Champions League quarterfinal draw needs an all-English tie

The draw for the quarterfinals of this season's Champions League takes place in Nyon, Switzerland tomorrow with four Premier League sides having qualified in the previous round.

This presents a possibility, albeit somewhat remote, that four English clubs could qualify for the semi-finals. Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United each have a shot at avoiding one another, but this would prove to be a disaster for the competition and UEFA in general.

The best case scenario would see at least one match-up involving the top four teams in England. A rematch of Chelsea-Liverpool or a London derby would make for a fascinating storyline in the next round.

The sentiment among the players is that they would like to meet another English side later in the competition, but can anyone truly imagine an all-English competition? What sort of mockery would be made of the European club championship if it were contested by English sides alone?

Naturally this assumes the four Premier League teams win in the quarterfinal round, but this is not an impossibility by any stretch of the imagination.

The strongest side on paper appears to be Barcelona, but they have been inconsistent in La Liga this season, allowing an equally inconsistent Real Madrid side to waltz along in first place for most of the year.

Roma has been impressive, beating the aforementioned Madrid side in the round of 16. They've managed to keep pace with Inter in Italy, but who can forget the quarterfinal debacle last year that saw them bow out to Man United, conceding seven goals at home?

As for Fenerbahce and Schalke, certainly anything can happen over two legs, but for either of these teams to defeat any of the other six would make for a David and Goliath epic.

The Premier League has come a long way in the past 15 years or so. The 1990s were a relatively barren time for English clubs in Europe. Now they are regular contenders for continental silverware. For the powerhouse sides of England to so utterly dominate the continent, so that the four clubs that qualify are the only ones left in April, will distort the competition in ways that may permanently impact European competitions.

UEFA likes to tinker with their toys, I can only imagine how they'd respond were England to bully everyone else off their playground.