The system of seeding and country protection is dropped when the pairings for the last eight and the semi-finals are made today, with the Premier League contingent hopeful that they can take on foreign opponents, with the possible exception of Barcelona, and target either Fenerbahce, Schalke 04 - who have scored only six goals in the competition this season - or the only remaining Italian representatives, Roma, instead.

"I would say that every English team, if they are honest, would prefer to play a foreign opponent," admitted Arsene Wenger, whose Arsenal team eliminated the holders, AC Milan, in the last stage and could yet be handed a contest with their former talisman, Thierry Henry, at Barca.

"It becomes more of a domestic competition when you play a local team. Ideally, you would want to play a foreign team but, if we have to overcome an English hurdle, we'll do that as well."

Those sentiments will be shared by Liverpool and Chelsea in particular given the sides' recent explosive meetings in European competition. The clubs collided at the semifinal stages of the European Cup in 2005 and 2007, with the Merseysiders squeezing through on each occasion.

Luis Garcia's hugely controversial goal at Anfield settled the first tie en route to Liverpool winning the competition, while last year's rematch was decided by penalties with little love lost between Rafael Benitez and the then Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, on either occasion.

"All four of the English teams are great sides who can pass the ball and mix and match it with any team in the world," stressed the Chelsea captain, John Terry. "Hopefully we can avoid them but, if we are drawn together, we'll have to beat them. We've missed out in this competition on a few occasions now and we want to make the final step and get our hands on the trophy."

Alex Ferguson has been more bullish in his approach - "We'd relish the chance to face another English team in the quarterfinals," he said - with his confidence presumably born of the reality that his side have yet to lose to any of the other English Champions League contenders in domestic competition this season.

Yet his players remain somewhat more wary. Wayne Rooney would only like to meet another English side "further into the competition", while the United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, who won this competition with Ajax in 1995, said: "I would prefer to play a European team because it's part of the Champions League experience.

You go to the airport, you fly somewhere, you rest in the hotel, you train and you play in different surroundings in front of a hostile crowd. I would prefer that, but if we're drawn against an English side we'll deal with it."

Of the other contenders, Schalke squeezed through their qualifying group - drawing with Chelsea in Gelsenkirchen but losing at Stamford Bridge - are fifth in the Bundesliga, some 12 points off Bayern Munich at the summit.

Fenerbahce, who include the former Brighton and Sheffield United winger Colin Kazim-Richards in their number, have never previously progressed this far in the competition.

Schalke squeezed through their qualifying group - drawing with Chelsea in Gelsenkirchen but losing at Stamford Bridge - are fifth in the Bundesliga, some 12 points off Bayern Munich at the summit. Fenerbahce, who include the former Brighton and Sheffield United winger Colin Kazim-Richards in their number, have never previously progressed this far in the competition.