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Barca the team to avoid in Champions League draw Barcelona is the team most qualifiers want to avoid in Friday's draw for the quarterfinals of the Champions League
The Spanish league leaders are favorites to win the competition for a fourth time, and the club's stunning performance in the last-16 second leg against Arsenal earned almost universal plaudits. "Barca I don't want right now because to me they seem to be the strongest team," said Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo, whose side is through to the last eight for the first time since 2004. With teams from the same country now able to be paired together, a Madrid-Barcelona matchup would set up an unprecedented four games between the Spanish rivals in 16 days. A league "clasico" on April 16 is followed by the Copa del Rey final four days later, with the Champions League quarterfinals legs held on April 5-6 and 12-13. Tottenham and Chelsea, two of the three-strong English contingent to have reached the quarterfinals, say they would prefer anyone to Barcelona, but Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson would relish a two-legged series against Pep Guardiola's team. "It's not good tactics to go into how good Barcelona are and show trepidation or apprehension about it," Ferguson said. "I don't think that is our way. You have to face every hurdle as it comes along. We have the experience of playing Barcelona recently. We knocked them out in the semifinal (in 2008) and then lost the final to them in Rome the following year." German side Schalke and Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine would arguably be the easiest draws for the heavyweight teams. The intriguing prospect of Schalke's former Spain striker Raul Gonzalez returning to the Santiago Bernabeu to play against Madrid, the team he graced for 16 seasons, is another possibility. "Everyone would like to see Raul in the Bernabeu but I think it would be better to play against him in the final," Madrid captain Iker Casillas said. "Either way, we're not worrying about who we draw in the quarterfinals since reaching this stage is something we need to enjoy." Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho is bidding to win the competition with a third different club, after successes with FC Porto in 2004 and Inter Milan last season, and the club is looking for a record 10th title in Europe's elite club competition. Defending champion Inter makes up the draw after its dramatic last-16 victory over Bayern Munich, the team it beat in the 2010 final in Madrid. This year's showpiece will be held in London on May 28.
