meet Hamburg in the quarter-finals, with the first leg going ahead in Germany.Hamburg will be a step up in class for Mark Hughes' men, who needed penalties to scrape past Aalborg last night.The Bundesliga outfit came from 2-0 down to beat Galatasaray 3-2 in Istanbul last night and are very much in the race for the German title. A north German derby could be on the cards in the semi-finals, with Hamburg and Werder Bremen due to meet if they can get past City and Udinese respectively. The winners of Bremen and Udinese will be at home for the first leg. The other last-four clash could be either an all-Ukrainian or all-French affair, with the winner of PSG and Kiev facing either Shakhtar or Marseille.Quarter-finals: Hamburg (Germany) v Manchester CityParis Saint-Germain (France) v Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine)Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) v Olympique Marseille (France)Werder Bremen (Germany) v Udinese (Italy)First leg April 9, second leg April 16Semi-finals:Werder Bremen or Udinese v Hamburg SV or Manchester CityParis St Germain or Dynamo Kiev v Shakhtar Donetsk or Olympique MarseilleFirst leg April 30, second leg May 7
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